Council To Charge Leaseholders For Sprinklers

Wandsworth Council has previously committed to installing sprinklers in all 100 of its residential buildings of 10 storeys or higher. The council’s Conservative-led executive has now given the green light to proposals to attempt to recover the estimated £24m cost of the works through leaseholder service charges. A report by Brian Reilly, director of housing and regeneration at the council, said it has received legal advice that this route would be possible. The charges will be between £3,000 and £4,000 for each of the 2,358 leasehold flats set to have sprinklers installed. Read more on Inside Housing.

Tenant Homebuyers Free Up Council Housing For Homeless People

Wandsworth Council has seen a rise in the number of tenants using open market to buy homes, with help from the council’s local scheme. Forty seven tenants have taken up a House Purchase Grant (HPG) from the council in the past 12 months, up from 32 last year, 20 the year before that, and 31 a decade ago. This has saved an estimated £2.8m in temporary accommodation and housing costs, while a further 16 tenants have also expressed interest in an HPG. Wandsworth has also been the pioneers of Right to Part Buy, an innovative take on Right to Buy in the borough, which has been described as “a new form of shared ownership”. Read more on 24housing.

Council Launches Right To Buy Spin Off

Council tenants in Wandsworth who qualify for Right to Buy, but cannot afford it, have been given an ownership alternative. The scheme allows tenants to apply to buy a share of their home with a substantial discount. The percentage being bought would reflect the proportion of the current full £103,900 Right to Buy discount, so for example buying a 25% of a home share would mean a discount of £25,975. To be eligible, applicants must be secure tenants of at least three years’ standing who have not received housing benefit for 12 months before applying, and must also pass an affordability test. Read more on 24housing.

Second Borough Launches Right To Part Buy

Conservative-controlled Wandsworth Council is set to give its secure tenants the opportunity to buy a share in the equity of their home. If approved by the council’s executive committee on 28 November, tenants will be able to buy a minimum of 25% of their home from next year and pay rent on the remaining equity. The discount is calculated as a percentage of the full £103,900 Right to Buy discount, meaning the minimum discount would be £25,975. Tenants will be able to buy more equity, 10% at a time, up to the full cost of the property. The scheme mirrors the ‘Right to Part-Buy’ implemented by Labour-controlled Barking & Dagenham in June this year, under which tenants can buy between 25% and 70% of their property. Read more on Wandsworth Council website.

Council Rejects Landlord Licensing Plan

Wandsworth Council has abandoned plans to introduce landlord licensing.At a meeting to discuss the issue the authority noted that as there had been a reduction in the number of complaints about PRS homes and a high level of tenant satisfaction there was no evidence to justify bringing in additional or selective licensing. As an alternative it has come up with a 10-point plan to tackle criminal landlords and regulate the PRS using existing powers. These are:

·         Prioritising housing enforcement in the wards with the most complaints

·         Setting up targeted action days

·         Streamlining administration support so officers can concentrate on landlord / tenant activity

·         Improving information and advice on the council’s website

·         Reviewing processes for serving legal notices

Read the other five on the RLA website.

New Chair Of HCA Appointed

Sir Edward Lister has been appointed the new chairman of the Homes and Communities Agency, Communities Secretary Greg Clark announced. Sir Edward joins with years of experience of the housing sector. For the last 5 years he has been London’s Deputy Mayor for policy and planning and chief of staff at the Greater London Authority (GLA). His wide-ranging role there included increasing public land disposals and developing new finance models to sustain long-term investment in the capital’s infrastructure.  Prior to joining the GLA, Sir Edward was Leader of Wandsworth council for 19 years. Read more on the HCA website.

