Housing Monthly Diary Archive

Housing Provision

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January 1998
Estimating Housing Need

The first stage of research into a new economic model to help estimate the demand and need for social housing in England was published. Further work was also under way to develop this national model and to explore whether regional variations are possible. The study was commissioned by the then Department of the Environment in November 1995 and was carried out by the Department of Applied Economics at Cambridge University. The study was encouraged by the work of the Select Committee on Housing Need, which also supported the potential value of economic analysis of housing need.

Previous estimates of housing need produced by the Department were based on the extrapolation of past trends and did not take explicit account of economic variables. The economic model developed during this study projected the need for social housing in England over the period 1996-2006. In doing so, it took account of key factors such as unemployment, income growth and interest rates. By feeding these variables into a range of economic scenarios, the model projected their likely impact on housing formation, house prices, housing supply and housing choice. It also analysed the cost-effectiveness of different forms of support for households who might need help with their housing costs.

May 1998
Empty Homes Awards

Winners of the 1998 Empty Homes Awards were:

• Hillingdon LBC and Bristol CC - the most successful empty property strategies.

• Sefton MDC and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Empty Property Forum - the most innovative strategies.

• Hyde HA and High Weald HA - the most successful initiatives by an association.

• St Edmundsbury DC and South Somerset DC - best rural empty property strategies.

A special award went to the Empty Property Officer of Croydon LBC for reclaiming 250 empty properties.

Many of the empty home strategies submitted demonstrated other benefits, such as that of the winner of one of the main categories - Hillingdon LBC, where the strategy discovered 99 cases of Housing Benefit fraud, which helped to bring about a £35,000 saving.

June 1998
Report Accused Councils of Social Exclusion

Shelter published Access Denied - a survey of local authority allocations policies, which suggested that a growing number of disadvantaged people were being denied housing assistance.

The report claimed that councils were exercising policies aimed at controlling rent arrears and dealing with anti-social behaviour, but which in practice created social exclusion. The survey found that in 44 local authority areas, 33,000 people were excluded or suspended from the housing register over the last two years. If this finding is typical of all local authorities, then it can be estimated that, in the same period, nearly 200,000 people were denied access to a council home.

The report commented on the reliance of subjective judgements and warned that there was a risk of staff acting illegally. It also suggested that some policies were being exercised over- enthusiastically. The most common ground for exclusion or suspension was rent arrears, but often the amount owed was relatively small.

It also noted the growing number of people being excluded or suspended from housing waiting lists - with the total in the last year being 4 times higher than in the previous year. This, the report argued, illustrated the current hysterical attitude to anti-social behaviour and the effects of recent hard-line legislation.

The report concluded that social housing providers do not have a fundamental role in deciding who should and who should not receive housing - and that exclusion policies must be exercised only as an extreme last resort.

June 1998
Ombudsman: Policy on Disclosure of Information Criticised

Arun DC had a scheme for introducing housing applicants to private landlords. It failed to seek an applicant’s consent to pass on to the complainant - a private landlord - details of the applicant’s personal circumstances, which could have affected the landlord’s decision to accept him as a tenant. The house was subsequently damaged and property was stolen.

The Ombudsman’s report concluded that:

• Responsibility for the anxiety, expense and trouble experienced by the complainant could not be attributed in full to the Council’s maladministration;

• The landlord had not done all that he could reasonably be expected to do to protect his own interest;

• The Council had, however, contributed to the landlord’s difficulties and, therefore, the Council should pay the complainant £600 compensation;

• The Council should also:

review its Notes for Landlords;

give written guidance to its staff about the disclosure of information about prospective tenants’ personal circumstances; and

make clear to landlords its policy on the disclosure of such information.

Investigation No. 96/A/5135 (Arun DC).

July 1998
Low-Cost Home Ownership Scheme Simplified

Housing Minister, Hilary Armstrong, announced a new Homebuy scheme, which aimed to ensure that access to low-cost home ownership through Registered Social Landlords was made simpler in England, by offering a new scheme based on the Homebuy scheme that had run successfully in Wales since 1994.

Homebuy replaced two existing schemes - the Tenants' Incentive Scheme and Do-It-Yourself Shared Ownership. It is open to RSL tenants, those nominated from the local authority waiting list who would otherwise receive permanent social housing and to local authority tenants - subject to appropriate eligibility rules. Qualifying tenants receive interest-free equity loans to meet 25% of the cost of buying a home of their own. Funding for the scheme is provided by the Housing Corporation, and RSLs are able to bid for funds from their Approved Development Programme (ADP).

