The government has pledged to extend Right to Buy discounts to 1.3m housing association tenants through a voluntary deal agreed with housing associations in September.

Here are the results so far from Inside Housing:

The government is planning to buy sites on the open market for new Starter Homes, as well as eventually offering direct grant funding to developers to build them.

The government’s current plans are for £2.3bn of public funding to build 60,000 Starter Homes by 2020, ahead of a public consultation.

The government has already announced its plans to use £1.2bn of the funding to “prepare brownfield sites” for the development of the homes, which will be sold to first-time buyers at 80% of market value.

The plans involve the government directly purchasing new land, before making it ready for development, securing outline permission and selling it to developers.

A group of 20 housing associations in the north of England will commission research looking at how to build homes to appeal to graduates. The project is likely to form part of wider research into the housing market in the north, which will be done in partnership with the ‘N8’ group of universities.

It comes after the launch of Homes for the North – a new industry body of 20 housing associations in northern England – at an event in Westminster last week.

Reporting in Inside Housing:

“Mark Henderson, chief executive of Home Group and chair of Homes for the North, said the group was keen to look at how to retain university graduates and young people.

It could look at offering shorter tenures for a younger, more mobile demographic, amid concerns that there is a lack of housing options for younger people in the north of England.

The move comes as regions in the north look to kick-start a growth in jobs outside London as part of their devolution deals with the Treasury. Homes for the North hopes to match the expected increase in jobs in the north with homes for graduates to live in.

According to research by the Centre for Cities in 2014, one in three 22 to 30-year-olds who switch city head to London.

At the launch event on Friday, Mr Henderson said housing should be part of the devolution deals to “attract and retain the best and the brightest to work in the north”.”

The government has provided a broad outline definition of the types of housing that will benefit from a one-year exemption to the rent cut.

The code for HA mergers produced by the NHF recently and which is voluntary to sign up to has been rejected by a number of HAs saying it was favourable to large HAs and there is too much work for each merger opportunity to be consdered at board meetings as some HAs are inundated with such requests.

Here is a copy of the code:

Code on Mergers Group Structures and Partnerships Final Dec 2015

Interestingly – sanctuary – one of the largest has also rejected the code. 

Inside Housing reported:

“Sanctuary Group has announced it will not sign up to the code which introduces a set of rules to govern merger approaches.

The 100,000-home landlord said it believed the code, developed by the National Housing Federation (NHF), was “unnecessarily onerous” and “does not add anything” to existing governance.

It said the landlord “made its views clear” during the consultation, but these were “not reflected” in the final document.”

Eight in 10 housing benefit awards for single social tenants under the age of 35 are over the proposed ‘Local Housing Allowance cap’, according to research by Shelter.

The charity has used government figures to quantify the potential impact on young single people of plans to cap housing benefit for social tenants in line with private sector Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates.

According to Inside housing, reporting on this:

“Under the government’s plan, single people under 35 would only be allowed to claim the shared accommodation rate – the amount considered enough to rent a room in a shared house – which is often lower than housing benefit awards. The policy only applies to new tenancies from April 2016 and does not kick in until 2018.

The Shelter analysis shows 136,191 housing benefit awards made to single under-35s in social housing in August last year were over the LHA cap. This is 76% of the total number of single under-35s in social housing claiming housing benefit.

Kate Webb, senior policy officer at Shelter, said the government perhaps “expects social landlords to move tenants into shared housing”.

She said: “This is uncharted territory for many landlords and would undoubtedly create management challenges – not least around allocations. It would also risk cannibalising larger homes that could have been let to families.” She also warned some landlords may reconsider whether to let to younger people without children at all.”

In another Inside Housing Article:

“The planned ‘Local Housing Allowance cap’ will make tower block accommodation difficult to let by pricing out younger benefit claimants, landlords have warned.

Several association chief executives this week said they are looking at redesignating tower blocks for other residential uses because the flats will be difficult to let due to the gap between LHA rates and the combined cost of rent and service charge.

The government is planning to cap housing benefit for social tenants in line with LHA rates, which are used to calculate the amount of benefit received by private tenants.

Under the new rules, which will start in 2018 for tenancies beginning from April 2016, single people aged under 35 will only be entitled to the ‘shared room rate’ – a payment for a room in a shared house.

Tower blocks generally command higher service charges – which are covered by housing benefit along with rent – for facilities such as lifts, cleaning, CCTV and concierges. In addition, they are often occupied largely by younger, single people – who are entitled to lower LHA rates than older people and families.

