Social Landlords Should Buy From ‘Over-Stretched’ Private Landlords

Social landlords should be supported to buy up homes from “overstretched” private landlords, the Affordable Housing Commission (AHC) has said. In an open letter Lord Richard Best, chair of the AHC, called for more investment in social housing to stimulate the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Housing associations and councils should be helped to build more, acquire unsold new builds and “buy from over-stretched buy-to-let landlords exiting the market”, he wrote. The National Residential Landlords Association has claimed that many private landlords will be forced to leave the market in the face of a five-month eviction ban imposed to protect renters during the coronavirus crisis. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/social-landlords-should-buy-from-over-stretched-private-landlords-says-affordable-housing-commission-66970

Lack Of Political Focus On Elderly Housing Could ‘Cost UK Billions’

A lack of political action on elderly housing could “cost the UK billions” if not properly addressed, Lord Richard Best has said. With social care being provided increasingly in the home, it is estimated that some 400,000 ‘lifetime homes’ are now required to meet the demands of an ageing population. According to Shelter, there are currently over two million older people living in non-decent properties. And the Local Government Association forecast the number of over-65s whose day-to-day activities are significantly limited will reach three million by 2025, a rise of almost 30%. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/lack-of-political-focus-on-elderly-housing-could-cost-uk-billions/

Housing For Ageing Population At ‘Crisis Point’

A lack of action in working to meet the market needs of an ageing population was the view shared by many of those in attendance at HOMES UK 2019. Addressing delegates on the conference’s second day, Lord Best said that although we are currently living in crisis, “the worst is yet to come.” Lord Best cited figures showing that 75% of over 65’s are home owners – but said that the number is decreasing to figures of 63%. A Parliamentary inquiry estimated that more than one million low cost rented homes will be needed to adequately house older people by the late 2040s – an average of 38,000 homes a year. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/housing-for-ageing-population-at-crisis-point/

Seminar Shines Spotlight On Need For Social Housing

Savills Annual Housing Seminar pitched social housing as crucial to the future landscape of the housing sector. Speaking at the seminar in London, Lord Best captured general sentiment when he urged for a regrowth of the social housing sector. He said: “The social sector needs to build itself up more dramatically. The private-rented sector has exceeded the capacity for what it can do…We have to see a regrowth of the social sector.” Lord Best cited figures showing that social housing has declined by half over a 50-year period (currently 17% of housing supply), while there has been around a 100% increase in the growth of the private-rented sector (currently around 20% of housing supply). Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/savills-seminar-shines-spotlight-on-need-for-social-housing/

Freeze On Local Housing Allowance Rates ‘Must Be Scrapped’

The freeze on LHA rates must be scrapped to open up the private rented sector to the homeless, according to crossbench peer, Lord Best.  This year is the second year of the Government’s freeze on LHA rates. In the Summer Budget 2015 the Chancellor announced that LHA rates –  set at the 30th percentile point for local market rents – would be frozen at the 2016/17 level  for four years even if market rose over that period. This freeze also applies where housing costs are paid through Universal Credit. This has led to fears that fewer landlords will be willing to accommodate tenants on benefits – particularly against a backdrop of rising rents and increasing regulatory costs. Read more on the RLA website.

Housing: Under-occupancy Charge – Parliamentary Oral Answer

Lord Best (CB): My Lords, in relation to the evidence that the Minister mentions, can he give us an update on the consultation with me and others that he promised when noble Lords rejected the so-called bedroom tax repeatedly and firmly? When will that research programme be the subject of consultation with us? When is it likely to be concluded? Will he accept the evidence if it shows that what he calls the “scare stories” turn out to be true and that a good deal of disruption and hardship is caused by this measure?

Lord Freud: My Lords, as the noble Lord knows, an elaborate programme of research is going on around this measure and will take place over a two-year period. Regular reports will be provided. I believe that the first interim reports are coming out in the spring. I will, of course, be pleased to talk to the noble Lord about the research and will give a great deal of attention to what we find. If there are concerns, we will match them. As noble Lords will know, we have made changes to the discretionary housing payments system this year to reflect some of the early concerns that have developed and we have found an extra £35 million for that.

