Charity Condemns Councils’ £30m In ‘Sweeteners’ To Private Landlords

An anti-poverty charity has attacked the millions of pounds in sweeteners paid by cash-strapped London boroughs to private landlords to persuade them to rent to council tenants. It has been revealed that officials paid nearly £30 million to landlords since 2012. The “one-off financial incentives” were revealed in Freedom of Information responses from 33 London local authorities to the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust. The charity said it showed boroughs were deploying “ever more desperate means to entice private landlords” as authorities compete with each other to secure accommodation. Landlords want the extra money over fears that some council tenants were more likely to default on their rent. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Radical Devolution Deal For London To Tackle Housing Crisis

The commission set up by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) to consider how to solve the capital’s housing crisis has recommended a radical package of measures.  Under the proposals the London Mayor and the London boroughs would commit to doubling the annual supply of new homes of all types and tenures by 2020. In return the government would exempt London from the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), give the Mayor’s London Plan the same status as the NPPF and provide the Mayor with the power to force boroughs to change their plans if they don’t identify enough land for housing. Under these proposals the Mayor and the boroughs would form a joint London Housing Committee to coordinate housing policy across the capital and to set planning fees for the capital. Read more on the Planning Portal.

Boroughs 'Forced To Sell Off Council Housing'

Government ministers have been accused of hiding key details of plans to force London boroughs to sell off thousands of high-value council houses. Labour issued figures claiming that the authorities will lose more council homes than all the other regions in England added together. The Housing and Planning Bill aims to force the sell-off to fund a new right to buy for housing association tenants. Ministers argue it is wasteful for boroughs to sit on properties worth £1 million or more. But shadow housing minister John Healey protested that the Government had not yet published draft regulations showing how the rules would work, despite MPs and peers already voting on the powers. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Councils Warn Office To Residential Conversions Harming Town Centres

The widespread conversion of offices to homes under Government changes to planning rules are harming London's town centres, creating substandard housing and undermining jobs and growth, councils have warned. The Coalition introduced permitted development rights in May 2013 to allow empty and underused office space to be converted into housing without the need for planning permission. London Councils, which represents the capital's 33 local authorities, believes permitted development rights have created a "free-for-all" which has undermined the viability of town centres by draining away commercial property. At the same time, they have removed councils' ability to demand that schemes include affordable housing for local people. Between May 2013 and April 2015, London boroughs received at least 2,639 office-to-residential prior approval applications. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Sky-High Rents Prompt Calls for New Controls on Landlords

London has become one of the most expensive cities in the world to rent a home, prompting politicians to call for New York-style controls on landlords. In 18 of London’s 33 boroughs, the median rent for a one-bedroom flat is more than £1,000 a month, government statistics show. In Greater London, the rent for a one-bedroom flat has risen by an average of 22% over the past five years, the Valuation Office Agency data reveals. Rent controls – or rent stabilisation, as it is referred to in New York – are not caps on monthly rent: they are usually restrictions on in-contract rent increases and lease conditions, such as length of tenancy. This prevents landlords pushing rents up to overheated levels. Read more on the Guardian website.

Suburbs Sucking In Cash-Strapped Renters

The London boroughs of Kingston, Bexley and Harrow are recording the highest demand among prospective renters, as the spiralling cost of London housing pushes people away from the centre of the capital. Kingston upon Thames, in south west London, attracts the highest number of online rental searches every day, with each advertised property attracting 10 views a day. This compares to 4.6 for flats and houses in the City of London, the region with the lowest rental demand, according to online property company Rentify, which analysed data from all major property websites over the three months to the beginning of July. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

London Boroughs to Lose Thousands of Council Homes in First Five Years of New Right to Buy

Around 3,500 council homes would have to be sold in three London boroughs during the first five years of the government’s new right to buy.  Local authorities, including Camden, Haringey, Islington and Enfield, commissioned research ahead of the Queen's Speech to investigate how much of their 'higher-value' housing stock would be at risk from the policy. They found;

·         Selling off empty properties is not likely to be enough to pay for the right to buy discounts, to compensate housing associations for loss of asset, to build replacement homes and also contribute to a brownfield fund.

·         There would be an estimated time lag of at least two years from the sale of homes to replacement ones being built.

·         Families unable to get a council tenancy would face the prospect of remaining in overcrowded homes

·         Homeless households would have to enter or remain in temporary accommodation

Read more on 24dash.

London Boroughs Launch High Court Challenge against Affordable Rent

Nine London boroughs are bringing a High Court challenge against the Mayor of London in a bid to protect genuinely affordable rents for local people. For many years, boroughs have been able to ensure new affordable housing is provided at rents local people can afford. Typically, in inner London that is 30% to 40% of market levels.  However, the mayor is seeking to impose mandatory 'affordable' rents in new housing of up to 80% of the market rate, refusing to allow boroughs to negotiate lower rents that local people can afford. The boroughs will argue that rents at 80% of market levels will be unaffordable for many local people. They are also arguing that the Mayor of London was wrong to treat London as a single housing market, when there are in fact many different housing markets across the city. Read more on 24dash.

Councils Re-Housing Homeless Outside Home Boroughs

London councils are rapidly accelerating the re-housing of homeless households outside their home boroughs. In the year to April, 10,832 households were re-housed in this way – a 16% rise on the previous 12 months. Most left the more affluent districts of inner London for the cheaper outer suburbs, although an increasing number of London's homeless are being moved to towns outside the capital.  The "destination" boroughs have said the influx of households has put a significant strain on local services. Councillors in Enfield in outer London, where more properties and B&B rooms are secured by London authorities than anywhere else, have said the demand from inner London authorities is pushing up private rents and placing untenable pressure on school places.  "The pressure will not abate," said Edward Smith, a Conservative councillor in Enfield. "Before long we will have to build more secondary schools."  The Labour leader of Slough council, Robert Anderson, said: "If authorities put people in our area with complex needs, or even just families; they need to inform us. If we know where they have come from we can make sure the borough does not shirk responsibilities and just pass on their more difficult clients. You can't just pitch up halfway through a year and expect to get a school place. It's not McDonald's."  Read more on the Guardian website.