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Home , Welwyn Garden City, Welwyn Hatfield

Edition 1 2016/17 Overview

Welwyn Hatfield’s

Strategic Housing Report

New Housing Development Completed in Partnership with Garden City Housing Association

Welwyn Hatfield Council, The Campus, , Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk

Introduction

Welcome to the new edition of Welwyn Hatfield’s Strategic Housing Report. The information provided in this publication is designed to give an overview of the current challenges local authorities are facing in meeting the housing needs of local people; and provides an insight into the work the housing department has been doing to meet those challenges.

Housing Demand

Housing Register

All Councils have a statutory obligation to provide and maintain a “Housing Register”. This is a waiting list for all households who want a council or housing association home or who currently live in a council/housing association home and need to transfer to another. Priority for housing on this register is determined by the council’s Housing Allocation Policy. Our policy has recently been reviewed and we are currently consulting with applicants on the proposed changes. This consultation will end on 31st July and once the responses have been considered a revised Policy will be presented for final consideration at Cabinet Housing Panel. The table below demonstrates the number of applications that are on the council’s housing register.

Bedroom Category Number of Applications 1 bed need 975 2 bed need 582 3 bed need 303 4 bed need 46

Homelessness in Welwyn Hatfield

Addressing homelessness in the borough and its causes continues to be a priority for the council. Every local council has a legal duty to provide help for people who are homeless or likely to be homeless within 28 days.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk To be accepted as homeless by the council, certain criteria need to be met by law:

 you are homeless or about to become homeless  do you have a right to live in the UK and are you eligible for assistance?  can you be classed as being in priority need of help? E.g. o Have children living with you o Are pregnant o Are a care leaver age 18-21yrs o Are considered vulnerable medical or otherwise. o Victim of flood, fire or other disaster  Are you homeless through no fault of your own, or are you intentionally homeless?  Do you have a local connection to this borough?

During 2016-17 133 households were accepted as homeless. The main reasons for homelessness given by households assisted by the council are set out in the table on the following page.

Reasons for Homelessness Number of Households Parents no longer willing to accommodate

Loss of private rented accommodation

Violence including violent breakdown of a relationship Non-violent breakdown of relationship with partner Rent arrears

Homelessness Prevention in Welwyn Hatfield

Preventing homelessness is a key objective to tackling homelessness in this borough. During 2016/17 there were 393 households prevented from becoming homeless through assistance from the council. A new piece of legislation has just made its way through parliament1 that will place additional responsibilities on Local Authorities to prevent more homelessness in their areas. We have set up a project team to oversee the implementation of this new legislation.

In the Autumn Statement 2015 the Government announced that the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Temporary Accommodation Management Fee would be replaced. In March 2017 the new Flexible Homelessness Support Grant was announced, increased funding for local authorities to give them more control and flexibility to tackle homelessness. The allocation to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council is £201,592 (2017/18) and £228,271 (2018/19). Proposals for use of our homeless prevention funding allocation are set out below:

1 Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk Proposal Project Detail Tackling rough Enhancing the current partnership work between Resolve2, CAB sleeping and the Council to further tackle rough sleeping by resourcing “ongoing support” to secure and sustain a home Housing First A project to work with Druglink to support the Housing First Model model of supported accommodation, by housing people without pre-conditions of addressing their support needs or abstaining from drugs/ alcohol separating Housing and support needs Supporting From September 2019 all single people under 35 years will only Young Single be eligible for housing costs at the same rate as local housing People affected allowance (LHA) equivalent to a ‘Shared Room Rate’. We want to by LHA changes work on housing options for people under 35 years who will be restricted by their benefit entitlement to a room in a shared house Enhancing the We intend to increase our small budget, which is used by front Spend to save line officers to prevent homelessness. This pays for one off costs fund e.g. payment of a legitimate debt, a rental deposit or in any legitimate way that can prevent that person becoming homeless or help them to access accommodation, Increase support As households find it increasingly difficult to meet the criteria set to access the by landlords and agents, our officers work proactively and private rented innovatively in their efforts to prevent homelessness and either sector sustain or secure privately rented accommodation. We intend to enhance the budget to expand this activity

Temporary Accommodation

Households who are accepted by the council as homeless will be offered temporary accommodation (TA), this will be in the form of the Council’s own short-term hostels, and occasionally we have to place a small number in emergency bed and breakfast accommodation (B&B). During 2016/17 we have had an average of 62 households in TA. The chart below shows the trend in use of TA in Welwyn Hatfield, which has remained relatively static. Use of TA in Welwyn Hatfield 2011-16

