Treasury Says Spending Review Will Focus On Housing

HM Treasury has announced it will focus on providing housing support and pump money into core public services in its next spending review. Elizabeth Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, said this year’s spending review, which sets budgets from 2020 to 2023, would tackle the UK’s restrictive planning system where people which led to people spending a greater proportion of their income on housing than ever before. In a speech, she said: "In 1947 people were paying less than an eighth of their total expenditure on housing, now it’s over a quarter. And people who rent in London are spending half their income on rent.” Read more on the FTAdviser website.

https://www.ftadviser.com/your-industry/2019/03/20/treasury-says-spending-review-will-focus-on-housing/

YMCA Wants Housing Support Back For 18 To 21-Year-Olds

A new government must abolish regulations that remove automatic entitlement to housing support for 18 to 21-year-olds, says the YMCA. It’s ‘Youth First’ manifesto brings together more than 40 recommendations including access to housing. Other priorities include:

·         Invest in early intervention mental health services for young people in schools and communities, including targeted campaigns that addresses the lack of knowledge and stigma surrounding mental health difficulties

·         Ensure all students in school or college have access to careers information, advice and guidance delivered by professional specialists

·         Reclassify youth services as a statutory service, which will require each local authority to have in a place a youth services strategy.

Read more on the YMCA website.

Council Cuts Will Lead To More People Sleeping Rough

Huge cuts to homelessness services will trigger a surge in the number of people forced to sleep on the streets and pile more pressure on hard-pressed NHS and social care services, charities have said. Several councils are preparing to axe housing support services, including hostel beds, refuges and sheltered housing, as they struggle to meet the demands of a fresh round of multimillion-pound budget cuts from April. In Sunderland, the housing support budget for homeless people in the city is being cut to zero. Read more on the Guardian website.

Almost 80,000 Families A Year Could Be Homeless By 2020

Almost 80,000 families a year in England face the prospect of becoming homeless by 2020 unless cuts to housing benefit and support are abandoned. The projection, which includes 60,000 households with children, is in addition to those sleeping rough on the streets. The new statistics will alarm campaigners who have already warned the most vulnerable people would not be able to afford the rent on their homes if the Government goes ahead with the budget cuts. John Healey, former housing minister, has published his projections to persuade the new administration to abandon cuts to housing support and housing benefit. The projections are based on the average annual increase of homeless households in Britain between 2009 and 2016, which currently stands at 6.3 per cent. If the trend continues over the next five years this would mean 78,393 homelessness cases by 2020-21. Read more on the Independent website.

40% Of Homeless Young People Could Be Hit By Removal Of Housing Support

Housing Benefit provides a safety net to young people, without which they would not be able to access accommodation. For those at a point of crisis, removal of housing support could also push vital homelessness services out of reach. Young and Homeless 2015, a survey of homelessness service providers and local authority housing departments, indicates that the problem is compounded by wider welfare reforms and lack of affordable and shared housing:

·         95% of homelessness services reported that benefit sanctions have affected young people’s ability to access accommodation.

·         73% reported that the extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate has greatly affected young people’s ability to access accommodation.

·         On average, the time spent in homelessness services was 16 months, almost twice as long as in last year’s survey (8.5 months).

Read more on the Homeless Link website.

Frontline Housing Workers to Work More Closely With Residents

Frontline housing professionals believe they will need to work more closely with residents and more creatively in the future according to new research. The Frontline Futures study found that people who work in social housing think doing things with residents, rather than doing things to or for them, is the way forward, and also that following set procedures should become less important because it is not the most effective way of getting the best results. As reported in the interim findings in March, welfare reform, lack of housing supply and the increasing gap between income and housing costs are having the biggest impact on frontline housing roles. Many people who live in social housing need increasing levels of support, and in many cases housing professionals are expected to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of other services. Read more on the Housingnet website.

Struggles of Benefit Recipients 'Must Be Told'

Housing professionals must focus on telling the ‘personal’ and ‘deeply emotional’ experiences of people receiving housing benefit if they are to alter the prevailing negative public perception of housing support. A report by the Fabian Society for homelessness charity Crisis, found that despite antipathy towards the £23 billion housing benefit bill being ‘deeply ingrained’ and not helped by frequently ‘toxic’ media coverage, polling data shows public attitudes can be altered.  Although the study found that people were initially more convinced by arguments against as opposed to in favour of spending on housing benefit, it also emerged that 63 per cent of people felt poverty was ‘caused by forces beyond the control of the individual’. The poll also found that two-thirds of respondents agreed that the government should focus on tackling unemployment, low wages and rising rents, rather than planning further spending cuts.  Download a copy of the report from the Fabian Society website.