Rents up

Average rents in the UK reached £937 per month in July as the pace of increases took a significant step up amid a shortage in the supply of housing.

According to the Guardian on line:

“Rents were up 4.6% on a year before, compared with a 3.8% rise in June, according to research by Countrywide, the UK’s largest property services company.

Central London saw by far the biggest increase in the cost of newly rented properties at 6.8%, but there were also strong rises in Scotland (4.5%) and the east of England (4.3%).

It now costs an average £2,583 a month to take on a rented property in central London, compared with £663 in the north of England, the cheapest place to rent in the UK, according to Countrywide, which analysed more than 75,000 properties in England, Scotland and Wales.

London has become one of the most expensive cities in the world to rent a home, prompting politicians to call for New York-style controls on landlords.

In 18 of London’s 33 boroughs, the median rent for a one-bedroom flat is more than £1,000 a month, according to statistics from the government agency that values properties for the purposes of council tax in England and Wales.

The Valuation Office Agency figures show rents for a one-bedroom flat in Greenwich, south-east London, have risen by 30% over five years, from £750 a month to £975. In Islington, north London, a one-bedroom flat has gone up by 20% over the same period, from £1,213 to £1,452.

The soaring cost of buying a home has seen a boom in the private rented sector in recent years. There are 1.4m more rented homes today than in 2008, according to data from the English Housing Survey.

While the growth of the sector has reduced the upward pressure on rents in some areas, it has also encouraged landlords to hold on to their properties for longer, further restricting supply in the housing market. Countrywide estimates that an additional 100,000 property sales may have taken place if the private rented sector had not grown since 2008.

Earlier this month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) confirmed that the number of properties coming on to the market hasfallen for six months in a row, while the number of new buyer inquiries has been increasing for four months. New listings were down in nine out of 12 regions across the UK, with surveyors in East Anglia reporting the sharpest fall.

The imbalance between supply and demand prompted surveyors to forecast sizeable house price and rental rises over the next 12 months.””

Politcal Voice and Influence

Britain’s democracy has become increasingly divided in terms of who has political voice and influence. This report asks how and why this has happened, and makes the case for practical, ambitious reforms for combatting political inequality and renewing our democracy.
According to IPPR report:
democracy-commission_Aug2015

“Unequal electoral participation rates in the UK – by age, class, region and ethnicity – reflect underlying inequalities in levels of political participation more broadly, and – critically – perceptions of the fairness and effectiveness of our democracy. Ingrained political inequality – that is, the extent to which certain individuals or groups participate more in, and have greater influence over, political decision-making – is undermining the legitimacy and vitality of our democracy.

It is in large part a product of a political system whose institutions and technologies are primarily inventions of the 19th century. If we, in the 21st, accept the current institutional arrangements of our political system as the limits of our ambition, we must also content ourselves to live in a divided – and therefore inherently partial – democracy.

We cannot let this happen. Instead, in this report we argue for substantial yet realistic and readily deliverable reforms focussed on updating the civic, institutional and technological architecture of democracy in the UK, with the explicit goals of ensuring that all voices are heard in the political process, and of fostering and sustaining powerful democratic relationships in society.

We need to make the electoral system more representative and participation less unequal, thereby ensuring that the voting process becomes more inclusive with lower barriers to participation. We also need to create new institutions and reform existing ones in order to strengthen democratic relationships. To that end, we make the following recommendations.

  • The UK’s boundary commissions should be given a new duty to consider the electoral competitiveness of a seat when reviewing constituency boundaries – a process that begins in the spring of 2016.
  • The single transferable vote system – already successfully used in Scotland and Northern Ireland –should be introduced in England and Wales for local government elections.
  • Reforms should be made to ensure that the transition to the individual electoral registration process does not disenfranchise people – by extending the deadline and making support available to local authorities to assist registration efforts, as they did in the run-up to the 2015 election (weighted towards authorities with higher levels of underregistration). In the longer term, electoral registration officers should be given new duties, and the Electoral Commission more powers, in this area.
  • Establish a ‘Democracy Commission’ to facilitate democratic participation, with the goal of increasing levels of political participation and deliberation in the UK.”

