In the Headlines

Housing Quality Network News from around the sector – 28 September 2017

In the headlines

Regulator of social housing consults on Value for Money Standard

The regulator is proposing to revise and strengthen the existing Value for Money Standard and publish a supporting new Code of Practice.

HCA

The government has released a technical note for this consultation which can be downloaded here, as well as from the Housing Finance Network website.

Click here to view and respond to the consultation.

Report pushes closer collaboration between councils and associations

New initiatives to establish affordability and jointly-funded systems to manage allocations and lettings are among the report’s recommendations.

24 Housing

Download the report here.

Improving fire safety in high-rises after Grenfell blaze 'could take years'

Government document says completing repair work on buildings that failed tests will take far longer than the public expects.

The Guardian

Shock research reveals ‘little action’ by social landlords on fire safety

According to a survey, just 10% of social landlords have been in touch with tenants in person to talk through safety measures such as escape routes and fire doors.

24 Housing

General Election: Voters torn between concerns over living standards and identity

Low income voters were ‘pulled in different directions’ by concerns over living standards and identity at the General Election, according to the first in-depth analysis of this group of voters for the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Download the full report

Half of UK construction workers concerned about post-Brexit skills gap, survey shows

A survey by polling company OnePoll, commissioned on behalf of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), found that output from the UK construction market is expected to grow over the next twelve months. But 53% of construction workers deem labour shortages to be a serious challenge.

The Independent

Jeremy Corbyn backs rent controls as he declares Labour to be the new ‘mainstream’

Jeremy Corbyn pledged that Labour would tackle the shortage of affordable housing by introducing rent controls and cracking down on gentrification projects in which local communities are forced out by wealthy buyers. iNews

Policy, regulation and legislation

£23m announced to help communities have a say in new housing

The funding, which will be around £5.5m per year until 2022, will provide communities with specialist support to help develop a Neighbourhood Plan, including where homes, shops, green spaces and offices should be built and how they should look.

Property Wire

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

Size ‘has no impact on efficiency’, sector scorecard reveals

The pilot of the housing Sector Scorecard, which measures efficiency, has revealed “mixed results” for all associations no matter their size.

Inside Housing (register)

Build to Rent fuels 100,000 homes construction boom

Build-to-rent projects are igniting a construction boom in major cities across the country as investors pour cash into schemes.

Construction Enquirer

Labour conference to vote on balloting tenants over regeneration projects

Some residents’ groups have been calling for tenant balloting in response to unpopular high-profile estate regeneration projects around the country.

Inside Housing (register)

Housing statistics and intelligence

Average house price is now eight times the average wage, councils warn

The average house price in England is now almost eight times the average wage, sparking a call from councils to be allowed to invest significantly in house building.

Local Government Association

UK personal bank deposits growing at slowest rate since 2009

British consumers are dipping further into their savings amid a squeeze from rising prices and falling real wages, figures show.

The Guardian

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

More people will rent than own their homes in eight years, Economist believes

Sebastian Burnside, a Senior Economist at NatWest, believes that a major cultural shift in homeownership is on the horizon, with more private tenants than mortgaged homeowners in just a few years.

Landlord News

Welfare reform and benefits

Pension Credit: More than £3bn goes unclaimed

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is urging people to talk to friends, relatives and neighbours to ensure they are claiming Pension Credit. Nearly two million people claimed more than £6bn in the benefit in 2015-16. Yet £3.3bn went unclaimed, according to official figures, so take-up has been static for six years.

BBC

DWP to roll out landlord portal to help associations deal with Universal Credit

The Department for Work and Pensions has written to the National Housing Federation to notify them they will be rolling the portal out.

24 Housing

Ministers told to cut wait for new benefit amid evidence it is causing debt

Ministers are facing growing calls to slash the time welfare claimants are forced to wait before being entitled to the government’s flagship new benefit, having been warned some time ago by their own advisers that the delay is “beyond reasonable justification”.

The Guardian

Bromsgrove District Housing Trust is launching a new scheme to help single under- 35s cope with Local Housing Allowance benefit cut

Head of housing solutions John Whitman said: "The LHA ruling limited options for single, young people in need of accommodation and so we are delighted to announce our latest initiative dedicated to serving our local community and helping those affected.”

Bromsgrove Advertiser

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

Finance

Boost for Hammond as UK posts smallest August budget deficit in 10 years

Britain unexpectedly posted its smallest budget deficit for any August since 2007, helped by record sales tax revenues that could give finance minister Philip Hammond room to relax his grip on spending in an upcoming budget.

Reuters

Moody's downgrades UK's rating to Aa2, changes outlook to stable

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the United Kingdom's long-term issuer rating to Aa2 from Aa1 and changed the outlook to stable from negative. The UK's senior unsecured bond rating was also downgraded to Aa2 from Aa1.

Moody’s

Bank warned not to raise interest rates amid squeeze on households

Ex-MPC member David Blanchflower says there is ‘absolutely no basis’ for Bank of England to raise rates as early as November.