80 64 61 69 65 68 60 40 20 0.25 0 0.5 0.75 2 0 Oct 11 - Oct 12 - Oct 13 - Oct 14 - Oct 15 - Sept 12 Sept 13 Sept 14 Sept 15 Sept 16

Ave No.s in TA No's in B&B

2 Charity that supports drug and alcohol dependent individuals and their families Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk Fig. 3 Use of TA in Welwyn Hatfield over the past 5 years3

Countywide Homelessness and Homelessness Preventions

It was calculated that across 1243 households were accepted as homeless Between Many of our neighbouring in Hertfordshire are experiencing a significant increase in demand for housing and are having to resort to using expensive private rented sector accommodation to increase their supply for TA and qualifying offers of accommodation, fortunately in Welwyn Hatfield, housing supply is still meeting the demand and we have not had to rely on the private rented sector. The chart below shows the comparative figures for homelessness acceptances, homelessness preventions and use of TA across Hertfordshire.

District / Borough Numbers of Homelessness Council Homelessness Preventions Acceptances 2016/17 256 43 151 561 East Herfordshire 41 132 105 494 Nrth Hertfordshire 76 163 131 48 120 320 Three Rivers 63 24 167 71 Welwyn Hatfield 133 343 Total for Herts. 1243 2199 Fig. 4 Number of Homelessness Acceptances and Preventions and in Hertfordshire 2016/174

Demand in the Private Sector

For many people who want to form their own new households, the affordable housing options available to them are extremely limited. Private Rented Sector

Use of the private rented sector has been on the increase for several years now, but private sector market rents in Welwyn Hatfield are quite high (median rent per month £1,325.00).

3 DCLG P1E Statistics live table 792 4 DCLG P1E Statistics live table 792 & Local authority level Homelessness Statistics Qtr 1-4 2016/17 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk

Area Welwyn Hatfield Median Rent P/M5

Room Rate £433 Studio £700 1 Bed £800 2 Bed £1,075 3 Bed £1,350 4 Bed + £2,000

Add to this the associated costs of advance deposit payment and administration fees required to secure private rented accommodation and the option becomes unaffordable for most individuals with a single household income and even some households with a dual income.

Owner Occupation

The preferred housing option for the majority of the country is home-ownership, however this is now unobtainable for many first time buyers in this area. House prices in the region have risen by 5.3% over the last year, and continue to rise. The average house price in the East of England6 at April 2017 was £331,780 higher than the national average which is £313,655. Mortgages are harder to obtain and the deposit required to secure a mortgage has increased by 88% since 2007.

The average deposit required nationally was reported last year to be £33,0007, and significantly higher if you live in the south and east regions of the country. It was also reported that 26% of new borrowers now secure a term of 35yrs for their mortgages as opposed to the traditional 25 years

These challenges faced by new buyers on the open market have led to an increased interest in new home ownership models such as “starter homes” and “shared ownership” and more recently “rent to buy schemes”.

In Hertfordshire there is a register held of buyers interested in this type of house purchase scheme maintained by Pilgrims HA. The register currently stands at 1474 households who have expressed an interest in proceeding with this type of scheme, and all of which have included Welwyn Hatfield in their list of areas under consideration. Only those with a local connection, i.e. households who live or work in the borough will be considered for schemes that are developed in this area, there are currently 726 households on the list with a local connection to Welwyn Hatfield.

The table below sets out the breakdown of nominees for shared ownership on the list.

5 Valuation Office June 2017 PRS Statistical Release 6 Rightmove House Price Index April 2017 7 Halifax Report Jan 2016 Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk

No. of Nominees for shared-ownership schemes in Welwyn Hatfield who have a local connection to the Borough

Applicants who live and work in WH 192 217 Applicants who live but don't work in WH

317 Applicants who work but do not live in WH

Welwyn Hatfield’s Statistics from Bedfordshire Pilgrims HA Shared ownership register. Housing Supply In order to meet the housing needs of local people you need to have an adequate supply of affordable homes. Welwyn Hatfield has made a commitment in its Housing and Homelessness Strategy to make best use of its housing stock and prioritise the supply of affordable homes.

Social Housing

Social housing is housing owned by a Council or Registered Housing Provider. These were historically let on a secure or assured tenancy, for a social or affordable (up to 80% of current local housing market rents) rent. Welwyn Hatfield has a good supply of social housing in its area.