MPs investigate viability of HAs due to rent changes – call for evidence

A high-profile committee of MPs investigating the financial viability of housing associations will be flexible over its deadline for evidence, after complaints over timing and “complex” terms of reference.

According to Inside Housing:

“A number of housing associations were unable to meet the Communities and Local Government Committee deadline of 28 August, prompting Clive Betts, the committee’s chair, to confirm late submissions will be accepted.

The inquiry was launched by Labour MP Mr Betts on 29 July to examine the impact of government policies including the Right to Buy, reduced social rents and welfare reform.

The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC) said it was not making a submission after a call to more than 100 of its housing association members yielded interest from just one respondent. However, some NHC members – including Riverside Group and South Yorkshire Housing Association – have submitted their own evidence directly.

Callum Smith, policy and public affairs officer at the NHC, said many associations were unable to respond because of the complexity of the inquiry’s terms of reference and that many staff were unavailable over the summer holidays.

Around 20 associations have contributed to a submission from Placeshapers, roughly a fifth of its membership.

However, Lucy Ferman, project manager at Placeshapers, said she wouldn’t be surprised if associations felt unable to contribute because of the “very short timescale” and that the Housing Bill has yet to be published.

“Our submission said upfront that there are questions that can’t be answered yet. We hope the committee will consider further evidence once more is known,” she added.

Mr Betts said the inquiry’s deadline was driven by the desire to influence government policy.

“If an association is struggling and wants an extra week to finalise their submission, I’m sure we’ll be reasonable with those requests,” he said.”

Homes 2015 for more on repairs and maintenance

This year’s Homes Event has some clear themes including how to deliver value for money, harnessing the power of technology, skills and apprenticeships and how to get the most out of your assets to deliver more quality homes.

Homes 2015 will open its doors to 3,000 visitors on 18 November, for the biggest maintenance and development exhibition in the housing calendar. The event attracts the top 50 Housing Associations that are developing and the top spenders in repairs and maintenance.

Here is what they are sharing in advance, including a newsletter whihc has ome interesting articles on R&M:

For a flavour of what to expect at Homes 2015, take a peek at our Homes Insight magazine which features articles from our speakers as well as articles on the 50 biggest builders and the 50 biggest repairs and maintenance spenders.

 

BOOK YOUR FREE PLACE HERE*

 

In addition the Homes exhibition, with more than 150 exhibitors, will be showcasing the latest products, services and solutions. For more information on the exhibition click here.

RBS Inspiring Enterprise funds open for applications

RBS  new Skills & Opportunities Fund launched in May this year.  We were overwhelmed with responses, and received over 1000 applications.

After taking 88 organisations to shortlisting stage and a public vote, RBS were able to provide just over £1m to 42 worthy winners across the UK and Ireland.  You can read about them on Skills & Opportunities website.

they are relaunching for further applcations – see the informaton below from RBS:

We are very excited to be able to tell you that the fund will reopen for applications for grants up to £35,000 from charities, social enterprises, community groups, state-funded schools and colleges based in the UK and Ireland from Monday 24 August until noon on Friday 11 September.

We know that making a difference in our communities is often about helping people help themselves. And our new fund will provide £2.5m across the year to fund projects aimed at helping people to learn new skills, get into work or start a business. With this funding we know that we can help even more people to help themselves and grow stronger communities.

You can find out if you, or know an organisation you know, would be eligible to apply by visiting our website www.skillsandopportunitiesfund.rbs.com

You can also register your details and receive updates on our opening dates, public voting and winners.

Can we replace homes sold under the RTB – CIH says no

The Conservative government’s social housing rent reduction will make it impossible for some councils to fund planned Right to Buy replacement properties.

The CIH issued the warning this week as it continues to assess the impact of George Osborne’s scrapping of the 10-year inflation-linked rent settlement announced in the Budget.