In common with the two schemes that it replaced, Homebuy is only available in areas where the scheme can help relieve a shortage of social housing by assisting tenants, or those on the waiting list, into home ownership. It is not normally offered in areas where there is no shortage of social housing. Support through the Approved Development Programme for the development and sale of dwellings by RSLs on shared ownership terms continues.

The Housing Corporation was consulting interested parties on detailed proposals for the new scheme and the Government announced its intention to lay a Statutory Instrument before the House in due course to add Homebuy to the committed purposes of RSLs. Homebuy was introduced from April 1999 and funding for the scheme is provided by the Housing Corporation, with RSLs being able to bid for funds from their Approved Development Programme from 1999-2000.

The Minister also announced plans to give RSLs greater scope to offer flexible tenure schemes to help households who have bought on shared ownership terms and who face repossession because of a change in their financial circumstances. Working within rules set by the Housing Corporation, it is intended to allow RSLs to use recycled Social Housing Grant to buy back from shared owners some or all of the equity of their property.

July 1998
Ombudsman: Report to Committee Flawed

The Ombudsman issued a report in which she found that South Tyneside MBC unfairly suspended a family from its housing waiting list.

Her report concluded that the decision to take the housing application to the Council’s Housing Sub-committee for a decision was made without any attempt to check the facts and two reports to that Committee were seriously flawed, in that:

• No information was included about the family's wish to move from their current address;

• No effort had been made to verify their claims that they were being harassed.

• No assessment was made of the impact on the family's two small children, despite there being a letter from a health visitor about this.

• Letters of support were not provided to the Sub-committee.

• Information about the applicant's criminal convictions was improperly obtained from the Police for a purpose not covered by the Safer Estates Initiative agreement with Northumbria Police.

• When written confirmation was obtained from the Police, the second report to Committee did not reflect the facts, but instead repeated the inaccurate information which had appeared in the first report.

Of the reports to the Committee, the Ombudsman said many of the facts are simply wrong,many relevant facts are omitted, irrelevant matters are introduced and others are presented so ambiguously as to bear only the slightest relationship to the truth.

She recommended that the Council:

• rehoused the complainants as quickly as possible;

• paid them £500 compensation;

• reviewed its procedures, to ensure that in future full and accurate information is provided to Members - to enable them to make informed decisions;

• ensured proper professional liaison between Housing and Social Services departments;

• ensured that information about criminal convictions of prospective tenants was not sought without their knowledge, or consent; and

• abided by the terms of the Safer Estates Agreement with Northumbria Police.

Investigation No. 97/C/3827 (South Tyneside MBC).

August 1998
Government’s Right to Set Housing Need

A decision in the High Court confirmed the Government’s powers to set binding house building targets. The decision means that West Sussex CC must meet a target requiring an extra 12,800 homes to be built by 2016, after the Deputy Prime Minister released targets that showed an increase in the Council’s housebuilding target from 37,900 to 50,700 units.

West Sussex had sought a Judicial Review, arguing that the decision was not in accord with advice given by government inspectors or an independent panel. Further, capacity studies did not support the increased target.

The Court recognised that the Council’s approach to assessing housing need was more sophisticated than that used by the Government, but ruled that the Government Minister had powers vested by Parliament that overrode local considerations. The Council announced that it was considering an appeal.

August 1998
All-Party Parliamentary Committee Report

An all-party Parliamentary committee issued a new report, which included a warning for the Government that new social housing targets need to be reassessed. The Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs Committee highlighted the gap between housing need and housing provision, with estimates of between 60,000 and 100,000 new social homes needed in the next year - against a projection of only 37,000 actual completions.

The report’s recommendations included:

• Reliable housing need figures should be published and guidance provided on how shortfall will be met.

• Regional planning guidance should be included as an element of social housing targets.

• VAT should be reduced on works to convert non-residential buildings into residential use.

• Councils and regions should be provided with clear guidance on housing provision, ensuring that policies on urban regeneration were not ignored.

• Most new homes should be built on suitable urban areas, brownfield sites, or through conversion of existing buildings. New homes greenfield sites should be restricted to being extensions of urban areas, at high density and to urban design.

February 1999
HOMES Web Site Launched

Housing mobility organisation HOMES launched a new web site, which lists property available for shared ownership. The web site is accessed on www.homes.org.uk

August 1999
Housing Provision in Brief

• Wychavon Council sought High Court action to enforce an Interim Injunction preventing a developer from selling houses earmarked for social housing.

