Social Housing To Be Prioritised For Veterans

New measures to ensure access to social housing is improved for members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families have been announced by Housing Minister Christopher Pincher. The government has set out how councils should ensure members of the Armed Forces and veterans who need support with their mental health are given priority for social housing. New measures also mean former spouses or civil partners of serving personnel will be given extra support when applying for social housing. They will be exempted from rules requiring them to be a local resident before being given social housing in the area to ensure they are not disadvantaged when applying. Read more on the Gov UK website.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/social-housing-to-be-prioritised-for-veterans

Brokenshire Pledges PTSD Service Personnel As Social Housing Priority

Former service personnel suffering from PTSD or other mental illnesses will be prioritised for social housing, under proposals published for consultation by Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP. The measures will also help people who divorce or separate from their partners in the Armed Forces by exempting them from rules requiring them to be a local resident before being given a property. While the majority of military personnel transition successfully into civilian life, an overhaul of the system will also mean all applicants for social housing will be asked if they have served in the Forces at the outset of the process to ensure veterans get the help they are entitled to. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/brokenshires-housing-priority-for-ptsd-servicemen-and-women/

Poll Urges Government Against ‘Dogged Focus’ On Homeownership

Affordable housing is now considered one of the most important measures to improve public life in the UK, the latest Kantar Public Opinion Monitor reveals.  Almost a third (31%) of the British public now rank affordable housing as one of their top three priorities – only investing in health care scores higher. Affordable housing was placed ahead of other issues such as crime (27%), social care (26%) and generating economic growth (25%) on the Kantar Public Policy Index. The poll also reveals a deep dissatisfaction with private renting. Many respondents felt ‘stuck’ in PRS and unable to ever afford a home of their own. Read more on 24housing.

http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/poll-urges-government-against-dogged-focus-on-home-ownership/

Government Seeks To Improve Social Housing Access For Domestic Abuse Victims

The government has launched a consultation on new guidance for councils on how to help victims of domestic abuse access social housing. Under the guidance, local authorities would be told to prioritise domestic abuse victims in refuges for social housing. It also stresses that victims who have fled to other parts of the country to escape abuse should not be disadvantaged by allocations systems, building on advice in the existing guidelines.  Download the consultation from the CLG website.

Housing Money Wasted 'Propping Up Rents'

Taxpayers' money is being wasted on "propping up rents" in a "failing housing market", a report says. The National Housing Federation report highlights how money spent on housing benefit rose from £16.6bn in the mid-1990s to £25.1bn in 2015-16. It added that since 2011, no government money has been made available to build homes in England for low paid people to rent. The government said building more homes was its absolute priority. Read more on the NHF website.

Homelessness Reduction Act Receives Royal Assent

On 27 April, the Homelessness Reduction Bill became an Act of Parliament. The Act places a new duty on local authorities to help prevent the homelessness of all families and single people who are eligible for assistance and threatened with homelessness. Key measures in the Act include:

·         An extension of the period during which an authority should treat someone as threatened with homelessness from 28 to 56 days

·         A new duty to prevent homelessness for all eligible applicants threatened with homelessness, regardless of priority need.

·         A new duty to relieve homelessness for all eligible homeless applicants, regardless of priority need.

·         A new duty on public services to notify a local authority if they come into contact with someone they think may be homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Read more on Homeless Link.

Poll Shows Britons Support Action On Infrastructure

Ahead of the Autumn Statement, Ipsos MORI launch a new global Infrastructure study that finds the majority of the public think that Britain is not currently doing enough to meet the country’s infrastructure needs.  Some 60% of Britons agree that we are not doing enough as a country to meet our infrastructure needs and 76% are of the view that investment in infrastructure is vital to future economic growth.

·         Majority of Britons think we are not doing enough to meet infrastructure needs and 44% would back Government borrowing to meet those needs

·         Of all G8 countries, new housing supply rated worst in Britain

·         New housing supply is among public’s top priorities in Britain, along with rail and flood defences

Read more on the Ipsos Mori website.

Charity Calls For End To Letting Fees For Tenants

All UK letting agency fees should be paid by landlords who can shop around, rather than tenants - as is the case in Scotland, Citizens Advice has said. The charity said that renters in much of the UK faced rising fees as they had no choice over the agent they dealt with after finding a house or flat. Landlords, on the other hand, were able to choose between agencies to act for them when renting out their property. A landlords' trade body said better regulation was a greater priority. Read more on the BBC website.

Housing Slips Down List Of Public's Concerns

Housing has dropped down the list of public priorities following a surge in concern about defence, terrorism and foreign affairs.  The latest monthly Issues Index by polling company Ipsos Mori shows housing has dropped from fourth to seventh in the rankings of issues the public is most concerned about. The results show 16% in December considered housing a ‘most important’ issue, five percentage points down on the 21% for November. Concern about housing had increased substantially in the months of October and November, with 20% and 21% of the public citing it as a ‘most important’ concern in those two months respectively, the highest figure for 41 years.  Read more on the Ipsos Mori website.

New Campaign To Help Veterans In Council Housing

A new campaign is being set up to stop the “bias” against veterans getting council housing. Former housing minister Grant Shapps is the founder of the group, called Homes for Heroes Foundation,  aiming to ensure the best housing is available to veterans within the next four years, to coincide with 100 years since the original homes for heroes Housing Act was passed. The investigation into the campaign will find council housing priority is given to those with a strong local connection to the area and on the council waiting list. The campaign evidence suggests there could be a failing to apply statutory government guidance on prioritising veterans on social housing waiting lists.  Read more on 24dash.

