MoJ Courts Trouble Over Future For Empty Homes

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is courting trouble over the future for former prison officer accommodation at a jail site in a prime London location. Right now, the jury’s out on the ‘alternative uses’ the Ministry has in mind for the 29 three- and four-bedroom flats behind the former HMP Pentonville that have stood empty for a decade. Islington Council has cited the urgent need for such homes in the borough as temporary accommodation. Councillors and council officers have had meetings with MoJ officials to encourage a leasing option. But when they thought the Ministry was coming back with a majority verdict, the Ministry merely wanted more time to assess those ‘alternative uses’. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/ministry-of-justice-courts-trouble-over-future-for-empty-homes/

High Court Backs Islington In A Landmark Planning Case On Affordable Homes

A High Court judge has backed Islington Council in a long-standing battle between the council and developer Parkhurst Road Limited, who refused to provide affordable homes on a site in line with the council’s planning rules. The developer bought the site in 2013 and has attempted to secure planning permission for a residential development with little or no affordable housing, ignoring the long-standing planning requirements on the provision of affordable homes set by the council. An initial planning application was submitted in 2013. The council refused planning permission for this development twice on the grounds of not providing enough affordable housing, as well as other matters. Read more on the Islington Council website.

http://www.islington.media/r/97837/high_court_backs_islington_in_a_landmark_planning_case_on

Council Sets Out New Rules to Stop Developers Dodging Affordable Homes

Islington Council is consulting on new rules to make it harder for developers to game the planning system and avoid building affordable homes. Viability assessments are used to work out how much affordable housing developers can afford to build as part of new developments. However, since government changes in 2012 it has become standard practice for developers to use the assessments to argue that they cannot afford to meet local affordable housing, infrastructure and environmental requirements. In comprehensive guidance - one of the first of its kind in the UK - published by Islington Council, a number of measures are set out which will help to re-balance the process and protect the public interest when assessing viability. Read more on the Islington Council website.

Tory Right-To-Buy Plan Threatens Mass Selloff of Council Homes

Two large signs stand outside a half-built block of flats. “Twenty new council homes are coming”, they announce. “All new homes offered to local residents first … High quality homes for council rent.” James Murray, executive member for housing and development at Islington council, looks up at the site and admits his signs may be telling a lie. It looks as if the speculators and landlords will be moving in instead. Local authorities in inner London believe they will have to sell every new council home they build to finance the Right to Buy extension to housing association tenants. It could, they say, be the death knell of the council home. “It looks like we will have to sell the flats when they are completed in September,” says Murray.  “Each of them would sell on the open market at £485,000. And because they are new they are within the third most expensive properties that we have. In fact, all new council homes in inner London will have to be sold off. And what incentive will we have to build again?” Read more on the Observer website.

Evictions, Child Poverty, Homelessness - Stark Warning Over New Benefit Cap

A London borough has warned that a £3,000 reduction in the benefit cap could have a devastating impact on its most impoverished families.  Islington Council has carried out modelling on the new £23,000 benefit cap, expected to be announced by the chancellor in the emergency budget on July 8, which shows nearly 600 households in the borough would be affected, on top of the 250 already affected by the current cap. The council also claims up to 1,000 more Islington children are likely to be affected by the new cap while large families are at risk of eviction from their homes. Islington says the cut is expected to result in a further £1.6 million in lost housing benefit and Local Housing Allowance. Read more on 24dash.

Council House Sales Soar after Right-To-Buy Discounts Hike

A massive surge in the sale of council homes in Islington has followed a hike in right-to-buy discounts to £100,000 in the capital. And claims by the government that every home sold under the policy will now be replaced by a new affordable home have been rejected by Islington Council housing chief James Murray. Since the government increased the discount two years ago, the number of publicly-owned properties sold off in the borough has risen more than fivefold.  Mr Murray said: “The government’s apparent policy of replacing sold properties is a complete con.  They don’t give all the money back to us and we are restricted in how we can spend the money. It’s a sham.” Read more on the Islington Tribune website.