Accordng to Inside Housing:

Many councils, particularly those close to reaching their housing revenue account borrowing caps, were relying on expected increases in rental income to fund one-for-one replacements for homes sold off under the current Right to Buy policy.

Under Right to Buy, councils can use sales receipts to fund 30% of the cost of replacing a home and have to find the remaining 70% themselves. If they do not replace the home within three years the council has to repay the money back to the Treasury with interest.

Simon Smith, director of financial consultancy at CIH, said the problem would particularly affect councils in London, which are more likely to have built up one-for-one replacement cash pots due to larger property values.

Instead of being able to increase rents by the CPI measure of inflation plus 1%, social landlords will have to cut rents by 1% annually for each of the next four years from next April.

Khevyn Limbajee, cabinet member for housing at Labour-led London authority Waltham Forest Council, said the rent reduction will lead to £22m of lost income over four years. Mr Limbajee said he thinks many councils will now look to transfer their Right to Buy receipts to housing associations.

Inside Housing reported the findings of CIH research last week showing that the rent changes would lead to councils losing £42bn over 30 years.

The government has pledged to replace every Right to Buy home it considers would not have been sold had RTB discounts not increased in 2012.  The Department for Communities and Local Government said in June that of 19,445 additional homes sold, 3,337 homes have been started.

 

IN NUMBERS: Rent reduction + Right to Buy

 

1% annual reduction in social rents for four years from next April

£42bn estimated hit to councils finances over 30 years

30% maximum percentage of home replacement cost can be funded through Right to Buy sales receipts

3,337 replacement homes started since 2012

Summer budget – a view from the north

There are many summaries of the briefing – we think this is a useful summary from the NHC on the summer budget below:

Preamble

The Chancellor noted that, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the UK had the strongest economic growth of any major advanced economy in the world. He stated that the OBR had forecasted growth of 2.4% in 2015; 2.3% in 2016 and 2.4% in 2017. He also mentioned that the OBR’s job forecast suggested 1 million more jobs will be created over the next five years but that the Government were aiming for 2 million new jobs by 2020.

George Osborne also said that he will cut the deficit at the same pace as last Parliament, and that tax receipts were stronger than forecast. This “no faster, no slower” approach to the deficit cuts enabled the Government to “soften” the impact of planned welfare changes with only £8bn identified in the Budget: the remaining proportion to be provided through departmental savings arising out of the Spending Review process. He praised the Government for making extra savings this year highlighting that the Government had conducted more asset sales this year than in any year since 1983. Looking to future borrowing, the Chancellor called on the OBR’s forecast for borrowing that showed a budget surplus – the first budget surplus in over 40 years – by 2019. It is worth noting that 2019 represent a slight slip in the Chancellor’s original fiscal consolidation plan which had anticipated a budget surplus by 2018.

The Chancellor also noted that there would be £37bn cuts over the next Parliament and that in today’s budget £17bn were accounted for –£12bn from welfare and £5bn from tax avoidance measures. He noted that the rest of the efficiencies were coming from departmental savings between now and 2020.

Housing

Planning reforms

The Chancellor announced that planning reforms will be set out on Friday 10 July. The Northern Housing Consortium will update members on this with an on-the-day briefing.

Reduction of social rents

In a surprise announcement, the Chancellor announced that social housing rents will be down-rated by 1% per year over the next four years which would “require housing associations and local authorities to deliver efficiency savings, making better use of the £13 billion annual subsidy received by registered social landlords from the Government”. This is a significant change to the previous established rent policy and will generate per annum savings of £1.45bn by 2020/2021 and over £4bn throughout the timeframe. Inside Housing are reporting that following the four years of 1% reduction the rent policy would revert to CPI plus 1%, however four years is a very long time in housing fiscal policy terms. It is our early understanding from discussions with the Department for Central and Local Government that the 1% reduction is from a “where you are now” position and not tagged to CPI and that the reduction will apply to both social and affordable rents. However, we should urge a note of caution: as ever with Budgets emerging details can change our understanding. The OBR highlights that the changes to social rent could reduce delivery of new homes by 14,000 and indicate they see no likelihood of the private housebuilding industry to meet this gap.

