BEIS Reveals Details Of £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund

The government’s £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is likely to be distributed in four waves over the next decade. The department plans to offer an initial wave of £60m to the sector either in the summer or autumn this year. This £60m has already been confirmed by The Treasury as part of last year’s Spending Review and must be spent during this financial year. Beyond that BEIS is planning to release funding as part of “three-year waves”, with each of the waves being worth over £1bn, based on the assumption that more funding is given via the Spending Review. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/beis-reveals-details-of-38bn-social-housing-decarbonisation-fund-69869#:~:text=BEIS%20reveals%20details%20of%20%C2%A33.8bn%20Social%20Housing%20Decarbonisation%20Fund,-News04.03.21&text=He%20said%20this%20was%20based,in%20its%202019%20election%20manifesto

Budget 2020: LGA Responds To Housing Announcements

Responding to the Budget Cllr David Renard, the LGA’s housing spokesman, said: “Investment in the Affordable Homes Programme is a positive step, but it is vital the programme is re-focussed towards building homes for social rent. We are also pleased the Government acted to cut the interest rates for investment in social housing. It is good the Government has announced further funding to get people sleeping rough off the streets and into safe and warm accommodation. With over two thirds of councils spending more than they planned to on tackling homelessness, it is vital the Government follows this with long-term funding for homeless prevention in the Spending Review.” Read more on the LGA website.

https://www.local.gov.uk/budget-2020-lga-responds-housing-announcements

Social Housing Snubbed At Tory Conference

After the snub of the Spending Review, the sector had another let-down at the Tory conference. At face value, a ‘major new initiative’ apparently being announced by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick was little more than a reiteration of plans to boost shared ownership purchase. Jenrick went with the “new national model for shared ownership” allowing the purchase in 1% increments while paying a subsidised rent on the rest – helping thousands of lower earners step on to the housing ladder. Which is what was announced last month as a “new national model” for shared ownership. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/social-housing-set-for-another-snub-at-tory-conference/

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

Spending Round: MHCLG Budget Rises 2.7%, But Little For Housing

The MHCLG will see its budget rise marginally to £1.64bn next year, following Spending Round announcements that made little mention of housing. The budget increase for day-to-day spending in 2020/21, up from £1.57bn in 2019-20, represents a 2.7 per cent ‘real terms’ increase, based on government calculations. It includes an additional £54m to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping, and £24m in additional funding for the Building Safety Programme to support the new building safety regime. The budget also promised “continued support to increase home ownership”, including through the Help to Buy equity loan. The current Help to Buy scheme is due to end in 2021. Read more on the Social Housing website.

https://www.socialhousing.co.uk/news/spending-round-mhclg-budget-rises-27-but-little-for-housing-63055?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Spending Round: Government Injects £40m Into DHPs But Is Silent On LHA Rates

An extra £40m in housing cost top-ups for private renters has been unveiled as part of the Spending Round, but no announcement has been made on future benefit levels. The Spending Round 2019 document, which sets out the budget settlement for each government department, includes a £106m package for the Department for Work and Pensions in 2020/21. Of this, £40m has been earmarked as additional funding for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) “to tackle affordability pressures in the private rented sector in England and Wales”. The spending documents make no mention of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) – the formula used to calculate housing benefit levels. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/spending-round-government-injects-40m-into-dhps-but-is-silent-on-lha-rates-63047?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

MHCLG To Consult On Mandatory Accessible Housing Standards

MHCLG is to consult on mandatory accessible housing standards in building regulations – ensuring new properties are built with good accessibility standards to reflect the needs of older and disabled people. The commitment comes in the Spending Review with Government having been warned of an accessibility crisis. And the Review also accounts for disabled adults to be direct beneficiaries from funding for adult social care services. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/mhclg-to-consult-on-mandatory-accessible-housing-standards/

Spending Review Plea Over Future For Local Housing Allowance

A new report from Shelter says the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) freeze should not only end next year as planned but have rates restored to at least the so-called 30th percentile – or cheapest third of local rents. The report From the frontline – Universal Credit and the broken housing safety net also wants a “robust mechanism” in place to keep LHA rates in line with at least the 30th percentile of local rents, regardless of fluctuations in private rents. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/spending-review-plea-over-future-for-local-housing-allowance/

MHCLG Housing Target Currently Unachievable

The government does not yet have “all the ingredients” it needs to hit its target of 300,000 new homes by 2025, according to a leading civil servant. Permanent secretary at the MHCLG Melanie Dawes has told MPs that the target is “very challenging”. Announcements in the Spending Review were key to working out how far the department could go to achieving its target, she added. Dawes told the Public Accounts Committee: “We have got a pretty comprehensive strategy but wouldn’t say at this stage that we have all the ingredients we need to get the 300,000 on the table. In particular, we don’t have information yet on our capital budgets beyond this Spending Review period.” Read more on the Public Finance website.

https://www.publicfinance.co.uk/news/2019/04/top-civil-servant-admits-government-housing-target-unachievable1

Spending Review ‘Must Push Social Housing Investment’

A sector doubling down on social housing delivery shows government how to “put its money where its mouth is” on similar investment through the upcoming spending review, the NHF says. Monica Burns, NHF Head of Member Relations, said the Federation’s latest supply stats show that in just three months, housing associations built around 11,500 new homes, 2,200 more than the same period last year. Of these, 85% were affordable homes, including 1,300 for social rent. “This shows that the sector is continuing to build now, but there is a risk that economic and political uncertainty could start to take its toll,” said Burns.  Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/stats-show-spending-review-must-push-investment-in-social-housing/