The shortage of homes nationally, incited the Government to introduce legislation in 2011 that allowed all Social Rented Landlords the flexibility not to offer secure lifetime tenancies, instead they can offer fixed term tenancies and review the level of housing need at the end of each term. Welwyn Hatfield Council made the decision to offer flexible tenancies from 2013 to make best use of its housing stock.

Council Housing Stock -

The Council has a total stock of 8913 properties. Of these 7223 are general needs housing and 1690 are older persons dwellings (sheltered). This figure includes 75 properties that have been bought under our acquisitions scheme to replenish stock. Our housing stock numbers are diminishing year on year, whilst we attempt to replace our stock, we inevitably sell more than we buy or develop. The table below sets out the size of the properties, within the councils housing stock by bedroom category.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk

BREAKDOWN OF COUNCIL STOCK BY BEDROOM CATEGORY

Studio 1 bed 2 bed 3 bed 4 bed 5 bed 6 bed

3870

1826

1043

861

821

288

181

11

4 4 4

0 0 0

GENERAL NEEDS S H E L T E R E D

Right to Buy The right to buy your council home was first introduced through the Housing Act 1980. It offered a significant discount of between 35-50% on the value of the property dependent on the number of years you had been a tenant. Various amendments to the original scheme have been made over the years with the aim of increasing uptake. The most effective being the 2012 Re- invigorating the right to buy where the Government increased the discount to £75,000 (£100,000 for ).

Councils across the country have seen a significant increase in the sale of their council owned homes.

No of Council Properties Sold & Aquired in Welwyn Hatfield over the Last 5 Years 120

100

80

60

40

20

0 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17

Sold Aquired

Council Lettings 2016/17

There were a total of 488 council properties let last year, the breakdown is set out in the table below. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk

Type studio 1B 2B 3B 4B Grand Total

General Needs 34 77 93 140 17 Sheltered 75 52 Grand Total 34 152 145 140 17 488 Figures as per Orchard 31/3/17

Housing Association Lettings

The Council has nomination rights to a number of Housing Association properties introduced through new partnership developments. This sort of partnership enabled 170 homes to be provided for local people waiting on the housing needs register; 15 of these were sheltered / older peoples housing and 155 were general needs. The breakdown of these lettings are set out in the table below.

Type Studio 1B 2B 3B Grand Total RSL noms 17 77 63 13 170

Affordable Housing Programme

The Council has its own affordable housing programme to develop and deliver affordable new homes in the borough. It is anticipated that for the financial year 2016/17 fifty six new affordable homes will have been delivered through the affordable housing programme:

35 homes purchased on the 17 homes built with 4 homes purchase on the open market Welwyn Garden City open market by B3 Living Housing Association on 6 and Welwyn Garden City former council garage sites Housing Association

27 x 3 bed houses 12 x 2 bed houses 3 x 1 bed flat 7 x 2 bed houses 2 x 3 bed houses 1 x studio flat 1 x 4 bed house 3 x 2 bed bungalows

There have been limited completions on S106 sites with private developers but we expect handovers of the affordable homes on sites later this year and over the next 2/3 years.

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk Delivery of Affordable New Build 2016/17

Disposal of Underused Garage Sites

Phase 1: The council selected Welwyn Garden City Housing Association to develop six garage sites and provide 17 affordable homes. Phase 1 consists of: • 2 x 3 bed houses • 12 x 2 bed houses • 3 x 2 bed bungalows All six sites are complete, they have been allocated to local people and residents have moved in.

Open Market Purchase

Welwyn Hatfield have a pro-active project to buy property on the open market to replenish its housing stock. During 2016/17 we purchased 35 houses ranging in size from 2 bed to 4 bed. The programme is continuing into 2017/18.

We have also been alerted to other boroughs looking to purchase on the open market in our area, meetings at an executive level have clarified that the number is small and we are not in direct competition as they are looking for larger accommodation than we currently need

Housing Improvement

A complete review of our sheltered housing was undertaken 2015/16. A number of projects were identified to improve and modernise some of the existing blocks, to meet the housing needs and aspirations of the current and future generations of older people who will be using them. Plans even include in some instances complete demolition and re-build, incorporating recommended design principles for improving health and well-being, maintaining independence and reducing social isolation amongst our older people.

For more details on developments within our Affordable Housing Programme please follow the link below http://www.welhat.gov.uk/article/4120/Housing-Market-Information

Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, Herts AL8 6AE

Tel: 01707 357 000 www.welhat.gov.uk