The Guardian

Civitas looks to market for £350m to fund social housing purchases

The firm will go to the market to raise the money less than a year after it raised a similar amount when it floated on the London Stock Exchange.

The Telegraph

Milton Keynes Council to invest £54m in council housing stock

The investment will see 76 new council houses built and around another 40 homes purchased.

About Milton Keynes

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

Human Resources

‘Bleak picture’ for tenants as August rent costs rise

“Landlords have had a rough ride at the hands of policy changes, and it’s becoming clear that these additional costs are being passed onto tenants.”

24 Housing

Over a quarter of adoptive families in crisis, survey shows

More than half of those surveyed reported living with a child who was violent, including being punched, kicked or threatened with knives. More serious incidents included hospital visits and sexual assault.

BBC

Grenfell family of five left to share one double bed in hotel room

A family of five was forced to share a hotel double bed after being released from intensive care following the Grenfell fire, activists were told.

London Evening Standard

Centenarians are fastest growing age group in UK, figures show

Number of 100-year-olds in UK has almost doubled since 2002, although overall rise in life expectancy slows.

The Guardian

Energy and environment

Extreme weather to cost UK billions and leave 2.5m homes at risk of flooding unless ministers take action, warns WWF

Report on the risks posed by climate change in 2050 warns there could be significant damage to the economy if it is not ‘future-proofed.’

The Independent

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

Fine homeowners who sell draughty homes, suggests report

Economic consultancy Frontier Economics says the money raised could underpin government funding for insulating the homes of the least wealthy homeowners.

BBC

Useful reports

Autumn Budget 2017: Submissions

In the lead up to the Autumn Budget 2017, various organisations have been producing reports on what they would like to see from it.

Local Government Association

Residential Landlord’s Association

National Housing Federation

Rebuilding social housing

A special supplement from the Guardian, with various articles examining the aftermath of Grenfell and what it could mean for social housing.

The Guardian

Frontier report proposes a programme of policies to deliver energy efficient homes in the UK

The report builds on the wide body of policy proposals that have been developed in recent years and proposes a package of policies to provide a coherent programme of actions to improve the energy performance of UK homes.

Frontier Economics

Download the report

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

Blogs and opinion

Why you should be talking Value for Money

Focusing on VFM is fundamental to sound business practice, particularly for social landlords whose main income comes from Tenants’ rent and service charges. Making this income go further should be resulting in social landlords achieving and even exceeding their objectives: quality services, providing more and better homes, investing in communities and keeping down costs for tenants.

TPAS Cymru

How affordable housing benefits the wider economy

Research showing direct benefits to the Treasury and the economy as a whole mean the economic case for investment in social housing has reached a critical juncture.

The Guardian

One way to get on the ladder. What is shared ownership and how does it work?

Latest Halifax research shows an average London first-time buyer must spend more than £410,000 on their starter home, and find a deposit of £100,000-plus. So shared ownership is perhaps the only option for young Londoners who don’t have family in a position to give them a six-figure leg up.

Homes & Property

Bring back the bungalow

It’s time to focus harder and more urgently on what older people really want, as the housing industry gears up to meet the needs of our fast-growing older population.

24 Housing

Old fashioned rent control: what is it good for?

Eye-catching retail offers on housing have become a party conference tradition, as much part of the furniture as the stuffy airless room or terrible phone signal. Today Jeremy Corbyn stepped up to the plate with his.

Shelter Policy Blog

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

Other news

Notting Hill Genesis names shadow executive board

Split 50-50 between the two organisations, the team will report to Chief Executive Designate Kate Davies.

24 Housing

'Twenty percent house price rise by 2022 if we get post-Brexit EU trade deal'

The stagnant central London property market is heading for a dramatic bounce if Theresa May avoids a “cliff-edge” hard Brexit in 2019, a leading estate agent forecast.

The London Evening Standard

Labour pledge to bring PFI contracts in-house alarms business leaders

Shadow chancellor receives standing ovations at conference but CBI says plan could send investors ‘running for the hills.’

The Guardian

Blog: Navigating the high seas of data protection

Thursday, 14 September 2017 was an exciting day for data protection practitioners. Why? It was the day that the UK government finally published its long- awaited Data Protection Bill (DPB) to apply the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into UK law and replace the existing Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA).

Scottish Housing News

Plans for UK’s second tallest skyscraper approved

Plans to build the UK’s second tallest building in Croydon have got the green light from local town planners.

Construction Enquirer

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930

Yorkshire Dales' Craven district is happiest in UK, ONS survey finds

Annual study of the nation’s wellbeing also finds residents of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire are Britain’s unhappiest.

The Guardian

Illegally demolished London homes to be rebuilt exactly

An East London council has ordered the owners of three conservation area houses that were illegally demolished at night to re-build them brick by brick exactly as they stood before.

Construction Enquirer

HQN Limited Registered in England Reg No. 3087930