• Westbury Homes had planning permission to build 70 homes in Droitwich, which specified that seven would be low cost affordable housing. Droitwich Spa and Rural HA anticipated buying those seven homes for rented accommodation but Westbury rejected the price offered and put the homes on the open market.

Westbury Homes claimed that they fulfilled their agreement, as the homes were offered to Droitwich Spa and Rural at a price lower than the price of the other homes, which range up to £190,000. Droitwich Spa and Rural claimed to have put a bid in that was well within the Housing Corporation guidelines but a considerably higher price was asked for by Westbury Homes.

• A new consultation paper from the Local Government Association calls on local authorities and Government to end exclusion policies which bar groups or individuals from access to social housing. Report of the Allocations and Homelessness Task Group, LGA, Tel: 0171 664 3000.

October 1999
London's Housing Shortage

New research carried out by the London Housing Unit (LHU) concluded that London is facing a deepening shortage in the supply of affordable housing. This shortage is independent of current concerns about housing asylum seekers.

The research examined the supply and demand for council housing in London during 1998/99, based on returns made by London boroughs to the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions in their Housing Investment Programme forms. Among the findings was a very significant drop in the supply of new lettings available to councils during the year. Supply is at its lowest point since annual records were first published in the mid- 1980s.

Against this, homelessness has increased for the first time since 1992. The supply shortage has a direct bearing on the increasing number of people staying in temporary accommodation. The report concludes that if these trends continue, which seems to be what is happening, the situation will become even more critical.

For further information - Tel. 0171 428 4927.

February 2000
Housing Provision in Brief

• The Government called on house builders to ensure that new developments provide a reasonable percentage of affordable homes suitable for single-person households to rent and buy. It argues that the increasing number of single-person households are not attracted to larger family homes.

• The Council for the Protection of Rural England called for 10,000 more affordable homes a year to be provided in rural areas - most of which need to be for rent. The proposal is part of a wider £800 million package of recommendations for the countryside, submitted to the Government ahead of its comprehensive spending review.

March 2000
Unique Housing Project Opens in Aberdeen

Deputy Minister for Local Government, Frank McAveety MSP, launched a unique project in Aberdeen, which aims to make it easier for people in the City to gain access to the housing they need. Homechoice is the first organisation of its kind in Scotland. It will operate through the Housing Option shop, located in the heart of the City, which will provide local people with advice and information about housing - including details of housing providers, the type of accommodation they offer, and how to apply for it.

The company has been established by Aberdeen CC, Scottish Homes, Castlehill HA, Grampian HA, Langstane HA, Hanover HA and Tenants First Housing Co-operative.

Eventually, Homechoice aims to involve other national housing associations with a presence in Aberdeen, together with representatives from the private sector - including developers, landlords, solicitors and estate agents. The next stage of the project will be the Aberdeen Combined Housing List, which is expected to be launched in June 2000. That will further improve the service by providing a single application form, which will allow applicants to be considered for housing by all the Homechoice housing providers. A computerised combined housing list will hold details of all those applying for council or housing association accommodation. Participating housing providers will be able to select potential tenants according to their own allocation policies.

Access to the Aberdeen Combined Housing List will be through a single telephone number, connected to a central administration unit. This will be supported by a call management technology and a rigorously tested computer system, and staffed by people who know about the allocations policies of all the housing providers involved.

March 2000
Conversion and Redevelopment Recommended

A new report commissioned by the DETR concludes that between 18,000 and 26,500 additional homes in England could be provided each year through the conversion of buildings and redevelopment of existing housing. It finds that most of the realistic potential for redeveloped and converted dwellings is available in town centres throughout the South, particularly in Greater London. The possibilities for reuse are greatest in areas where the housing market is buoyant and where there is a large supply of older housing. The research suggests that cutting back development on greenfield sites will increase demand for conversions and redevelopment of buildings. The estimated increase in single person households, the property market and development policy are the main drivers in stimulating this change.

The findings strongly support new planning guidance on housing - which encourages the reuse of empty properties and the conversion of existing buildings before building on greenfield sites. The central objectives of this guidance are to develop recycled land first, achieve 60% of new homes on previously developed land, and to encourage more efficient use of land. Conversion and Redevelopment: Process and Potential (priced £ 42) is available from DETR Publications Sales Centre, Unit 21, Goldthorpe Industrial Estate, Rotherham, S63 9BL.

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