Doubts Raised Over ‘First Homes’ Scheme

Industry leaders have questioned the delivery of the government’s proposed “First Homes” policy of selling discounted new-build houses to local buyers. The scheme was outlined as part of the Queen’s speech. The policy, which will see developers pay for homes to be sold at a 30% discount to local first-time buyers, has been compared to the failed £2bn Starter Homes programme, which ended up with no homes being built. Read why the new policy should be viewed with some scepticism on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/doubts-raised-over-first-homes-scheme/5103459.article

Government’s Housing Plans Are A Crisis Waiting To Happen

Government plans to scrap ‘no fault’ evictions, reiterated in the Queen’s Speech, will dramatically increase the risk faced by private landlords and lead to the loss of thousands of homes in the private rented sector, the National Landlords Association (NLA) has warned. The NLA, which represents 42,000 members, urged the Government to avoid creating an unnecessary crisis in the private rented sector by ensuring that reform of the court process is implemented alongside any change to tenancy legislation. Read why a crisis will occur on the NLA website.

https://landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/governments-housing-plans-are-crisis-waiting-happen

Government Commits To Abolition Of Section 21

The Queen’s Speech confirms the government is going for the full abolition of Section 21 abolishing the use of ‘no fault’ evictions, but will offer a “strengthening of rights” to landlords needing to gain possession of their property when they have a valid reason to do so. On this, the Renters Reform Bill envisages an improved court process. Clear on the intention to abolish section 21, the Bill introduces a package of reforms intended to deliver a “fairer and more effective” rental market. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/government-goes-for-abolition-of-section-21/

LGA Has Another Go At Right To Buy Reform

Having been snubbed by the Spending Review, the LGA is having another go at Right To Buy (RTB) reform, hoping the Queen’s Speech has scope for councils retaining all receipts and setting discounts locally to boost housebuilding. Pitching a seven-point plan to boost public services, the LGA proposes a new Housing and Planning Bill to empower council-home delivery – with provision for streamlining the local plan process and greater powers to act where housebuilding has stalled, scrapping permitted development rights – and devolve RTB. Read more on the LGA website.

https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/lga-sets-out-queens-speech-seven-point-plan-boost-public-services

Lettings Fees To Be Banned

More than six months after first suggesting the idea, the government has announced plans to ban fees to lettings agents in England. A new Tenants' Fees Bill was announced in the Queen's Speech, which will stop tenants having to pay money to agents. The commitment was announced by the Conservatives in the 2016 Autumn Statement. ARLA Propertymark, which represents letting agents, said the new rules would cost 4,000 jobs. However the measure is likely to pass into law, as all the main parties had it in their election manifestos. Read more on the BBC website.

Crisis Steps Up Prevention Duty Pressure

A charity is pushing backbench MPs to table a bill imposing a homelessness prevention duty on councils, after the measure was left out of the Queen’s Speech. Homelessness charity Crisis has opened talks with MPs who will be best placed to table a Private Members’ Bill (PMB) this parliamentary term to introduce the legislation. PMBs rarely make it into law, but the charity believes the move would put pressure on the government to reveal publicly where it stands on introducing the duty, which would overhaul the way single homeless people are treated in England. Read more on Inside Housing.

Government To Combine Building Funds

The government is preparing to launch a £3bn loan fund for housebuilding which will roll up existing schemes into a single pot. The government is close to announcing its Home Building Fund, which was trailed in the Queen’s Speech. House builders have been briefed in recent weeks by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) that existing funds will be combined to form one pot. An announcement will take place after the 23 June EU referendum, due to pre-vote ‘purdah’ rules limiting government announcements. The government will remove many of the restrictions and limitations on who can bid and what sort of scheme is eligible for funding.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Homelessness – Landlords Are Not The Enemy

The cause of homelessness is often blamed on landlords. With the possibility of new legislation to tackle homelessness being announced in the Queen’s Speech, meaningful reforms need to be made that engage landlords rather than making them a scapegoat. Figures from the CLG show that 29 per cent of people accepted as homeless in England cite the main cause as the loss of an assured shorthold tenancy.  The ending of a tenancy was the cause for homelessness for 15,420 people in 2014. In 2004, this number was 16,820. It reached a low of 4,580 in 2009 but has steadily been on the rise since. Plausibly, this is down to LHA rates not keeping up with market rents, among other factors. Read more on the NLA website.

