RTB Properties Re-Let Privately Pose ‘Major Challenges’

One of the most contradictory and problematic developments in private renting lies in the growth in Buy to Let tenancies on council estates, a new report says. Published by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the report identifies the anomaly that sees councils housing homeless families in former Right to Buy properties converted to private rental. According to the report, around 40% of all Right to Buy properties are now re-let privately, posing “major challenges” for housing management in driving up Housing Benefit bills and maintenance problems on flatted estates. Download the report, Private Renting: Can social landlords help?, from the LSE website.

http://sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cr/casereport113a.pdf?from_serp=1

Research Reveals The Future Of Social Housing

Working with the NHS, using artificial intelligence, providing other types of rented housing, and using more modern methods of construction are the key opportunities for housing associations to ensure social housing survives. These are some of the findings from the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) after Flagship commissioned research into what the social housing provider of the future might look like. Their main conclusions also suggest that in ten years’ time, social landlords will almost certainly face a more difficult environment, and the housing sector will become more diverse. Download the report from the Flagship website.

Britain 'Is On The Brink Of The Worst House Price Collapse Since 1990s'

House prices are teetering on the brink of a crash that could be as bad as the bust of the early 1990s, a leading expert has warned. There are already warning signs that prices are heading towards a near 40 per cent plunge, warns Paul Cheshire, Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics. It raises the alarming spectre of the return of ‘negative equity’ – when a house falls so far in value it is worth less than the mortgage – which hit one million people at the worst point in the 1990s. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

UK House Prices Growth Slows And May Slow Further

UK house price growth slowed month on month but over the last three months returned to annual growth after a period of softening post the Brexit vote, according to a survey by Halifax. The lender reported that British house prices rose a modest 0.2% month-on-month in November to £218,002, following a 1.5% increase in October. In the three months to November prices were 6.0% higher than in the same period in 2015, having slowed to a three year low of 5.2% in the three months to October. Prices were also 0.8% higher than in the preceding quarter of 2016. Read more on the LSE website.

The Right to Buy? Selling Off Public and Social Housing

Introduced under the Thatcher government, ‘Right to Buy’ has had a formative effect on housing in the UK for the past 35 years. In The Right to Buy? Selling Off Public and Social Housing, Alan Murie examines the policy’s long-standing and ongoing impact, and considers the implications of its more recent extension. While more explicit political analysis of the consequences of ‘Right to Buy’ would have bolstered the book’s arguments, John Picton welcomes this timely, detailed and important read. Find a review of this book on the LSE website.

Housing Benefit Cuts Linked To Depression In Low Income Households

Cuts to housing benefit by the government have led to a 10 per cent increase in people from low income households reporting poor mental health and helped propel an additional 26,000 people into depression researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) have found. The paper evaluates the mental health effects of the government’s reduction in financial support to low-income households renting from the private-sector. Over 179,000 private renters were surveyed, some in receipt of LHA and others not. By following these groups over time the researchers were able to document how the cuts had impacted those affected. Read more on the LSE website.

Nearly 2 Million Disabled People Have An Unmet Housing Need

A new report reveals the extent of demand for accessible homes to rent and buy.  The report says 1.8 million disabled people having an unmet housing need – 580,000 of working age. Conducted by teams at the London School of Economics (LSE) and Ipsos MORI for Habinteg and Papworth Trust, the ‘hidden housing market’ report is pitched as challenging assumptions about the potential for disabled people to buy their own home. The report also sheds light on the wider appeal of homes that deliver higher quality accessible features.  Download a copy of the report from the Habinteg website.

Welfare Reforms Failing To Move Social Housing Tenants Into Work

The Coalition Government's radical welfare reforms have resulted in very few social housing tenants being able to find jobs despite their aim of moving people dependent on benefits into work, according to a new LSE report. Only one in six tenants have either found work or increased their hours since the reforms were introduced in 2010. Those who found work most commonly worked for family members or became self-employed. The majority of new jobs were part-time with uncertain hours. One third of tenants are struggling financially as a result of the reforms. A majority, 63 per cent, said they were coping by reducing expenditure, in some cases on food, getting into debt to pay large bills or borrowing from family and friends. Download the report from the LSE website.

Coalition Fails To Achieve Housing Goals

The coalition government has not achieved significant success against its housing goals and is building fewer homes than the previous Labour government. That is a key finding from a report examining the coalition government’s record on housing policy, published by The London School of Economics (LSE). The report, written by academic Professor Becky Tunstall, concludes that the coalition has ‘achieved no significant or ambiguous successes against its broader housing goals’. It said: ‘The key problems in 2010 of low housebuilding rates, reduced affordability and risk to the economy from house price fluctuations had not changed by 2015.’ Download the report from the LSE website.

Universal Credit Thrown Into Doubt by Government Findings

Iain Duncan Smith’s floundering Universal Credit system will have to deal with 1.6million changes to people’s claims every month, a Government adviser has revealed. The shocking figure throws fresh doubt over whether the Work Secretary’s flagship scheme will ever be fully up and running after being dogged by delays and glitches. Professor John Hills reveals the scale of the challenge in a new book that explodes the “strivers versus skivers” myth peddled by politicians. Professor Hills, of the London School of Economics, warns: “This will make the system hard to run.” Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

No Evidence That Immigrants Have Preferential Access to Social Housing

Recent research has looked at the access of immigrants to social housing.  This is important because rents in the social sector remain substantially below those in the private sector, and the social sector offers much greater stability of tenure.  So social tenancies are very valuable to certain parts of the population.  Around a quarter of white British people in the UK feel that they are treated worse than people of other races by social landlords (councils and housing associations). This perception has varied a little over time but it has been consistently high. Such a level is extremely high – only the black community feel more discriminated against by parts of the criminal justice system than white people do by social landlords. Although most immigrants are likely to be eligible to apply for social housing, there is no evidence (once demographic, regional and economic circumstances are controlled for) that they have preferential access to social housing – if anything the reverse seems to be the case. Read more on the LSE website.

150,000 Homes Target in Doubt If Subsidy Isn't Maintained

The Government's 150,000 affordable homes target is in doubt if state subsidy in housing is not maintained in the capital, a new report has warned. The report, produced by the London School of Economics (LSE) and Political Science for the g15 group of housing associations, sets out the case for investment in London's affordable housing at a time when the Government is rolling back state funding in housing - allowing social landlords to charge higher rents to build new homes. The report warns that while this model will allow more affordable homes to be built, it comes with limitations. These include: problems of affordability among London's lower-income employed households, a hike in the housing benefit bill, the risks of private finance and the slow turn-over in social sector re-lets. Read more on 24dash.