Housing First Sees 200 People Spending Christmas Off The Streets

The government has claimed 200 people who would have otherwise been homeless will be spending Christmas off the streets due to the Housing First pilot. To date, pilot schemes in Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, and the West Midlands have helped 200 people into homes, where they have received vital support to recover from complex mental health issues, substance misuse, and the physical effects of living on the streets. Commenting on the government’s claim, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “Housing First is making a real difference to rough sleepers this Christmas. Read more about Housing First on the Speyejoe blog.

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/12/26/housing-first-is-a-costly-charade/

Universal Credit Will Double Homelessness In The UK? Yep!

Last week a significant piece of research comparing Universal Credit and Housing Benefit went largely unnoticed. Its findings were alarming and council landlords:

·         Issued 5 x as many possession notices on UC tenants than on HB tenants 

·         Took court action on 4 x the number of UC tenants than HB tenants

·         Evicted 3 x as many UC tenants as HB tenants

·         Saw UC tenant abandonments rise by SIXTEEN TIMES that of HB tenants

Read more on the SpeyeJoe blog.

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/07/30/universal-credit-will-double-homelessness-in-the-uk-yep/

Nottingham Association Becomes Latest To Join Housing First Scheme

Housing First models are continuing to gain traction across the UK. Now, Midlands based Longhurst Group have announced that they are the latest to join the scheme in bids to help tackle the issue on the streets of Nottingham. The Housing First model has been launched in Nottingham by Opportunity Nottingham, a service that works with people facing multiple disadvantage due to a mixture of complex needs; including mental ill-health, homelessness, substance misuse and involvement in the criminal justice system. Mark Garner, Project Manager for Opportunity Nottingham said: “Opportunity Nottingham is delighted to be launching this scheme in the City with the support of a number of social housing providers and Nottingham City Council.” Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/association-becomes-latest-to-join-housing-first-scheme/

and Speye Joe

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/06/03/widdecombe-can-cure-gayness-she-probably-thinks-housing-first-can-work/

Council Housing Company To Offer Rent To Buy

Liverpool City Council’s housing company is set to start building homes for a new Rent to Buy scheme. The company, Foundations, will start with a pilot of 14 new homes in Dingle in the south of the city if the council’s cabinet approves the plans at a meeting on 21 June. People will be able to rent a home at 80% of the market rate in order to help them save towards a mortgage to buy the property, with the option to purchase after 12 months and for up to five years at market value. The scheme will be available to people who live or work in Liverpool and are first-time buyers or have had to sell a home because of a relationship breakdown. Read more on the Speye Joe blog.

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/06/10/council-housing-oh-no-its-not-ethical-my-ae-shame-on-you-mayor-joe-anderson/

London Assembly Calls On Khan And Government To Push Ahead With Housing First

London Assembly members have called on the government and mayor Sadiq Khan to provide longer-term funding for Housing First to help homeless people. In a letter sent to housing minister Kit Malthouse, the London Assembly Housing Committee said the government should not wait until pilots in Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool have concluded before expanding Housing First funding. Another letter sent to the London mayor recommended a dedicated longer-term funding stream for Housing First projects. Read more on 

Inside_Housing and Speye_Joe

Sheffield Failure Proves Housing First Can’t Work Anywhere In The UK

A Housing First service in Sheffield has failed spectacularly as it could not find 10 suitable and affordable properties from either private or social landlords in a city of over half a million people and 240,000 households and properties. The Housing First model can’t even find housing in a low rent cost housing area such as Sheffield.  If a miserly 10 suitable properties cannot be found in Sheffield then what chance do the larger scale Housing First models to be operated in Liverpool and Manchester have and both of those cities have fewer housing properties than Sheffield? Read more on the Speye Joe blog.

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/03/08/sheffield-failure-proves-housing-first-cant-work-anywhere-in-the-uk/

UK Social Landlords Rehouse “The Homeless?”They Don’t As The Facts Show!

1.       Last years data reveal UK housing associations let 167,000 general needs properties and UK councils let 110,000 – a combined social housing total of 268,000

2.       Council and housing association landlords allocated 28% of this 268,000 figure to rehouse homeless persons / families each year.  This is 75,000 per year

3.       UK homeless numbers have a 425,000 rehousing need each year

Therefore the UK’s social landlords only rehouse 17.6% of the homeless persons and families that the UK creates each year as that is all they CAN rehouse! Read more on the Speye Joe blog.

https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2019/02/14/uk-social-landlords-rehouse-the-homelessthey-dont-as-the-facts-show/