Ombudsman Candidate Grilled By MPs Over Comments On Social Tenants

London’s former deputy mayor for housing and the government’s preferred candidate for the Housing Ombudsman has been grilled by MPs over past comments about social tenants. Richard Blakeway faced a pre-appointment hearing at the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee. Bob Blackman, a Conservative MP and member of the committee, read from a 2009 Inside Housing article that quoted Mr Blakeway as saying: “The quality of life is a joke. Forty-six per cent of social tenants love their dog more than their neighbour. Why? Largely because of the total absence of the market.” Read more on Inside Houisng.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/ombudsman-candidate-grilled-by-mps-over-comments-on-social-tenants-62150

Social Housing Report Calls For Massive Overhaul Of Tenants’ Rights

Sweeping new powers must be given to social tenants as part of an overhaul needed to ensure a Grenfell-style disaster never happens again according to a powerful cross-party commission. It found that social tenants are being failed by a system that leaves them waiting an average of eight months before their complaints are investigated, even when their safety could be at risk. The calls for a once-in-a-generation rethink of tenants’ rights come from the Social Housing Commission, a year-long investigation brought together by the charity Shelter following the Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 people died. Read more on the Observer website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jan/05/tenants-rights-massive-overhaul-social-housing-commission-grenfell

Government Issues Commencement Order For Pay To Stay

The government issued the Housing and Planning Act 2016 (Commencement No. 3) Regulations 2016 on 3 October 2016. These Regulations bring into force various provisions of the Housing and Planning Act 2016 on 1 October 2016. Regulation 2(a) brings into force the part of the Act covering Pay to Stay which makes provision relating to rents for high income social tenants of local housing authorities and private registered providers of social housing. Publication of this Commencement Order has caused concern among some ARCH members as the government is yet to set out detailed Regulation and Guidance on how the scheme will operate. Read more on the ARCH website.

With Supported Housing In Limbo, Vulnerable People Face Homelessness

Vulnerable people who rely on supported housing to provide a home and extra support face a summer of uncertainty.  The government has recently completed a review of supported housing and the new work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, has said he will make an announcement in the early autumn. The government previously announced plans to bring housing benefit for social tenants in line with the local housing allowance (LHA) from 2018. LHA rates for a shared room or one bed flat are well below the actual housing costs in most of St Mungo’s supported housing services. The government has failed to clarify whether specialist supported housing will be hit by the cap, but delays to this decision leave people at risk of homelessness.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Survey Reveals Tenants' Rent Cut Concerns

More than half of social tenants to answer a survey said they are concerned about a reduction in services from their landlord as a result of the rent cut. Independent polling company BMG Research asked 408 tenants in England how concerned they are that the 1% annual social rent cut may lead to a reduction in services. BMG Research said the data was weighted to reflect the profile of adults living in social housing. The research found 56% of tenants are concerned about reduced services, of which 8% are “extremely concerned.” The remaining 44% of tenants said they were not all concerned. Read more on the BMG website.

Under Pressure: Social Housing In The Wake Of Universal Credit

The rollout of universal credit has spurred record levels of debt among social tenants. Social landlords in the north-west, where universal credit first launched, say the programme has increased financial pressures on their organisations and pushed some providers to compromise their core values. Bolton at Home calculates that supporting tenants on universal credit costs five times more than tenants on legacy benefits. It has taken legal action against 25% of its tenants on universal credit, compared with an average of 6% across its 17,400 other homes. With housing benefit, rental officers could plan around set payment dates for each tenant. Now, as housing payments go direct to universal credit tenants, the officers spend their time coaching tenants on what to expect, pursuing late payments and micromanaging the DWP. Read more on the Guardian website.

Fears Over 'LHA Cap' Impact On Under-35s

Eight in 10 housing benefit awards for single social tenants under the age of 35 are over the proposed ‘Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap’, according to research by Shelter. The charity has used government figures to quantify the potential impact on young single people of plans to cap housing benefit for social tenants in line with LHA rates. Single people under 35 would only be allowed to claim the shared accommodation rate which is often lower than housing benefit awards. The policy only applies to new tenancies from April 2016 and does not kick in until 2018. Shelter analysis shows 136,191 housing benefit awards made to single under-35s in social housing in August last year were over the LHA cap. This is 76% of the total number of single under-35s in social housing claiming housing benefit. Read more on the Shelter blog.