CPO Threat as Council Gets Tough With Empty Homes

A London borough has warned owners that abandon their properties and let them fall into ruin that they face losing them to compulsory purchase orders (CPO). Neglectful owners will be forced to sell their properties to Haringey Council and its ALMO Homes for Haringey as part of a scheme to bring empty homes back into use. Seven homes across the borough are currently in the council's sights, and will be snapped up under CPOs unless the owners take urgent action. Read more on 24dash.

Court Rules against Town Hall on Council Tax Scheme

Councils across England may have to overhaul their procedures on reducing council tax support after a court ruled a London borough’s consultation was unlawful.  The Supreme Court has decided that Haringey Council’s 2012 consultation on the establishment of a council tax support scheme was unlawful. In April 2013, the government abolished council tax benefit. Local authorities have since consulted on and implemented replacement schemes. However, due to a 10% cut in funding, the majority of councils adopted schemes that reduced the level of support available. The Supreme Court found that Haringey Council’s consultation was unlawful because it failed to provide alternative options for meeting the funding shortfall other than a reduction in support. The court found the document misleadingly suggested that the only option available was to reduce the support available. Read more on Inside Housing.

Borough Bids to Become Housing Zone

An innovative package to accelerate the borough’s house-building and help more families get a foot on the housing ladder has been unveiled by Haringey Council. The wide-ranging plans approved by the council’s Cabinet sets out how underused sites could be unlocked to create thousands of new homes – giving residents more choice of high-quality housing with a range of rent and ownership structures. Highlights include:

• A bid to the Greater London Authority for Tottenham Hale to become a housing zone, releasing up to £80million in funding to build up to 3,300 homes
• A new customer service centre at Tottenham Green creating 290 new homes and provision for existing market traders
• Further consultation with residents and traders, building on existing feedback on how to bring better homes, improved access to jobs and more open space

Read more on the Haringey Council website.

Supreme Court to Hear Landmark Council Tax Rebate Case

A landmark case concerning local authorities’ obligations when carrying out public consultations will be heard by the Supreme Court. Believed to be the first of its kind, the case concerns Haringey Council's implementation of last April's council tax rebate system - which led to many residents paying council tax for the first time. Law firm Irwin Mitchell, which is representing a single mother struggling with the new payments, claims the council's consultation was unlawful and didn't provide enough information for people to make an informed decision about the changes. Read more on 24dash.

Benefit Cap Struggling To Meet Its Aims

The government’s benefit cap will struggle to deliver its objectives of saving taxpayers’ money and encouraging people into work, according to the first major study on the cap’s implementation. The conclusions follow research led by the CIH into the initial impact of the cap in Haringey – one of four London boroughs chosen by the government to implement the cap early. Just 10 per cent of households affected in Haringey were able to find work to avoid seeing their benefits cut.  Research shows that 747 households in the borough saw their benefits cut with the amount lost ranging from 15p to £374.50 per week – with 51 per cent of affected claimants losing £50-£199 each week.  Around 2,300 children were affected by the cap, with larger families experiencing the highest loss. Download a copy of the report from the CIH website.

Landlord Apologises For Eviction Letters

A housing association has apologised for the tone of letters sent to families in temporary accommodation which warned they could be evicted due to welfare reforms. The Guardian revealed Genesis sent out letters to a number of households in Haringey, one of four areas trialling the £26,000-a-year benefit cap. A spokesperson said the letters were intended to enable Genesis to guarantee the landlord full vacant possession at the end of the lease, a condition of Genesis’ lease obligations. This requires a section 21 notice to enable the landlord to regain possession of the property if the tenancy has to be terminated early due to rent arrears. The letters did not make it clear that if tenants pay their rent they will not be evicted. Read more on the Genesis website (see also posting immediately below this one).

Benefits Cap Leads To Eviction Notices in Trial Area

Tenants participating in a trial of the government's controversial benefit cap are being sent eviction letters because the welfare changes mean they "may not be able to afford the rent" and they may have to leave their homes within 14 days.  In the first tangible proof that the cap would lead to rising levels of homelessness, one of Britain's biggest social landlords, Genesis, has issued a warning to tenants in Haringey – a London borough chosen by ministers to test plans to limit benefit payments to £26,000 a year – saying that it will now need to start legal proceedings to "terminate our lease".  The letter from Genesis says it has been forced into taking these steps because of the "significant changes being currently introduced to the welfare benefit system". The letter warns that, if the tenants do not offer a defence, a court can force eviction within 14 days. Read more on the Guardian website.

Benefit Caps Have 'No Impact on Rates of Employment'

The government's benefit cap has had no discernable impact on encouraging residents to find work, according to a council involved in one of the project's pilot schemes.  Phil Harris, deputy director for community housing services at Haringey council, one of four local authorities involved in the benefit cap pilot schemes, said the cap had not changed residents' behaviour. He suggested that problems with the accuracy and maintenance of data held the DWP could have led to misleading messages from the department. The DWP recently released figures showing that the number of people affected by the benefit cap had dropped from 56,000 to 40,000, with 8,000 finding employment through JobCentre Plus. Iain Duncan Smith used the figures to state the benefit cap has encouraged people into work but the claim was disputed by former DWP chief economist Jonathan Portes.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Domestic Violence Project Wins Top Homeless Award

A ‘one-stop shop’ for victims of domestic violence is the winner of this year’s annual Andy Ludlow homelessness awards. Hearthstone, run by Haringey Council, coordinates police, health workers and council services to help people get back on their feet.  Before the project was set up victims in the borough, where domestic violence makes up 30 per cent of violent crime, would have to contact as many as nine different agencies themselves.  Read more on the Haringey Council website.

MP Calls for End to Foreign Nationals Allocations 'Scandal'

A Labour MP has called on the Government to review who gets priority for social housing as new research reveals nearly half of new tenants in parts of the capital were foreign nationals. Birkenhead MP Frank Field, who led a review on poverty for the Coalition, said a new bill would ensure that those citizens who have made the most contribution to society would get priority for social housing. He called the new figures a “scandal”.  A new research paper, by campaign group Migration Watch UK, reveals that at least 11% of social housing lets in London were given to foreign nationals. In some boroughs, such as Ealing and Haringey, the number of new tenants from another country nears 50%.  Download a copy of the paper from the Migration Watch website.

Benefit Cap to Force Families from Temporary Homes

A London borough has found hundreds of families in temporary accommodation in its area could be made homeless by the government’s welfare reforms. Haringey Council is warning that up to 800 families in private rented housing and 300 families in social rented housing could be forced out when the £500 a week benefit cap is introduced in 2013. The government is currently reviewing the subsidy regime for temporary accommodation, but has said it wants to bring temporary accommodation rents in line with local housing allowance payments – which go to eligible households in the private rented sector – by the time the benefit cap is introduced. Haringey has evaluated the impact on temporary accommodation of the introduction of the benefit cap under universal credit, and caps on LHA payments and changes to the way it is calculated. As well as the rise in homelessness it is also predicting around £6 million of the council’s temporary accommodation rent would not be collected in 2013/14, rising to £10 million in 2014/15. Read more on Inside Housing.