Fast-Track for Watered Down Right to Buy Through Parliament

The government's much heralded extension of the right to buy to housing association tenants could end up being an amended version of an existing policy. According to sources, the government is looking to achieve its Queen's Speech pledge to "enable the extension of right to buy levels of discount to housing association tenants" by modifying the right to acquire. The right to acquire, introduced under the 1996 Housing Act, gives tenants of housing associations the statutory right to buy their homes at a discount to the open market value, in line with the right to buy. However, there are key differences. Read more on 24dash.

Lawyers Question Cameron’s Pledge to Housing-Association Tenants

Cameron’s pledge to offer a right to buy to all housing-association tenants has been questioned by housing lawyers. A briefing note accompanying the Queen’s speech stated that a forthcoming Housing Bill would “enable the extension of right- to-buy levels of discount to housing association tenants”. Lawyers say that the wording of the pledge would allow the Government to widen access to home ownership by extending the “right to acquire” rather than introducing a new right to buy. Extending the right to acquire would limit the sell-off. It would allow housing associations to protect properties that are specially adapted or designed for sheltered accommodation, and they could make a strong legal case for exempting all properties built before 1997, many of which were never funded by government. Read more on the Independent website.

Housing Bill

The Housing Bill was introduced in the Queen’s Speech on 27 May 2015. The aim is;

“Legislation will be introduced to support home ownership and give housing association tenants the chance to own their own home.”

The purpose of the Bill is to:

• Help provide more hard working people with the chance to own their own home.

• Increase housing supply and access to home ownership.

The main benefits of the Bill would be:

• Helping more tenants of housing associations to buy a home of their own.

• Increasing the supply of new Starter Homes (to be exclusively offered to young first-time buyers, at a 20 per cent discount below their open market value).

• Helping those wishing to build their own home.

• Ensuring local people have more control over planning.

Read the full details on pages 27-29 of the Queen’s Speech on the Gov.Uk website.

Labour Moves to Support Tories' Lower Benefit Cap

Labour has moved to support the Government's plan to lower the benefit cap to £23,000, according to a statement made by interim leader Harriet Harman. Responding to the Queen's Speech Ms Harman said her party was “sympathetic” to cutting the maximum amount a family can be paid in benefits by £3,000, a provision in the Conservative manifesto and in the Queen’s Speech. Labour's support for reducing the cap comes despite warnings from charities and researchers that it was already responsible for increasing homelessness and putting "children on the breadline". Ms Harman outlined several caveats to Labour’s support, arguing that the lower cap should not put children into poverty or increase homelessness. She said discretionary housing payments and other measures could prevent the problems seen so far. Read more on the Independent website.

Cameron Told Not To Pass The Buck onto Landlords

The new Immigration Bill announced by the Prime Minister David Cameron has been given a cautious welcome by landlords but with a warning not to pass the buck on to them for illegal immigration. Cameron announced a number of proposals to be tabled in the prospective legislation. The details of the Bill, which will be a central part of the new Government programme to be announced in the Queen’s speech include:

·         New powers for councils to crack down on unscrupulous landlords

·         To allow landlords to evict illegal migrants more quickly

·         To roll out the Right to Rent scheme nationwide

·         To introduce a new mandatory licensing regime

·         Consulting on cancelling tenancies when visas expire

Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Generation Rent Calls For Secretary Of State for Housing