Geraldine Howley, chief executive of Bradford housing association Incommunities, said: “What is going to hit more than anything is the rule regarding under-35s.”

Bradford has a shared room rate of £58.26 a week, which would not cover the rent for a one-bedroom flat in one of Incommunities’ 32 tower blocks.

“We let [tower blocks] in the main to under-35s and a high proportion are not in work… so it has flagged up an issue for us,” Ms Howley added, and said the association would consider redesignating some blocks as shared accommodation to cope with the problem.

Alison Thain, chief executive of Middlesbrough-based Thirteen Group, which has 20 tower blocks, said: “We will be talking to universities, talking to the hospitals, even if it’s just a few floors we could use in different ways. We are going to have to think very differently about how we use the tower blocks.” The association has previously redesignated a number of its larger properties as one-bedroom flats due to the bedroom tax.

The problem is likely to mainly hit ex-stock transfer landlords in the north of England, where LHA rates are low, and which inherited large numbers of tower blocks from local authorities.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesperson said the policy “would provide a fairer deal for taxpayers”. ”

A council has been ordered to review its housing allocations policy after a judicial review claimant argued it was discriminatory against gypsies and travellers.An Irish traveller challenged North Somerset Council’s local connection requirement, which had been extended to cover gypsy and traveller site allocations.

According to Inside Housing:

“The claimant’s High Court challenge, which was supported by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, argued the council’s local connection requirement in its allocations scheme was discriminatory against gypsies and travellers.

The council’s policy allows people to qualify for the housing register if they have lived in the area for three consecutive years or previously lived in the area for ten consecutive years no more than five years prior to the application date.

The claimant could not point to a local connection to the area and was denied entry to the council’s housing register.

The council’s policy states: “North Somerset has a number of gypsy and traveller pitches in the district that are available to rent. While they are outside the scope of our Choice Based Lettings Scheme, the same principles for allocation will apply to those applicants who wish to apply for a pitch.”

North Somerset Council settled the claim the day before it went to trial and on Tuesday judge Justice Collins ordered the council to place the claimant on its housing register, pay the claimant’s costs of bringing the judicial review and undertake a review of its housing allocations scheme.

The claimant argued that many gypsies and travellers live a nomadic lifestyle in the absence of enough permanent sites to meet their accommodation needs and the local connection requirement was likely to have an adverse effect on proportionately more gypsies and travellers than members of the settled population.

Last month the Local Government Ombudsman published a report showing a 13% annual increase in complaints and enquiries about council’s housing allocation policies. Since June 2012, councils have had greater powers under the Localism Act to exclusde groups of people from being qualified for housing.

A spokesperson for North Somerset Council said: “We would expect to undertake this review over the next 6 months although timescales have not yet been set given the order was only agreed this week.”

Giles Peaker, partner at law firm Anthony Gold, said other councils should now look at their own housing allocation policies.

He added: “The point has broader relevance, a scheme with local connection requirements is potentially discriminatory against gypsies and travellers particularly if there are a lack of permanent sites within the borough. It is effectively racial ethnic discrimination.” “

“Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH), which owns and manages 3,000 homes, is at risk of having its governance downgraded by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to a non-compliant ‘G3’ or ‘G4’. The HCA said on Tuesday the housing association’s grading was “under review”.

It said: “We are currently investigating a matter which may impact on Tower Hamlets Community Housing’s published compliant governance grading.”

A spokesperson for the association said the HCA’s move “follows various historical reviews that THCH has commissioned into aspects of our operations”.

“We understand the need to satisfy [the HCA] that our policies, procedures and governance arrangements are all of an acceptable standard and demonstrate that THCH is a robust organisation well able to operate efficiently and effectively in meeting the needs and expectations of our current and futureresidents and the communities in which we work, while ensuring that we manage the risks and challenges that we face, in common with all social housing providers,” the spokesperson added.

THCH and the HCA have not given any detail on the nature of the problem. The HCA has a policy of not commenting on the reasons for watch list placement.

THCH currently holds a G2 and V2 grading – meaning it is compliant with the HCA’s Governance and Financial Viability Standard.

If a housing association drops to a G3 or V3 it means it is no longer compliant with HCA rules.”

Much has been said about the proposed rent cut.

Good news for tenants, not great for service delivery by landlords.

