What The Green Paper Means For Social Housing

The Social Housing Green Paper may well mark a seminal moment in the English housing sector. However, this may perhaps be more for what it ushered out than what it ushered in. A number of notable policies introduced during the Cameron-Osborne years have been unceremoniously dumped or reversed:

– The High-value Assets Levy that was to be paid by councils to cover the cost of replacing homes sold by housing associations under the voluntary Right to Buy – gone

– The Housing and Planning Act 2016 contained powers to require councils to implement fixed-terms to new tenancies – this policy has been scrapped

– Consumer regulation was pared back in 2010 with the Tenant Services Authority infamously being made into ‘toast’ by then housing minister Grant Shapps. The Green Paper explores a number of options to beef up consumer regulation so it is on a par with economic regulation

– Performance league tables are being considered to allow meaningful comparison between social landlords. This was last possible when the Audit Commission and its KLOEs (key lines of enquiry) was in its pre-coalition government pomp, before being abolished.

Read more on the See Media website.

http://see-media.co.uk/what-the-green-paper-means-for-social-housing/

No Higher-Value Asset Payments In 2018/19

Under the Housing and Planning Act 2016 local authorities are expected to pay a levy to government which they make up through selling their most valuable homes when they become vacant. The policy was intended to fund an extension of the Right to Buy to housing association tenants.  However, there have been few recent announcements on the levy, leading councils to warn that the resulting uncertainty is making it difficult to form Housing Revenue Account (HRA) business plans. Mr Javid has now revealed that “local authorities will not be expected to make a payment in 2017/18 or in 2018/19”. Read more on Inside Housing.

Right to Buy Scheme – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to proceed with the forced sale of council homes and other assets in order to fund the right to buy programme.

Alok Sharma: The Government is considering how the legislation on Higher Value Assets (HVA) could be implemented under the framework set out in the Housing and Planning Act 2016. Local authorities will not be expected to make an HVA payment in 2017/18.

Implementation Dates For Housing Act Policies

Regulations introducing Starter Homes are due to come into force in the summer. Housing and Planning Act implementation dates:

·         Starter Homes, in force this summer

·         Secure tenancies, in force this autumn

·         Higher Value Asset sales, in due course, no detail is given on the timing

·         Brownfield registers, spring

·         Housing association insolvency regime, regulations will come before parliament in February

·         Self-build and custom building regulations, 31 October

·         Planning obligations and affordable housing, remains under review

Read more on Inside Housing.

What Makes A Criminal Landlord?

The Government are now consulting on the offences that should constitute ‘banning order offences’ for landlords as defined by section 14 of the Housing and Planning Act 2016. The online consultation period will run until 10th February 2017. The government will be introducing these measures on a phased basis, and CLG currently planning to bring in the civil penalties and extended rent repayment orders on 6th April 2017. The criminal landlord database, banning order provisions and management orders will be brought into force on 1st October 2017. However, these dates are currently subject to change. The consultation can be found on the CLG website.

Government Working With Councils On Fixed-Term Tenancies

The government has set up a working group of 20 councils to look at how to implement fixed-term tenancies, a key plank of the Housing and Planning Act. While other high-profile aspects of the Housing and Planning Act have either been dropped or delayed by the government, fixed-term tenancies legislation is still expected to be introduced from April next year. Under the act councils will be required to review tenancies every five years, rather than granting a lifetime tenancy, with extensions for tenants with a disability or with children. Peers opposed the move to fixed-term tenancies because they said it could be damaging to family life. Read more on Inside Housing.

A Brief Guide To Housing Affordability

As the 2016 Housing and Planning Act hits the policy equivalent of an oil slick on top of dangerous ice and spins off into post-Brexit, government-switched irrelevance, the one bit of legislation that’s likely to be retained before it hits a wall, tumbles over a cliff, catches fire and tumbles into a ravine with an immeasurably deep lake at the bottom is the power for the Secretary of State to define what ‘affordable’ means. To avoid any doubt in future, here is a quick and easy guide to what is really affordable, and what is not affordable in the current smorgasbord of housing tenures spewing forth from housing policy-making. Read this handy guide on the 24housing website.

Compulsory Pay to Stay Scrapped – Parliamentary Statement

Gavin Barwell: “Social housing has a crucial role to play in supporting those in most housing need. To that end, powers were provided for in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to introduce an income based rents policy, requiring local authorities to set higher rents for higher income council tenants. Since the summer, the Government has been reviewing this policy. We have listened carefully to the views of tenants, local authorities and others and as a result, we have decided not to proceed with a compulsory approach. Local authorities and housing associations will continue to have local discretion.” Read more on the Parliament website.

Pay To Stay Meetings Cancelled As Policies Face Delay

Meetings of the government’s Pay to Stay working group have been cancelled as several key measures in the Housing and Planning Act look set to be delayed. The government has cancelled scheduled meetings despite the policy- under which higher earning tenants pay up to market rent- originally being planned for implementation in April next year. It is not clear why the meetings have been cancelled, but sector figures this week said it suggested a delay. Councils have been urging ministers to put the start date back to give them time to prepare. The news emerged days after a senior civil servant admitted the Right to Buy (RTB) extension to housing association tenants is set to be delayed as a result of the Brexit vote. Read more on Inside Housing.

Landlords – Parliamentary Written Answer

Jon Trickett:  To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help strengthen local authority powers to deal with rogue landlords.

Gavin Barwell: The Government introduced a package of measures in the Housing and Planning Act 2016 to help local authorities crack down on rogue landlords. They comprise civil penalties of up to £30,000 as an alternative to prosecution, the expansion of Rent Repayment Orders to cover a wider range of offences, a database of rogue landlords and property agents and banning orders to prevent serious and prolific offenders from being involved in the renting out or management of private rented properties. In addition, over the past five years, we have have made £12 million available to a range of local authorities to help them tackle acute and complex problems associated with rogue landlords. This has resulted in the inspection of over 70,000 properties with more than 5,000 landlords now facing further enforcement action. 

Government Issues Commencement Order For Pay To Stay

The government issued the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2016 on 3 October 2016. These Regulations bring into force various provisions of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 on 1 October 2016. Regulation 2(a) brings into force the part of the Act covering Pay to Stay which makes provision relating to rents for high income social tenants of local housing authorities and private registered providers of social housing. Publication of this Commencement Order has caused concern among some ARCH members as the government is yet to set out detailed Regulation and Guidance on how the scheme will operate. Read more on the ARCH website.