Housing Now 4th Highest Political Priority For Public

For decades, housing has been a niche political issue only briefly flickering on the political radar, but now it sits squarely as one of the public’s main concerns. The October edition of IPSOS Mori Issues Index, the preeminent poll of the important political issues for the Great British public, has found that 20% of people in Great Britain (21% in England) mentioned Housing as ‘an important issue facing Britain today’. The IPSOS Issues Index began in 1974, and this is the first time in 41 years (since 1974) that this many people have selected housing as an important issue facing Britain. Read more on the NHF website.

Is Housing And Employment Support A Natural Partnership?

In recent years, supporting residents to prepare for and find work has been an increasing priority for government and landlords. However, there is relatively little current analysis of the characteristics of residents, the barriers that they face and ‘what works’ in supporting them. Our recent report, ‘Worklessness, Welfare and Social Housing’ seeks to address these gaps. It proposes a new partnership between government and housing associations to support disadvantaged residents to prepare for and find work. It highlights how housing associations are uniquely placed to provide employment support to those living within their homes and communities. They have a long term interest in the wellbeing of their residents and have strong social and business drivers which support moving tenants into the security and dignity of work. Housing associations are also major employers in their own right, with established supply chains which can provide further employment opportunities. Read more on the ERSA website.

Labour to Build 125,000 Homes with Help to Buy ISA

Labour has unveiled plans to build 125,000 new homes over the next five years using £5bn raised from a new ISA for first-time buyers announced in last month’s budget. Income from the ISA would be channelled into a Future Homes Investment Fund, which will form a key part of Labour’s plan to raise construction levels to 200,000 a year by 2020. This will be used to pump prime investment in Housing Growth Areas – new sites where local first time buyers will get priority  –  to unlock hundreds of thousands of homes. Read more on the Construction Enquirer website.

Charities Call For Review of Homelessness Help

Charities have written to party leaders calling for them to review the help given to single homeless people. The letter, signed by the chief executives of five homelessness charities and umbrella group Homeless Link, calls on the party leaders to treat the review as a ‘priority’, saying single homeless people often receive insufficient support. Under current laws, single homeless people are only entitled to support if they are judged to be in priority need. This, say the charities is leading to homeless people being turned away by councils without receiving support. Read more on Inside Housing.

Housing Affordability Ranked As Most Urgent Issue Affecting Councils

The cost of housing in the UK and its impact on local people is now the main concern for local government, ranking higher than long-held concerns about health and social care services in a survey of council chief executives.  A survey found affordability of housing was the area that most needed improvements according to 61% of local government chief executives, with adult social care (43%) and health care services (39%) coming second and third. Wage levels and cost of living (38%) and job prospects (36%) closely follow. At the opposite end of the list, parking (3%), community relations and antisocial behaviour (both 4%) were deemed the lowest priority. Download a copy of the survey results from the Solace website.

Social Landlord Defends Asian Housing Priority after Outcry

Social landlord Orbit Housing has been accused of discrimination after apparently giving priority to Asian people at one of its housing schemes. Online ads for one-bed sheltered flats at the housing association's Apni Haweli development in Chatham stated "Please note priority will be given to Asian communities" and "Preference given to asian (sic) applicants". The ads saw angry locals flock to social media to vent their fury. However, in a statement, Orbit said that it is "committed to providing homes to people from all communities and backgrounds to best meet their needs" and that it appreciated that "people from different cultures have different requirements and therefore we have certain schemes that provide services to best match these." Read more on 24dash.

Tory Council Has Created Housing Crisis

A Tory council's "coordinated policies to cut affordable homes" has created a housing crisis, a new study has claimed. The report says that by selling council homes on the open market, emptying and demolishing blocks of affordable housing, and allowing developers to make excess profits by including no low-cost homes in major schemes, Hammersmith and Fulham Council has fuelled a housing shortage in the borough. The report, prepared for Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter by housing expert Martin Peach, also accuses the local authority of manipulating statistics to hide housing need and classing households on incomes of £80,000 as a priority for rehousing. Read more on 24dash.

Housing Crisis Biggest Concern for Londoners

Housing has overtaken transport to become the biggest issue of concern for Londoners, a poll has revealed, as figures showed property prices have soared nearly 18 per cent in a year. The YouGov survey found 55 per cent of adults in the capital said housing should be a priority for Mayor of London Boris Johnson. Fifty-three per cent chose transport, 38 per cent policing, 32 per cent economic development and regeneration, 16 per cent the environment, and six per cent arts and culture. Those who took part in the poll were asked to name up to three issues of concern. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Make Ending Youth Homelessness A Priority, Says 60% of Poll

More than 60 per cent of British adults polled by a charity think the government should make ending youth homelessness a priority. The ComRes poll, carried out for Centrepoint, questioned the attitudes of 2,079 British adults with 1,247 respondents (61 per cent) saying they believe the government should make ending youth homelessness a priority. The sample included 270 British adults from London; 291 from the south east; 83 from the north east; 229 from the north west; 187 from Yorkshire and Humberside; 187 from the west midlands; 146 from the east midlands. The greatest support for the statement came from London and the south east. Download a copy of the report from the ComRes website.

Councils Fail To Prioritise Disabled Bedroom Tax-Hit Tenants

Councils are ignoring government guidance and failing to prioritise disabled people for payments to help cope with the bedroom tax, a study has claimed. Freedom of information requests issued by the Papworth Trust reveal 67 per cent (10,656 out of 15,938) of applications from non-disabled people are successful when applying for discretionary housing payment, compared with 59 per cent (3,670 out of 6,200) of applications from disabled people. The charity’s ongoing research also shows nearly 90 per cent of disabled people refused a DHP are cutting back on essentials like food and drink or household bills. Download a copy of the research report from the Papworth Trust website.