Property Investors Who Leave Homes Empty Could Face Jail

Property investors who leave homes empty just to make money from property price rises could be fined or even jailed under proposals made by a London council. Islington plans to force owners of newly built homes to prove they are occupied. If homes are left empty for longer than three months owners will face high court injunctions which if breached, could bring fines, repossession and, in the worst cases, jail for owners, the council said. The north London borough revealed that 30% of 2,000 homes built in the last six years have nobody on the electoral register and, even when students and foreign tenants are discounted, close to a quarter of homes in five of the newest residential developments appear to be empty. Read more on the Guardian website.

Boost for Council’s Office-To-Flats Challenge

Islington Council is optimistic that a compromise can be reached with the government on halting unrestricted office-to-flats conversion in the borough, after the Secretary of State admitted that the CLG got its numbers wrong in blocking the council's attempt to do so.  Islington became the first council to make an Article 4 direction to remove government-given rights for developers to convert offices to homes without planning permission. The then Planning Minister Nick Boles MP quashed the Article 4 arguing that Islington failed to deliver its housing targets over the period 2009 - 2013. In fact, Islington exceeded its overall housing target by 43% over this period. The CLG has now accepted that it made 'a mistake of fact' by failing to take into account all the types of housing that the London Plan housing targets do. The CLG has agreed to rescind its decision to quash Islington's Article 4 direction in the next few weeks.  Read more on the Islington Council website.

London Borough 'Taking Legal Advice' Over Office-To-Resi Exemption Rejection

A London council is taking legal advice, after the government refused to allow it to ban developers from converting offices to residential without planning permission. Islington Council had applied for an exemption, known as an article 4 direction, which would have removed developer’s permitted development rights for office-to-residential conversions. But the borough is now consulting lawyers, after its application was refused by Nick Boles, then planning minister, last month. A spokesperson said it was unhappy with the decision, and would review its options after hearing from lawyers. Islington led an unsuccessful legal challenge to the planning reform in the High Court last December. Read more on Inside Housing.

Boles' 'Ill-Founded' Intervention Will Cost Jobs and Affordable Homes

Planning Minister Nick Boles has blocked a local authority's attempt to prevent empty office space being turned into flats. And Islington Council has raged that Boles' “ill-founded, eleventh-hour intervention" which will mean that the borough will lose out on jobs and affordable homes. Last year, Islington Council became the first local authority in the country to make an Article 4 direction to remove permitted development rights (PDRs) to convert from office to residential. Introduced by the coalition in May 2013, PDRs allow developers to convert office space into homes without having to apply for planning permission. However, Islington Council's Article 4 direction would have removed PDRs across the whole borough from 15 July. But Boles has revoked the council’s directions - citing incorrect figures in his reasons for doing so. Read more on 24dash.

Council Claims Victory in Battle over 'Affordable Rent'

Islington Council has claimed a minor victory in its battle against 'affordable rent' housing in the borough after a deal was struck with developer Berkeley Homes over its 1,000-home City Forum scheme. The scheme comprises two tower blocks of 42- and 36-storeys and will include 995 homes, 30% of which have been designated as 'affordable'. There will also be a 190-room hotel, a crèche, retail and office space. It is expected that the development will lead to the creation of more than 1,000 jobs.  According to the council, following the call-in, Berkeley had demanded over £4 million from the local authority to secure the ‘affordable rent’ homes at ‘target' (i.e. social) rents. But after negotiations with the council, this demand was later dropped, with the homes being provided at social rent levels without subsidy. Read more on 24dash.

Council Plans to Fine 'Buy-To-Leave' Investors

"Buy-to-leave" investors could be fined up to £60,000 in an assault on empty housing being considered by a London council. The charge on the growing phenomenon of vacant homes in high-value areas, exemplified this year by the scandal of empty mansions on the Bishop's Avenue in north London, has been proposed by Islington council. Close to 300 of homes built in the area since 2008 still have no one on the electoral roll, which the council says may mean they are vacant.  Owners would be obliged to ensure properties are occupied "regularly throughout the year" or face a charge as high as £60,000, a discussion paper set before the council suggests. On request, owners would be expected to supply evidence such as utility bills to prove someone lives there. The fines would help fund affordable housing elsewhere and would be written into planning agreements. Read more on the Guardian website.