Tory Plan To Demolish Council Estates

Tory Appointing Lord Adonis Paves Way For Plan To Demolish Council Estates For Lower Paid Workers To Make Way For Expensive Housing. Wandsworth Tories have already begun this policy of knocking down council estates as in Roehampton estate in South West London 600 homes face demolition says GMB. GMB commented on the Tories appointment of Lord Adonis to oversee big buildings projects in the UK. Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary, said "The Tory Party claim to be the party of workers is nonsense. As well as taking £1,200 per year in tax credits from 3m workers, with the appointment of Lord Adonis they plan to demolish the council estates where these workers live to develop luxury housing for sale.” Read more on the GMB website.

Council in 'Social Cleansing' Row

A London council has been accused of “bribery” and “social cleansing” after it was revealed that it had offered council tenants up to £7,000 to move to Birmingham. The Tory-led council of Wandsworth in south London sent a letter to social tenants last week informing them that they could have “access to a garden” and “a private driveway” if they chose to move away from London. It said it would pay tenants £3,500 for a two-bedroom property, £4,000 for a three-bedroom property and £5,000 for four- and five-bedroom properties, as well as help with removal costs up to £2,000. Read more on the Guardian website.

Homeless Wandsworth Families to Be Housed As Far Away As Birmingham

As part of the borough’s homelessness battle the council has arranged 62 properties for private licence agreements, 19 of which are out of the borough. The areas include Kingston, Sutton, Reigate and Banstead, Merton, Croydon, Lambeth, Birmingham, Portsmouth City, Leicester, West Bromwich and High Wycombe. Last year, the council’s £5m project of buying properties for its homeless in less expensive areas of outer London was revealed. Now it has emerged that £1.25m emergency funding has been agreed to help with ongoing pressures and a second £5m fund will be used this year to buy large units of temporary accommodation inside and outside the borough. Read more on the Wandsworth Guardian website.

Council Offers Grants to Build 'Affordable' Homes

Wandsworth Council is offering grant funding to public and private sector developers to build 'affordable' rent homes in the borough. To qualify for a share of the £4 million subsidy pot, developers must be able to show the grant will be used to provide additional homes for low cost rent over and above the number already funded and approved. The council will earn 'nomination rights' for any homes built with the grant funds - with priority going to Wandsworth residents who meet the local eligibility rules. Read more on 24dash.

Families Rehoused To Avoid Bedroom Tax Penalty

Wandsworth Council said it has helped nearly 190 local families avoid the impact of the bedroom tax by getting them rehoused in more suitably sized accommodation.  Not all of the tenants rehoused were deemed by the Government’s under-occupancy rules to have one or more spare bedrooms and so at risk of cuts to their housing benefit, but were living in overcrowded homes and in need of a larger property. Conversely, 94 tenants whose homes were bigger than they actually needed and had surplus bedrooms have been helped to move into smaller sized properties that better meet their current needs.  Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Council Giving Locals First Refusal on Rental Properties

Wandsworth Council is taking steps to give local people first refusal on homes built for private rent.  The latest census found that the London borough is home to one of the highest proportions of young, upwardly mobile singles and couples in England and Wales - a group that the council claims needs more support.  The council says that it wants to help fuel the development of housing built for private rent, arrange with developers to offer newly-built homes to local residents and help people secure tenancies that provide a greater degree of stability and security, with rents that are not subject to unexpected rises. Read more on 24dash.

Council to Partner with Credit Union on Universal Credit

Wandsworth Council has agreed to enter into partnership with a credit union to help its residents cope with Universal Credit.  The flagship Conservative council is exploring the possibility of offering new financial services - including 'jam jar' type accounts - to help people manage their budgets under the new benefits system.  The council believes providing financial support services could help many claimants adjust to the changes – and prevent them turning to loan sharks or payday loan companies should they struggle to adapt to the new system.  Read more on the Wandsworth Council website.

Thatcher's Legacy

Nearly 40 per cent of homes bought under the right to buy in one London borough are now owned by private landlords. The GMB has found 6,180 of 15,875 properties sold by Wandsworth Council under the right to buy are now rented out privately.  The union has also discovered 977 landlords own more than one of these properties, with one owning 93. Using Land Registry data it has identified several of these landlords, who it describes as a ‘millionaire elite’.  Paul Kenny, general secretary of the union, said: ‘It shows private businesses making vast profits from the public purse while the people these homes were built for sit on waiting lists that never move.’  Read more on the GMB website.

