Government Confirms Suspension Of Evictions For Social And Private Housing

The Government has announced no renter in either social or private accommodation will be forced out of their home during the Coronavirus pandemic. Emergency legislation will be taken forward as an urgent priority so landlords will not be able to start proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three-month period. The government has firmly stated that “as a result of these measures, no renters in private or social accommodation needs to be concerned about the threat of eviction”. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/government-confirms-suspension-of-evictions-for-social-and-private-housing/

Payment Holiday Offer For Help To Buy Homeowners

The government is to give homeowners who used a Help to Buy loan to purchase their property a payment holiday if they run into financial difficulties due to the coronavirus outbreak. While no details have been published on how the holiday would work, Homes England said it would offer similar repayment breaks for those who were struggling to pay interest fees on their equity loans.

The news from Homes England follows the chancellor of the exchequer’s announcement on Tuesday that homeowners with standard mortgages would be offered a three-month payment break. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/payment-holiday-offer-for-help-to-buy-homeowners/5105021.article

Buy-To-Let Payment Holiday

Payment holidays for landlords with buy-to-let mortgages are among a package of measures introduced by the government in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The payment holidays, for up to three months, will be offered on the understanding the benefit is to be passed on to the tenant. Read more on the RLA website.

https://news.rla.org.uk/coronavirus-buy-to-let-payment-holiday-and-eviction-ban-announced/

Right To Buy Stats Reinforce A ‘Need To Suspend The Scheme’

CIH says latest MHCLG stats showing councils sold 2,417 homes under the Right to Buy scheme over the July-September quarter reinforce a need to suspend the scheme. The stats also show 1,160 homes started or acquired to replace those sold over the same period. The 2,417 is 22% down on the 3,115 sold in the same quarter of 2017-18, while councils received some £205m from the sales – 17% lower than the £247m in the same quarter of 2017-18. An MHCLG spokesperson said the stats showed councils have started work on 5,167 properties in the last year, which is up by 12 per cent on the year before. Read more on the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/news-article/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/news-article/data/CIH_calls_on_government_to_suspend_right_to_buy_as_new_figures_reveal_less_than_a_third_of_homes_sold_since_2012_have_been_replaced

Sector Urged To ‘Own’ A Future Ranking Social Housing Alongside The NHS

Housing 2018 has heard a call to rank social housing alongside the NHS – with poll citing strong public support – as the sector is urged to ‘own’ its future. CIH wants Right to Buy suspended to stem the loss of social rented homes and investment shifted from private housing to affordable homes – citing its own analysis showing 79% of the government’s £53bn housing budget up to 2020/21 being pushed towards the private market and just 21% going to affordable. In stimulating wider national debate over the future role and purpose of social housing, the project took on new significance when it was revealed that the public inquiry into the Grenfell disaster would not consider wider issues regarding social housing. Download a copy of the report from the CIH website.

http://www.cih.org/resources/PDF/Policy%20free%20download%20pdfs/Final%20Rethinking%20social%20housing%20report.pdf

Housing Policies Outlined In Leaked Labour Manifesto

Labour would suspend the Right to Buy until councils could demonstrate they can replace sold homes like-for-like, according to a leaked version of the party’s manifesto. News outlets, including the BBC, claim to have seen a leaked version of the party’s election manifesto ahead of its official launch next week. According to the document, which is circulating online, Labour plans to moderate its pledge to suspend the Right to Buy. The leaked manifesto says councils will be allowed to continue selling homes under the policy if they can demonstrate a plan for like-for-like replacement. Read more on Inside Housing.

DWP Finally Acts To End Housing Benefit 'Maladministration' Scandal

The work and pensions secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, has belatedly acted to end a bureaucratic bungle which caused thousands of sanctioned jobseekers to wrongly incur rent arrears and face eviction.  Guidance slipped out by the DWP last week clarifies that local authorities should not automatically stop a claimant’s housing benefit payment in the event of them having their unemployment benefit stopped by job centre officials.  The problems were caused by DWP computer systems wrongly informing local authority housing benefit departments that a claimant’s job seeker benefit had been cancelled when it had in fact been temporarily suspended. Read more on the Guardian website.

End In Sight for Right to Buy In Wales

Swansea Council has been given permission by the Welsh Government to suspend the right to buy for five years to help it tackle local housing pressures. The decision comes as Wales seeks views from the public on plans to ditch the controversial policy across the entire country. Earlier this year, the Welsh Government published a White Paper setting out the intention to end Right to Buy and Right to Acquire in order to protect Wales’ social housing stock. The consultation closes on 16 April. Read more on the South Wales Argus website.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Stephen Timms:   To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Government's commitment in its response to the Oakley Review, Cm 8904, to implement an IT solution so that local authorities are given the information they need to suspend housing benefit only in cases where it is appropriate to do so, what progress has been made in implementing such a

solution; whether the planned implementation date of Autumn 2014 was achieved; and if he will make a statement.

Esther McVey: Following Matthew Oakley’s report we have implemented a number of improvements to communications to ensure that claimants understand the sanctions process and can take the necessary action. An investigation of housing benefit with local authorities showed that the IT solution is working to specification and correct notifications are being sent. As a safeguard we have also improved guidance to ensure that staff advise all claimants, when sanctioned, to inform their local authority so that their housing benefit is not inadvertently stopped. We will continue to monitor the position in cooperation with local authorities.

Lib Dems Call for Councils to Be Able To Suspend Right to Buy

The president of the Liberal Democrats has called on the housing minister to give councils the power to suspend the right to buy policy. Fresh on the heels of fellow Lib Dem MP Andrew George's successful private member's bill to amend the bedroom tax, Tim Farron said "in the true spirit of localism" Brandon Lewis should give local authorities the power to protect their existing stock. Figures from the CLG showed that 2,845 social homes were sold off under the right to buy scheme during April to June this year (2014-15's Quarter 1). The figure represents a 31% increase in sales compared with the same period in 2013-14's Q1, when 2,171 state-owned homes were sold off to private buyers. Read more on 24dash.

Call for Suspension of Right to Buy

Boris Johnson has been told to lobby for a suspension of right to buy on new council homes in the capital in a London Assembly report. The housing committee has called for councils to be given a ‘right not to sell’ where appropriate, and said the government should impose a moratorium on the sale of all new family-sized council homes in London.  The report says councils are struggling to replace homes which are sold, as it takes 1.6 right to buy sales to build one private home. It also criticises the ‘absurd situation’ of councils having to rent back old stock from private landlords who ‘abused the system’ by buying the house and then letting it. Read more on the London.Gov website.

ALMO Chief Suspended After Governance Fears

The chief executive of an arm’s-length management organisation has been suspended amid concerns about governance. Redbridge Council has suspended Sharon Standell from running its ALMO while an investigation takes place. The chair of the ALMO, Thomas Lewis, has also resigned. A council spokeswoman said: “Suspension is a neutral act to allow an investigation to be carried out, and does not imply any wrongdoing.” Read more on Inside Housing.