Peers Win Council Tax Benefit Review

Peers have defeated the government on an amendment to the Local Government Finance Bill.  The bill will abolish council tax benefit and replace it with a grant which only covers 90 per cent of the cost in order to save £500 million.  Now peers have voted to accept an amendment which would force the communities secretary to commission an independent review of council tax benefit reduction schemes within three years. The amendment, tabled by Labour peer Baroness Patricia Hollis, Liberal Democrat Lord John Shipley and crossbencher Lord Richard Best, was passed by 203 votes to 165. Baroness Hollis warned that the council tax localisation policy risks ‘poll tax mark two’. Read more on Inside Housing.

Labour Blocks Move to Limit Council Tax Benefit Cuts

Labour peers have come under fire for refusing to back an amendment which would have spared thousands of benefit claimants from welfare cuts. The Local Government Finance Bill, currently going through parliament, will see council tax benefit scrapped and replaced with grants which only cover 90 per cent of the cost.  Councils will be able to choose how to make up the 10 per cent cut but cannot reduce benefit for pensioners. This means in some areas councils will have to cut benefit for working age council tax claimants by as much as 20 per cent.  Crossbench peer Lord Richard Best has tabled an amendment to the bill which would allow councils to cut the single person’s discount, currently set at 25 per cent. This, argued Lord Best, would enable the Treasury to receive its £500 million savings without hitting the poorest people.  Lord Best said a cut in the discount from 25 to 20 per cent would equate to an 85 pence per week reduction in discount for single people living in the lowest council tax band and £2 per week in the highest band. Read more on Inside Housing.

Best Tables Council Tax Rise Amendment

Lord Best has tabled an amendment to legislation in order to allow councils to charge single-person households more council tax. Under government plans, council tax benefit will be scrapped from April and replaced with a grant to councils that only covers 90 per cent of the cost.  Councils will have to decide how to fund the 10 per cent cut, but cannot reduce the benefits for pensioners. This means working-age claimants will be hit by a disproportionately high cut.  Lord Best believes a fairer way of making up the £500 million cut would be to allow councils to reduce the level of council tax discount for people living alone. Currently they receive a 25 per cent discount off the council tax bill.  The crossbench peer has now tabled an amendment to the local government finance bill, which is currently going through the House of Lords. The amendment would give councils the ability to change the single person discount to ‘such other percentage as the billing authority may determine’. Read more on Inside Housing.

Lord Best Calls for Council Tax Rise for Single People

Single-person households would pay more council tax to spare millions of working age people from having their benefit slashed under proposals from Lord Best. The government plans to scrap council tax benefit from April 2013 and replace it with a grant that covers only 90 per cent of the cost.  Working-age claimants face much higher cuts than pensioners who are untouched by the reform. Landlords have raised concerns this could lead to tenants struggling to pay their rent.  Lord Best is seeking cross-party support to amend the Local Government Finance Bill in the autumn to allow councils to reduce the 25 per cent council tax discount for single-person households. He believes this would allow councils to redistribute money from non-benefit claimant council tax payers without having to cut support for low-income households.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Reviving the Economy by Moving Out the 'Bedroom Blockers'

Lord Best has come up with a new strategy that will, in his words, "solve all the country's problems".  Here's what the peer proposes: building 100,000 retirement, supported housing and extra-care homes a year. The trickledown effect will, in one handy flourish, pull Britain out of double-dip recession while also solving the country's acute and growing housing crisis.  The boost to the construction industry would, by his calculations, create between 300,000 and 500,000 new jobs.  Building 100,000 homes designed especially for the needs of an ageing population would also help to house 350,000 other people. By selling their under-occupied large family homes and downsizing to smaller, specialist properties, our older people could help a whole generation of potential first-time buyers who are priced out of the market.  Lord Best said many of these homes would have been untouched and undecorated for up to 35 years, and so would sell at the lower end of average market value and be affordable to families struggling through recession. "Nearly all of the 7.8m people of pensionable age have more than two spare rooms, making way for 350,000 family [members] with children."  Read more on the Guardian website.

Landlords Warned Off Bedroom Tax Loophole

Landlords risk breaching loan agreements if they reclassify properties to protect their tenants from the ‘bedroom tax’.  The possibility that social housing providers could redefine a three-bed home as a two-bed property to protect their tenants from the bedroom tax arises in new regulations, due to come before parliament in June. The regulations do not define what counts as a bedroom for the purposes of the under-occupation penalty.  The bedroom tax will see social housing tenants of working age with a spare room docked an average of £14 a week from April 2013.  Crossbench peer Lord Richard Best said the wording of the draft regulations created an opportunity for landlords to reclassify some larger properties as homes with fewer bedrooms to allow tenants to escape the penalty.  Read more on Inside Housing.