Housing First ‘Could Save City Regions £4m’

A study shows using the Housing First method saves money on long-term homelessness. Policymakers are being called upon to get long-term rough sleepers into their own home as quickly as possible – with the Housing First approach shown to be five times as effective as existing services. The study looks at the potential costs and benefits of rolling out Housing First across the Liverpool City Region, drawing on existing evidence as well as new statistical analysis and interviews with nearly 100 professionals and 79 people with experience of homelessness. The report shows how Housing First could deliver savings for cities and local authorities right across the UK, with potential savings for Liverpool City Region estimated at between £1.18m and £4.02m per year by 2023/24. Read more on 24housing.

Housing Crisis: More Than 200,000 Homes In England Lie Empty

More than 200,000 homes in England with a total value of £43bn were empty for at least six months during 2016 despite the desperate shortage of properties to rent and buy. According to official figures, Birmingham was the worst affected city outside London with 4,397 empty homes worth an estimated £956m, followed by Bradford and Liverpool. The wealthy borough of Kensington and Chelsea, with 1,399 empty homes worth £664m, was the worst performer in London as super-rich owners rejected renting them out or selling up in favour of leaving their properties lying idle. Read more on the Guardian website.

Stoke and Liverpool £1 Homes: Are Schemes a Success?

It's 18 months since Liverpool launched its £1 homes scheme, so why has no-one moved in while bargain-hungry homeowners in Stoke-on-Trent are rushing to buy the same reasonably-priced roosts? Liverpool City Council launched its pilot scheme to buy a house for £1 in a blaze of publicity.The council offered the chance to buy one of 20 empty homes for the small sum if the new owners pledged to refurbish them and stay for at least five years. But almost a year since the first buyer was handed the keys to his new house in Granby, he has still not moved in. Meanwhile, a similar scheme in Stoke-on-Trent is almost complete, with 31 out of 35 homes occupied. Read more on the BBC website.

Liverpool's PRS Tenants Get Charter

Tenants living in Liverpool's private rented sector (PRS) are to be given more information about their rights and responsibilities. A new charter and information pack is to be launched to make them aware of what they can expect their landlords to provide - and what they should do as good tenants. The move is part of efforts to improve the quality of the city's PRS. The charter also outlines the rights and responsibilities of landlords while the pack contains information ranging from how tenants should report repairs to fire safety issues. Read more on 24dash.

First Public Land Pilot Disposal to Bring New Homes to Liverpool

More than 100 new homes are to be built on former railway land in Aintree, Liverpool, after completion of the first public land pilot disposal. The HCA has recently taken on 35 sites from other government bodies as part of a nationwide effort to get public land with capacity for up to 100,000 homes out to market by March 2015. The site was identified within Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council’s 2011 Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment as a potential area for sustainable redevelopment. Since taking on the site, the HCA has worked with the council to secure the deal, which will bring a substantial amount of private sector investment to the area and will improve approximately 10 acres of public open space for the residents of Aintree. Read more on the HCA website.

Bedroom Tax Human Rights Ruling Could Lead To 420,000 Similar Appeals

A disabled woman and her husband have won a landmark victory after a judge ruled they were exempt from paying the Bedroom Tax. Spina bifida sufferer Jacqueline Carmichael and 24-hour carer Jayson were told the Tory-led Coalition’s hated charge ­contravened their human rights. Jacqueline, 42, uses a wheelchair, is unable to walk and sleeps on an electronic mattress which helps relieve bed sore pressure. Their flat is so small two beds cannot be squeezed together and she and Jayson are physically unable to sleep in the same room. The couple took their local council in Sefton, Merseyside, to Liverpool civil court, where a tribunal judge heard their benefits appeal this month. Another 420,000 disabled people are affected by the tax and the verdict could pave the way for some to launch similar appeals. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Bedroom Tax-Driven Small Property Development Begins

A £6.3 million development of 75 smaller properties designed to tackle the impact of the bedroom tax has begun in Liverpool. The one and two-bedroom homes are being built on land in Knotty Ash gifted to social landlord Riverside by Liverpool City Council, as part of the Mayoral pledge to deliver 5,000 new homes in the city by 2015. Read more on 24dash.

