First Homes scheme
On 7 February 2020 the MHCLG announced plans to cut costs of a proportion of new homes by a third for first-time buyers. The Government says that the First Homes scheme will give people the opportunity to buy a home in their local area, saving eligible first-time buyers, on average, around £100,000. The discount will be prioritised for veterans and key workers such as nurses, police officers and firefighters. The scheme will apply the discount in perpetuity, so that when the home is sold in years to come the new local buyer will be able to purchase it at a discount as well. For the announcement, click here. For comment by the Unite union, click here. For a response from CIH, click here.
Local housing allowance
On 5 February 2020 the Local Government Association published a report – Evidencing the link between the Local Housing Allowance freeze and homelessness – which found that more than 100,000 people would be protected from financial hardship and homelessness across the country if local housing allowance rates were lifted to cover the cost of renting.
The Government has confirmed it will end the LHA freeze from April this year and rates will increase in line with inflation. However, the LGA says that since rents have continued to rise over the past four years, the LHA rate now covers, on average, only 13 per cent of market rents. The LGA is calling on the Government to use the Budget to lift LHA rates to help provide people with more stable housing and tackle in-work poverty, homelessness and rough sleeping. For the report, click here. For a summary, click here. For the announcement of the findings of the report, click here.
Grenfell Tower: witnesses’ immunity request
On 10 February 2020 the Attorney General wrote to the core participants in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry in response to their request for a grant of immunity from having any oral evidence they give to the inquiry used in subsequent prosecutions against them. The Attorney General notes that the Inquiry Panel has determined that it will not be possible for the Inquiry properly to fulfil its terms of reference if witnesses do not have an assurance that the answers they give to questions will not be used in furtherance of criminal proceedings against them, and that therefore this undertaking should be sought. The Attorney General states: “It is important to emphasise that the undertaking sought, and which the Attorney will consider, does not amount to immunity from prosecution.”
The Attorney General will now consider this request and take the decision – whether or not to provide an undertaking – “in the public interest”.
On 6 February 2020 the Local Government Association expressed concern at the possibility that some witnesses to the Grenfell Inquiry could be granted such immunity.
For all correspondence (and other documents) in respect of the Inquiry, click here. For the full statement of the LGA, click here.
Living longer: implications of housing tenure in later life
On 10 February 2020 the Office for National Statistics published an examination of the implications of housing tenure for older people's finances, housing quality, health and accessibility. The main points of the article are:
- Almost three-quarters of people aged 65 years and over in England own their home outright.
- Younger people are less likely to own their own home than in the past and more likely to be renting. Half of people in their mid-30s to mid-40s had a mortgage in 2017, compared with two-thirds 20 years earlier.
- People in their mid-30s to mid-40s are three times more likely to rent than 20 years ago. A third of this age group were renting from a private landlord in 2017, compared with fewer than one in ten in 1997.
- If this trend persists into their older ages, in the future, older people will be more likely to be living in the private rental sector than today.
- Changes in housing tenure patterns could have implications for what life will be like for older people in the future.
For the article, click here.
Rough sleepers – Wales
On 4 February 2020 the Welsh Government published information on the estimated number of persons sleeping rough over a two week period in October 2019 and those observed sleeping rough on 7 November 2019.
Local authorities estimated that 405 persons were sleeping rough across Wales over two weeks between 14 and 27 October 2019. This is an increase of 17 per cent (58 persons) compared with the exercise in October 2018 with trends varying across authorities. Local authorities reported 176 individuals observed sleeping rough across Wales between 10pm on the 7 and 5am on 8 November 2019. This was an increase of 11 per cent (18 persons) on the previous year, with trends varying across local authorities.
Local authorities reported 210 emergency bed spaces across Wales, an increase of 14 per cent on the previous year. Despite this increase, the proportion of emergency bed spaces which were unoccupied and available on the night of the count was lower in 2019 (8 per cent) than in 2018 and 2017 (both 18 per cent).
For the rough sleeper count, click here. For a written statement by Julie James, Minister for Housing and Local Government in the Welsh Government, click here.
Legal Aid: Law Society survey
On 7 February 2020 the Law Society published the results of its Legal Needs of Individuals in England and Wales survey. The Law Society said that the survey demonstrated the public’s overwhelmingly support for legal aid. Public backing was strongest for funding in domestic abuse cases (71 per cent). For the report, click here.
Leasehold high-rise flats: who pays for fire safety work?
On 7 February 2020 the House of Commons Library published a paper considering the debate about who is responsible for paying for fire safety works on blocks of flats in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire. It has been updated to include progress in implementing the Government decision to fund remediation work for affected blocks with ACM cladding in the social and private sectors. For the paper, click here.
Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2020
The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2020, which come into force on 6 April 2020 (except changes in relation to Part 73 which come into force on 30 March 2020), amend the following Parts of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998: 12 (default judgment); 45 (fixed costs); 52 (appeals); 53 (media and communications claims); 54 (judicial review and statutory review); 55 (possession claims); and 73 (charging orders, stop orders and stop notices). Of particular note to housing professionals, rule 55.11 is amended and rule 55.12 is replaced, so as to remove demoted tenancies and oral tenancy agreements (cases involving them are now rare) from the accelerated possession process. For the 2020 Rules, click here. For the CPR 1998, click here.