Generation Rent has published its own ‘Queen Speech on housing’ policy document, sponsored by the youth network of the CWU trade unions. The document says that the housing crisis cannot be fixed without proper leadership, effective regulation, a commitment to “wean the country off rising house prices” and investment in public housing. The demands include a position of Secretary of State for Housing, protections for tenants when their landlord wants to sell the property, and a system of rent control and tax on landlords, which it says would raise money for a public house building programme. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Zero Carbon Exemptions Pose Risk

Exempting small developments from requirements to build zero carbon targets risks opening up a loophole which could undermine the scheme, experts have warned. In the Queen’s Speech, the government announced it would legislate to exempt small developments from a requirement to produce zero carbon homes by 2016. The government also confirmed that developers on all schemes would be able to use carbon offsetting where it was impractical to build to zero carbon standards. Small developments are yet to be defined for these purposes, with a consultation due to be carried out, but some house builders have suggested it could be in the region of 50 homes. Read more on Inside Housing.

Crackdown on Landlords Who Fail To Tackle Criminal Behaviour

New powers to clamp down on private rented sector landlords who do not take action against organised crime in their properties were announced in the Queen’s speech. The new offence, carrying a sentence of up to five years’ imprisonment, will apply to owners of residential properties who fail to report suspicions that premises are being used for crime. They could be prosecuted for ‘participating in an organised crime group’.  Organisations that adopt a ‘no questions asked’ approach and then claim in court they were unaware of the criminal activity will no longer be allowed to do so with impunity. The law will also apply to lawyers and other professionals. Read more on Inside Housing.

Developers Could Be Given Buyout Option to Avoid 'Zero Carbon' Standard

Developers will be allowed to buy their way out of making homes ‘zero carbon’ under new measures in the Queen’s Speech, Liberal Democrat sources have claimed.  In 2006, the Labour government said all new homes should be ‘zero carbon’ within 10 years – a measure which was due to take effect in 2016. But concerns that the cost could slow house building, ministers have decided builders will be allowed to fit homes up to level 4 of the new code for sustainable homes rather than level 5 – the accepted standard for zero carbon homes. If they choose to do this, however, builders will then have to pay the government a fixed fee based on an agreed carbon price to pay for offset schemes of the government’s choosing. Read more on Inside Housing.

Landlords Attack Government’s Immigration Proposals

Under proposals announced in the Queen’s Speech the Government is expecting private sector landlords to check that all their tenants are legally allowed in the country with likely fines for landlords found to be housing those not allowed to remain in the United Kingdom.  The Residential Landlords’ Association is warning that whilst immigration rules need to be enforced effectively, the reality is that tenants living in the UK legally will see rents rise as letting agents ramp up fees to cover the costs of further checks on tenants and to cover the greater risks new laws will bring. Such costs will inevitably be borne by tenants paying rents.  A spokesman for the RLA commented, “For a Government committed to reducing the burden of regulation it is ironic that they are now seeking to impose a significant regulatory burden on landlords making them scapegoats for the UK Border Agency’s failings.”  Read more on the RLA website.

Deregulation Bill

As announced in the Queen’s Speech on 8 May, the Deregulation Bill would be part of the Government’s agenda to reduce the burden of excessive or unnecessary regulation where primary legislation is required. The Bill will be published in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny. Many other regulations

are being scrapped and reformed either administratively or via secondary legislation.  The Deregulation Bill is of particular interest to housing providers in that it reduces the qualifying period for Right to Buy and Right to Acquire from five years to three years.  The full version of the Queen’s Speech is available at the Parliament website.

Developers Hit Out At Planned Localism Bill

Plans to do away with a regional planning system could put homes and infrastructure under threat, planning groups and developers have said. The decentralisation and localism bill, announced in the Queen’s Speech, pledges to get rid of regional spatial strategies and hand control of housing numbers to local authorities. However, the summary of the bill did not outline when this would happen or how a new system would be introduced to replace regional planning. Now planning groups and house builders say the abolition of regional planning could cause a drop in housing numbers unless the transition into the new system is carefully managed. They also warned that the loss of the regional planning tier would make it harder to coordinate development and infrastructure across council boundaries. Read the full story on the Inside Housing website.