Edition 1 2016/17 Overview Welwyn Hatfield’s Strategic Housing Report New Housing Development Completed in Partnership with Welwyn Garden City Housing Association Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City, 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 Hertfordshire 1243 households were accepted as homeless Between Many of our neighbouring boroughs 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 Broxbourne 256 43 Dacorum 151 561 East Herfordshire 41 132 Hertsmere 105 494 Nrth Hertfordshire 76 163 St Albans 131 48 Stevenage 120 320 Three Rivers 63 24 Watford 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 Bedfordshire Pilgrims HA.