Housing Association Model Of Delivering Social Housing ‘Not Working’

The policy of relying on housing associations rather than councils to deliver social housing is ‘not working’. A study by the public sector procurement specialist Scape Group has found the average council in England would like to build 1,800 homes for social rent every year. However, it learnt that most councillors only expect to build up to 1,000 homes over the next decade. Scape polled 50 senior managers and decision-makers within local authorities in England and found that almost two-thirds (65%) were ‘very concerned’ about the provision of social rented housing in their area. This rose to 75% in the south, including London. Read more on the Local Gov website.

https://www.localgov.co.uk/Housing-association-model-of-delivering-social-housing-not-working/46320

Half of Councils Setting Up Companies to Tackle Housing Shortage

Nearly half of councils in England have either set up a housing company or are considering doing so, according to a new survey. The research, conducted by 3Fox International, shows 12% of councils have already created a housing company to generate income from developments, with 34% actively debating the idea. The survey showed that the main driver for setting up a housing company was the need to provide a long-term housing solution (61%), with a third saying the main objective was to raise money. Read more on the LocalGov website.

Housing Benefit to Private Landlords Set To Rise by £440m a Year

The amount of housing benefit paid to private landlords will increase by £440m a year due to the ‘rapid’ growth in buy to let lending, GMB is warning. A new study said that if the growth in the number of new buy to let homes continues at its current rate, there will be 80,000 more claimants by the end of 2015. ‘This growth in buy to let lending will give rise to even more claims for housing benefit to pay the rents quite apart from pricing would be home owners out of the market,’ said Kamaljeet Jandu, GMB national officer for equality. ‘This latest growth will likely add another 20,000 new claimants in a single quarter and 80,000 over the year. The annual cost next year to taxpayers will be at least £440m.’ Read more on the LocalGov website.

Watchdog Slams Government Efforts to Free Up Land for Homes

A Government programme designed to free up public land for new homes has been criticised for misleading statistics, a lack of monitoring and the absence of any economic rationale. The damning report from the National Audit Office (NAO) said while on the face of it the Government had met its target to release enough land for up to 100,000 homes by 2015, closer examination revealed fundamental flaws. Among them were the CLG’s 'wide interpretation of the land that could be counted towards the target'. This included land for 15,740 homes that had been disposed of before the programme began. A further 10,783 were included despite being on sites owned by the Royal Mail and British Waterways – which have since left the public sector – and have not been developed.

Read more on the LocalGov website.

Abolish Council Tax Bands, Argues Think Tank

Council tax bands should be abolished, giving local authorities the freedom to set their own flat rate levy, according to a report from a think tank. In Moving beyond Mansion Tax, CentreForum argues councils should be allowed to retain any revenue raised from homes valued at £2m or below to pay for local services. Any tax raised from homes worth more than £2m, would be distributed nationally under the plans. It argues this new system would make property tax fairer than the proposed Mansion Tax and would strengthen the links between taxpayers and local services. Read more on the LocalGov website.

More Action on Empty Homes Wanted

More than three-quarters of Britons want to see stronger action by politicians to tackle the problem of empty homes, according to a study by Halifax and campaigning charity the Empty Homes Agency. Of the 2,000 people questioned, 78% think the government should place a higher priority on tackling empty homes, while 74% want their local authority to do more. One-third (36%) of people said empty properties blighted their local area. The research also suggests that people living in England underestimate the number of empty homes there. English adults estimate there are on average 377,000 empty homes in England, whereas statistics from the EHA show the figure is more than 610,000. Read more on the LocalGov website.

Call for More Welfare Reform Support

Housing experts have called for the Government to increase the amount of cash it has pledged to support people affected by welfare reform. The Chartered Institute for Housing (CIH) said the Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) fund should be increased to £250m in 2015/16. Chancellor George Osborne’s Autumn Statement announced that the Government would only provide £40m for DHP payments in each of the next two financial years.  Read more on the LocalGov website.