Local Government Association: case studies
The Local Government Association has published a series of case studies describing its involvement in projects with individual local authorities. Those published recently are:
- Nottingham City Council – Listening to and engaging with private landlords: click here.
- Calderdale Borough Council – Prevention strategy for 16/17 year old homeless presentations: click here.
- Gloucester City Council – options to acquire and develop properties: click here.
- Future accommodation needs in Havering: click here
- Solihull Council – Housing delivery through joint ventures and partnerships: click here
- Watford Borough Council – Altering and adopting a housing allocation scheme: click here.
- Affordable home ownership in Suffolk Coastal: click here.
UK Poverty 2019/20: Joseph Rowntree Foundation report
On 7 February 2020 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation published the 2019/20 edition of its annual report on the nature and scale of poverty across the UK. The report found that “poverty has risen for children and pensioners over the last five years. Although employment has increased, in-work poverty has also gone up because often people’s pay, hours, or both are not enough.”
According to the report, there are regional differences in poverty rates, with higher rates in London, the North of England, Midlands and Wales, and lowest in the South (excluding London), Scotland and Northern Ireland. Two major drivers of differences in poverty rates are the availability of good-quality jobs and housing costs. The JRF says that ‘levelling up’ by the Government will require action on low earnings in places like the North East which saw the largest increase (2.2 percentage points), and on high housing costs in London and elsewhere. For the report, click here. For a summary, click here.
Poverty, work and housing: Resolution Foundation report
On 4 February 2020 the Resolution Foundation, in partnership with Clarion Housing Group, published a report – Working hard(ship) – exploring the nexus between poverty, work and housing. The report examines the intersection between housing tenure and in-work poverty. It finds that social housing tenants in work are more than twice as likely to live in poverty (34 per cent) as home owners and those in private rented accommodation (13 per cent). The report also explores whether housing tenure has an independent effect on poverty rates. For the report and a summary of key findings, click here.
Help to Buy
On 10 February 2020 the Government stated that 1,983 Help to Buy customers, who are due to be paying interest fees on equity loans, were behind in payments as of November 2019. The information was given by Housing Minister Esther McVey in response to a written question by John Healey, Shadow Secretary of State for Housing. Ms McVey said that the total interest fee of arrears amounted to £189,000, representing 2.7 per cent of the total amounts charged to customers’ accounts. For more details, click here.
Mental health in housing
On 5 February 2020 the Chartered Institute of Housing launched a new guide to help housing organisations improve their performance in respect of mental health. The guide, developed with support from the mental health charity Mind, “sets out six things all can do to make everyone who works in housing more aware and supportive of other people’s mental health issues – and better supported to look after their own”. For the guide, click here. For the press release announcing the launch, click here.
Households in temporary accommodation – England
On 10 February 2020 the House of Commons Library published a briefing paper providing background information on the increase in the number of homeless households placed in temporary accommodation by English local authorities and outlining various initiatives and issues associated with the increased use of temporary accommodation. The most recent statistics were published in December 2019 and cover the period April to June 2019. For the briefing, click here.
Assistance for housing improvement: April 2018 to March 2019 – Wales
On 6 February the Welsh Government released information on expenditure by local authorities on housing improvement, Disabled Facilities Grants and renewal areas for April 2018 to March 2019. During the period the overall expenditure on assistance for housing improvement (including Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs)) was £45.7 million. It remained relatively stable (decreased by less than one per cent), compared to 2017-18. Of the 22 local authorities, 12 reported a decrease in overall expenditure. Mandatory Disabled Facilities Grants with a total value of £32.3 million were completed by local authorities in Wales. This represents almost three-quarters (71 per cent) of the overall expenditure on private sector renewal. For the full statistics, click here.
Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill
On 10 February 2020 the Welsh Government introduced the Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill in the Senedd. According to the Government, the bill will amend the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016 to provide greater security for people who rent their homes in Wales. This will particularly affect those who live in the private rented sector and occupy their homes under a ‘standard occupation contract’, the equivalent to the current assured shorthold tenancy, after the 2016 Act comes into force.
This additional security will primarily be achieved by extending the minimum notice period for issuing a section 173 notice under the 2016 Act (the equivalent of the current section 21 notice under the Housing Act 1988) from two months to six months. Landlords will also be prevented from issuing such a notice until at least six months from the date of occupancy, meaning that those renting their home will have a minimum of 12 months security of tenure from the outset of their contract (representing a doubling of the current position). Further provisions will also ensure that landlords are unable to issue rolling ‘speculative’ notices on a ‘just in case’ basis, which can undermine the sense of security that those renting a home should be able to enjoy. For the announcement of the bill, click here. To follow progress of the bill, see Housing Laws in the Pipeline.
Residential leasehold reform – Wales
On 6 February 2020 Julie James, the Welsh Minster of Housing and Local Government, released a written statement on the Government’s work in response to the report of the Task and Finish group on residential leasehold reform. In particular, she announced a call for evidence on the issue of estate fees on housing developments which will run for 12 weeks, from 6 February until 30 April; for details, see Housing Law Consultations. She also addressed poor management of leasehold properties and announced that she had commissioned work to develop a new accreditation scheme for those companies which are engaged in the management of leasehold properties as well as housing developments where estate charges are in use. The scheme will be voluntary in the first instance with a view to it becoming mandatory in the future. For the announcement, click here.