Council Dips Into Housing Budget to Aid General Fund

Islington Council is to join a growing band of local authorities propping up their ailing general funds with housing cash by billing the budget for a significant slice of its Supporting People costs. The north London authority intends to start charging its housing revenue account £1.3 million for services that were previously funded by Supporting People. The authority was awarded nearly £15 million for the programme in 2012/13, the last year an allocation was given. Islington Council papers published last month reveal that the £1.3 million switch relates to ‘landlord services’ previously charged to the general fund. Read more on Inside Housing.

Pioneering Deal Unlocks New Affordable Homes

Islington Council has provided more than £800,000 in new homes bonus cash to ensure a housing association delivered a full site of socially rented homes. The council stepped in after Keniston Housing Association was unable to guarantee all 14 units on its Archway site would be available at social rent. It was keen to start developing the site but government funding cuts meant it would have had to provide some homes at higher rents. The borough provided £820,000 from its NHB pot to unlock and the scheme, in what it has branded one of the first deals of its kind in the country. Read more on the Islington Council website.

Office to Residential Scheme Comes Under Fire at High Court

The government’s refusal to exempt councils from its relaxation of office to residential planning reforms was branded ‘unfair and unlawful’ at the High Court. The London boroughs of Islington, Richmond and Camden argued the changes to planning rules could threaten swathes of their areas with economic meltdown. They said converting occupied offices to homes could force small businesses to move to peripheral areas. The councils sought exemptions from the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, rule changes and his refusal has triggered a High Court show-down. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Devolves DHP Decisions to Landlords

A council is delegating power to housing associations to decide who receives discretionary housing payments and emergency loans in a bid to speed up applications. Islington has entered into non-contractual partnerships with three large providers over the administration of its £3 million resident support scheme, which provides DHPs and payments which have effectively replaced crisis loans.  The local authority has allocated the associations notional budgets to spend on their Islington-based tenants using set eligibility criteria. The providers, which receive no payment, process referrals. The council rubber-stamps the decisions and processes payments. Read more on Inside Housing.  

Council Slams Offices into Flats

Islington Council is trying to overturn government plans to turn empty office space into flats and to ease the proliferation of high street payday loan firms and betting shops. The council has now made an Article 4 direction to effectively overturn some of the permitted development rights introduced by the government in May. Under the revised General Permitted Development Order, residents and councils are powerless to object to, prevent, or impose conditions on certain types of development including:

*The change of existing shops, dentists, pubs and other uses over to a betting shop or pay day loan business.

*The change of any office building into housing.

Neither of these types of conversion now require planning permission, meaning, says the council, that "residents' rights to be notified in advance and to raise any objection are swept away".  Read more on 24dash.

Former Garages Reborn As New Affordable Homes

Seventeen new homes created from converted garages on an Islington council estate have been formally opened.  Fifteen one-bed properties have been created from 60 disused garages beneath homes where residents had experienced anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping. Two further homes - a four and a five-bed - have been built on a disused car parking area. The scheme is self-funding with 75% affordable housing.  The new builds have been allocated to local residents who either live in overcrowded homes, want to downsize or have mobility problems and needed homes that are easier for them to access and get around.  Read more on 24dash.

Expert Urges State to Build Houses

Radical state intervention is urgently needed to tackle Britain's housing crisis, new research has demanded. Private house-building alone will not produce enough new homes and will not solve Britain's complex housing crisis, according to the report by Islington Council's executive member for housing and development James Murray.  He argued that the government's "hands off" approach to home-building is not working as the market is failing to meet the challenges. The report calls for more investment in new social housing rather than spending on benefits to subsidise private rents and regulation of the private rental market.  Download the report from the Centre of Labour and Social Studies website.

Council to Open Credit Union Accounts

A north London council is opening credit union accounts for all new tenants as part of a move to minimise the impact of welfare reform.  Catherine West, Labour leader of Islington Council, speaking before a Department of Work and Pensions select committee, said: ‘Every time we sign up a new tenant in council housing we give them a credit union account even though they may not know what it is at the time.  ‘By putting £2 in it opens up an account and helps deal with loan sharks prevalent on the high street. This is maybe something that can be suggested to all housing associations.’  The select committee was taking evidence as part of an inquiry into universal credit.  This, along with an average 10 per cent cut in council tax benefit, has led to fears that tenants may struggle to pay their rents.  Read more on Inside Housing.