GMB Slams ‘Fatcat’ Landlords Profiting From Right to Buy

Wealthy landlords are profiting from former council homes that were originally sold under Right to Buy (RTB), according to the GMB union. Focusing on the London Borough of Wandsworth, the union claims that 40% of ex-council homes in the borough are now owned by private landlords, including what it called a “millionaire elite”.  In a report presenting the union’s case, it said that out of 15,874 dwellings in council blocks in Wandsworth – where tenants acquired the leasehold under RTB legislation – some 6,180 homes are now owned by private landlords. That’s nearly 40% of the stock sold, the union said.  Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Tory Councillor Calls for 'Right to Part-Buy' Scheme

A housing cabinet member from a flagship Conservative borough has called on the government to bring in a ‘right to part-buy’ scheme.  Andrew Johnson, cabinet member for housing at Hammersmith & Fulham Council, described the revived right to buy as a ‘fantastic achievement’.  However he said: ‘Why can’t we have a right to part buy? Giving tenants the ability to part-buy their council home.’  Mr Johnson also called for greater freedom for councils to retain receipts from selling stock.  Wandsworth Council has called for the ability to offer the discount under the new right to buy as a deposit, rather than as a straightforward reduction.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Council to Trial Two-Year Tenancies

Wandsworth Council is to trial two-year tenancies as part of its programme to allocate housing on the condition tenants find work.  The council’s housing into work pilot scheme, first announced last year, will be launched in the autumn.  The pilot will see around 20 homes let under fixed-term tenancies lasting two years, less than the five years recommended by the government. Residents aged 18 to 24 years who are unemployed will be prioritised for the scheme.  As part of their tenancy agreement, residents on the scheme will have to take steps to find work or risk losing their home. They will be expected to attend meetings with council officers and attend training and voluntary work placements.  Read more on the Wandsworth Council website.

Tenants ‘Delighted’ With New Right to Buy

Wandsworth council says more than 1,000 council tenants have made enquiries about buying their homes from the council since the Government officially re-launched the Right to Buy.  The revamped scheme offers council tenants a discount of up to £75,000 on the purchase price of their home. Previously, the maximum discount in London had been capped at £16,000.  Since the scheme was relaunched the council says that more than 1,000 enquiries have flooded in and the number of full applications has more than doubled. It said that so far, the average discount offered to eligible Wandsworth council tenants is £72,000.  Read more on the Wandsworth Council website.

Rental Income Buyout for Self-Financing Councils Lower Than Expected

The government has finalised the amount that local authorities will have to pay to take control of their rental income, with many of the final payouts coming in lower than expected. After making the final calculations, the CLG has confirmed that 136 councils will be required to make a payment to the government, with the London borough of Wandsworth to make the largest payment of £433.6m. However, 33 councils that are currently subsidised by the government will receive payments to help reduce their inherited debt, with the London borough of Hackney to receive the largest share with £752.6m. Councils making the move to self-financing are expected to borrow at discounted rates from the Public Works Loan Board in order to service the debt. The move to self-financing will apply from 1 April 2012, with payments from councils due on 28 March 2012. Read more on the Guardian website.

Council to Link Tenancies to Employment

Councillors in Wandsworth have approved a pilot scheme that will see social tenants allocated housing on the condition that they find work. If participants fail to find work or enrol on a training course they could be stripped of their tenancy. The scheme will run on a trial basis next summer. The pilot will then be assessed to see if it can be rolled out more widely. The move is part of a wider initiative in the Conservative-run borough that will also see working families given higher priority in the allocation of council homes. The authority is using powers in the Localism Act that give councils greater freedom to set rules on allocations. Read more on Inside Housing.