Houses for £1 and a Loan to Do Them Up

During the past few months the city councils in Stoke-on-Trent and Liverpool have been inundated with applications after launching projects allowing people to buy a derelict home for just £1 upfront.  Now the charity Empty Homes is offering a variation on this theme: a 25% stake in an empty house for £1. Ten two-bedroom terraced houses located in Stoke-on-Trent are up for grabs, and you don't need to be a resident of the city to apply – it is open to anyone in the UK who doesn't already own a property and meets the criteria.

We can probably expect to see more of these schemes being launched after communities minister Don Foster, who has visited the Stoke-on-Trent projects, announced a £91m government cash injection to bring back into use more than 6,000 empty and derelict homes and commercial premises across England. Read more on the Guardian website.

London Family Fights Rehousing In Liverpool

A London council has agreed to review a decision to move a family of five with a disabled child to Liverpool after being threatened with legal action.  Law firm Miles and Partners’ client was to be moved permanently to a property in Liverpool on 15 May but a High Court judge on that day ordered Newham Council to house them temporarily while the local authority reviewed the case.  The firm argues the son has a behavioural impairment, focal onset epilepsy and suicidal tendencies, which are liable to be triggered when travelling by car. He currently receives a range of specialist help from support workers and psychologists in the local area known to him.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Tenants Fail To Pay the Bedroom Tax

A large proportion of tenants hit by the bedroom tax have so far failed to pay the resulting shortfall in their rent.  Several of the UK’s largest housing associations have this week revealed thousands of tenants have not covered their rent since the controversial policy was introduced on 1 April. This has sparked fears that landlords’ income streams and ability to borrow cheaply to build new homes could be hit if the trend continues.  Liverpool-based Riverside Group said around half of its 6,193 affected households receiving full housing benefit have not paid anything at all to cover the shortfall, while a quarter contributed something but did not pay their rent in full. Just one in four affected tenants paid the full amount.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Second Council Invites Applicants to Buy £1 Homes

Liverpool City Council is inviting applications from people interested in buying a house from the Council for a nominal price of £1. Applicants will go through an evaluation and selection process and those who are successful will be offered a property. In this pilot there are 20 houses available.  The successful applicants will then be given an opportunity to improve the property within a prescribed timescale to the quality and specification set out by the Council. The assessment over whether this standard has been achieved will be at the sole discretion of the Council. If the assessment confirms full compliance with requirements then the property will be sold to the successful applicant for £1. Application forms for the scheme are available after 4,000 people registered interest.  This is two days after Stoke-on-Trent started its application for a similar scheme for which it had already received 600 expressions of interest.

Read more on the Liverpool Council website.

Tenants Asked To Sign Bedroom Tax Disclaimer

A Liverpool-based housing association is asking tenants to sign forms that say they accept they will be hit with legal action if they don’t pay their rent as a result of the ‘bedroom tax’.  One Vision Housing has sent out documents to 2,900 of its tenants who will be hit by the under-occupation penalty asking that they return them signed, and with a counter signature by a witness.  The disclaimer form explains the new rules, which come into force on 1 April, and asks tenants to confirm this has been properly explained.  It then warns: ‘I understand that One Vision Housing can take legal action against me if I fail to pay my rent including any shortfalls as a result of these changes.’  Social tenants took to Twitter, Facebook and blogs to complain that the letters were threatening. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Reveals £130m Housing Plan

Liverpool City Council is planning to build 2,000 new homes over the next three years and bring empty homes back into use as part of a £130 million investment in housing. A £20m fund to support first-time buyers will also form part of the housing delivery plan. The plan involves making council-owned brownfield sites available to registered providers for housing at no cost. The council said the plan would be financed through borrowing and by using capital receipts and that it had also bid for £10m of funds through the housing market renewal transition fund and could potentially receive revenue from the new homes bonus. Read more on the Liverpool City Council website.