LGA: Two-Decade Social Home Build Could Have Saved Renters Billions

Building 100,000 government-funded social rent homes a year over the past two decades would have cut ‘billions’ from the housing benefit bill, new analysis reveals. The Local Government Association (LGA) said its new research ‘provides evidence’ for why the government should use the Spending Review to work with councils to ensure that the genuine renaissance in council housebuilding needed to ‘increase housing supply’, ‘boost affordability’ and ‘reduce homelessness’, is a success. According to reports, the LGA have also said that a boost in social housing over the last twenty years would have provided higher disposable income for tenants and generated ‘significant economic returns’. Read more on the LGA website.

https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/building-social-housing-over-20-years-could-have-saved-renters-ps18-billion

Department Overly Reliant On Favourable Outcome From 2019 Spending Review

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (the Department) has not yet developed a plan to secure their long-term financial future. It is not transparent enough about its understanding of the pressures faced by local authorities, meaning Parliament and the taxpayer cannot be sure that it genuinely understands or is addressing the issue. The Department is overly reliant on a favourable outcome from the 2019 Spending Review to address authorities’ financial issues. This is particularly complacent given that the previous Spending Review settlement resulted in many local authorities having to rely on reserves to fill the gaps in funding. This is an unsustainable situation. Read more on the Parliament website.

https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news-parliament-2017/financial-sustainability-local-authorities-report-published-17-19/

Affordable Housing: Finance – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Healey:  To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what funding has been earmarked for the (a) Affordable Homes Programme 2015-2018 and (b) Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21, broken down by budget heading.

Gavin Barwell: The 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme, announced in September 2014 under the Coalition Government, included £2.9 billion grant funding and £400 million loan funding. At the Spending Review 2015, Government announced the new Shared Ownership and Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21, with £5.7 billion budget including £1 billion for existing commitments from the Affordable Homes Programme 2015-18, in addition to the funding already allocated. At Autumn Statement 2016, the Government announced an additional £1.4 billion investment to the Affordable Homes Programme 2016-21, increasing the overall budget to £7.1 billion.

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what support he has provided to local authorities and the construction industry to encourage the promotion of self-build schemes for constructing new homes.

Gavin Barwell:We have a strong commitment to supporting and encouraging the growth of self- and custom build homes. The Government has implemented new legislation requiring most local planning authorities to hold and have regard to registers for those seeking to build their own home in a local authority area. Subject to Parliamentary processes, in the Autumn we will also introduce secondary legislation flowing from the Housing and Planning Act 2016 which will require local planning authorities to find and give permission to suitable land reflecting the demand demonstrated by the registers. We have made available £32 million in new burdens funding over the Spending Review period in order to support local planning authorities in meeting these new requirements. In the 2015 Spending Review, the Government also announced a £3 billion loan fund of which £1 billion is specifically earmarked for short term loans to support small and medium builders and custom build projects and is designed to provide further support for the legislation that we have introduced.

Report Calls For More Affordable Housing

As the housing crisis continues, first-time buyer figures highlighted in this year’s UK Housing Review reveal the significant need for government to focus housing policy and investment on a rented offer for households for whom home ownership is out of reach.  Figures highlight that government is investing a total of £42 billion in the private market, with only £18 billion spent on affordable rented housing - just 30 per cent of the total investment in housing.  The effect of the government's switch in priorities since last autumn’s Spending Review means that investment in affordable renting will fall to its lowest levels since the Second World War. Of the government's target for new homes to be built by 2020, only 12 per cent will be affordable rented homes. Read more on Housingnet.

Housing Estates: Regeneration – Parliamentary Written Answer

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Prime Minister's announcement of 10 January 2016 on sink estates, with what bodies he discussed the redevelopment of 100 sink estates; and on what grounds the sum of £140 million for that redevelopment was arrived at.

Brandon Lewis: The Government has been in regular contact with a wide range of stakeholders to maximise opportunities to meet our ambition to deliver one million more homes. The new Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, Chaired by , my Noble Friend, the rt. hon. Lord Heseltine, comprises a range of experts and will provide advice on how the £140 million loan fund can best be utilised, in addition to other private and public funding sources. The fund was allocated in the Spending Review assessment.

Homelessness: Finance – House of Lords Written Answer

Baroness King of Bow: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the announcement in the Autumn Statement, what level of funding will be made available to local authorities in 2017–18 to replace the management fee currently paid for each homeless household in temporary accommodation.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Spending Review and Autumn Statement announced that funding of the Temporary Accommodation management fee will be devolved to local authorities from 2017/18, giving them more freedom and flexibility in how they use this funding. Current levels of funding will be maintained and, in addition, councils will receive £10 million a year more.

HCA To Channel All Government Land Sales

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has been given a central role in plans to sell enough government land to build more than 160,000 new homes, after it was announced a separate new body would be created to take on ownership of government land and property. The Spending Review said the new body would be launched in March 2017. The HCA has now confirmed that all land marked for sale would be transferred to the agency from the new body. The HCA previously acted as the disposal agency for the CLG and had an administration role for other departments. The initiative is being delivered by the existing Government Property Unit, with the Cabinet Office as the lead department. Read more on Inside Housing.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Emily Thornberry:  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.126 of Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what funding for Discretionary Housing Payments he plans to provide to local authorities in addition to that announced in Summer Budget 2015.

Justin Tomlinson: In the Autumn Statement it was announced that additional Discretionary Housing Payment funding will be made available to Local Authorities, including those in supported accommodation. A further £70 million will be made available on top of the Summer Budget announcement across 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the cap on housing benefit for single claimants under 35 will apply to those in receipt of disability benefits.

Justin Tomlinson: The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the cap for similar tenants living in the social rented sector.