Many providers of supported and shetered housing have objected to the rent reduction due to services for support which rely on rents remaining the same or rising. this is an interesting comment from th Guardian on line:

According to the Guardian an attack on social housing is an attack on older people:
“Take supported housing: the government has rightly faced a backlash over plans to cut social rents by 1% – a move that could see the end of supported housing, as providers find themselves unable to afford the cost of running specialist housing for older people, domestic violence victims and people with complex care needs. The government has announced a one-year pause in the application of the cut, while a review is launched: the National Housing Federation points out that if both the rent cut and new caps on benefits go ahead, which seems likely, a total of 82,000 specialist homes could be lost.
Any attack on social housing is also an attack on older people: only a quarter of social tenants are under 45, and 28% are over 65: five times as many over 75s rent social homes than rent privately. David Cameron’s plans to demolish “sink estates” mean driving older people from their homes, with little promise of a replacement home and no regard for the upheaval of displacement.

Contrary to the lazy argument that older people have been protected by the cuts, many people over the age of 65 still live in poverty, and crucially, have suffered from cuts to their social care, housing and local services. Pensions have been protected, yes, but were modest anyway: a few extra pounds in your pension does little to help when your social care visits have been cut to 15 minutes a day.

But the experiences of Generation Rent and older people are also linked: young people are relying on older relatives to help them clamber onto the housing ladder, either by providing free accommodation temporarily while they save a deposit, or refinancing family homes. The latter relies on a hope that the housing crisis is temporary, and they will recoup the cash eventually, preferably before needing it for social care or a retirement home. Whether retirement homes can still function remains to be seen.

The housing crisis doesn’t just affect the young: it affects almost everyone bar oligarchs, but particularly the poor and more vulnerable. Arguing that the housing crisis was caused by greedy and inconsiderate baby boomers ignores the ongoing idiocy of government policy and the very deliberate attempts to keep house prices high by those in line to profit. The decimation of social housing is an issue that particularly affects older people now, and younger people in the future. Rather than seeing the housing crisis as a generational conflict, we need to speak more about the older victims of the crisis, and accept that a right to a safe, and adequate, home should be extended to all – regardless of age, class or income.”

Reporting in Farmers weekly:

“The RICS Rural Policy Paper, sets out a number of recommendations as to how central and local Government could better manage rural land and support countryside communities, including offering measures to encourage large landowners to release space on their estates for eight or more affordable houses. This might include partial inheritance tax exemptions, allowing heirs to avoid paying taxes on any affordable properties within the estate.

Jeremy Blackburn, Head of Policy at RICS said: “At the turn of the last century, owners of Britain’s largest estates took a more patriarchal approach to the provision of affordable housing. This wasn’t entirely philanthropic, there was a common sense business motive – it resulted in a settled and readily available workforce.

“But affordable rural housing is fast becoming a thing of the past. There is a reported 76 per cent shortfall in rural affordable housing. If our rural towns and villages are to thrive, we need to take action to ensure that workers are available to drive local economies. Without becoming rose-tinted, there are elements to the philanthropic approach to estate management that could benefit future generations of workers and apprentices.

“There are some countryside communities where the average cost of a house can outstrip average annual wages 11 times over. Rural poverty is a serious issue that threatens to hamper regional growth.

“We would like to see local authorities work sympathetically with estate owners to encourage the release of land for eight or more affordable houses, based on long leaseholds, which would allow estates to retain long term interests.”

A similar scheme has been pioneered this year in East Devon, where Lord Clinton, the largest private landowner in the county, worked with Cornerstone Housing Association to develop 19 affordable homes in the town of Budleigh Salerton, made up of both rental and shared ownership properties.

Head of Property and Land for Clinton Devon Estates Leigh Rix said: “To provide affordable housing for local people is an important step towards building sustainable communities. From the outset we worked with the Exeter-based housing association, Cornerstone to provide the right mix of affordable homes – for rent and shared ownership – to enable young families to stay in Budleigh Salterton and allow this seaside town to thrive for generations to come.”

To further boost rural economies, RICS is calling on government to extend the current devolution agenda to market towns

Jeremy Blackburn said: “Before its closure, the Commission for Rural Communities reported that the English countryside had the economic potential of the eight Core Cities minus London, and that its businesses had survived the recession better than their urban counterparts. They also cited the importance of market towns as economic engines behind this picture.

“Market towns are the focus of much economic and service activity in rural areas, but can be overlooked in terms of their role and potential. There are approximately 1,600 small and market towns in England, where 22% of the population live. We urge government to extend the current devolution agenda beyond our big cities to market towns. A new generation of enterprise zones that can be made appropriate for land based businesses is a welcome first step; an urban only devolution agenda is short-sighted and ignores the major contributor that is the rural economy.” “