‘Pay to Stay’

This announcement, trailed at the weekend, will see higher income earners who live in social housing no longer able to claim subsidies for their rent. The policy essentially reduces the threshold previously introduced where housing associations and local authorities have been able to charge market rents on those living in social housing with incomes of more than £60,000.

The new policy will see local authority and housing association tenants on incomes of £40,000 or more in London and £30,000 in the rest of England will, from 2017/18, have to pay a market, or near market, rent.

This group of tenants represent around nine per cent of all social tenants in England. The so-called ‘Pay to Stay’ measure is expected to affect around 350,000 people and save the Treasury around £250m. The Treasury will recoup the additional rental income that local authorities receive, which will be used to reduce the deficit and generate extra income for housing associations to reinvest in affordable housing. Again, the OBR issue a word of caution stating that the rent changes plus extension of the right to buy may end up triggering a reclassification of social housing providers and a movement of £60bn onto the public sector national debt. In the short term the rent reduction would be welcomed by social housing customers, some of whom will be hit elsewhere by wider welfare changes.

Lifetime tenancies

The Budget document contains plans for a review of the use of lifetime tenancies in social housing to limit their use and ensure that households are offered tenancies that match their needs, and ensure the best use is made of the social housing stock.

Changes to buy-to-let mortgages

The Chancellor spoke of his desire to create a more level playing field for those buying homes to let and those buying to live in. He said that the current arrangements placed too much favour in the hands of those buying to let and announced that interest rate tax relief for buy-to-let owners will be restricted to the basic tax rate which represents a big hit to buy-to-let owners.

The Chancellor remarked that this policy would be phased over four years from April 2017 to avoid any detrimental impacts on the buy-to-let market. He said:“This will reduce the distorting effect the tax treatment of property has on investment and mean individual landlords are not treated differently based on the rate of income tax that they pay. It will also shift the balance between landlords and homeowners.”

Rent a Room relief

The Chancellor, reacting perhaps to a rise in the number of people renting rooms rather than properties in over-heated housing markets, announced that he will increase the Rent a Room relief from £4,250 to £7,500 a year from April 2016. He noted that it had been frozen since 1997, so the increase will allow individuals who rent a room in their main residence to do so tax free on income up to £7,500.

Welfare

Changes to tax credits

Perhaps the most significant cuts announced by the Chancellor fell on tax credits; he announced that legislation will be introduced to freeze working-age benefits, including tax credits and the local housing allowances, for four years from 2016-17 to 2019-20. This is forecast to save £4 billion a year by 2019-20.

From April 2016, the Chancellor announced that the government will reduce the level of earnings at which a household’s tax credits and Universal Credit award starts to be withdrawn for every extra pound earned.

In tax credits, the income threshold will be reduced from £6,420 to £3,850 with the equivalents in Universal Credit work allowances being reduced to:

  • £4,764 for those without housing costs;
  • £2,304 for those with housing costs,
  • And removed altogether for non-disabled claimants without children.

The government will also increase the rate at which a person’s or household’s tax credit award is reduced as they progress in work, by increasing the taper rate in tax credits from 41% to 48%. The significant changes in tapers are leading to concerns of a detrimental impact on work incentives.

He also announced the Government’s will to limit support provided to families through tax credits to two children, so that any subsequent children born after April 2017 will not be eligible for further support. An equivalent change will be made in Housing Benefit to ensure consistency between both benefits.

This will also apply in Universal Credit to families who make a new claim from April 2017. In addition, those starting a family after April 2017 will no longer be eligible for the Family Element in tax credits. The Chancellor announced that because of his reforms, tax credits were back to 2007/08 levels in real terms.

The reduction in tax credits is counterbalanced by increases in personal allowances and the introduction of the National Living Wage but the impact on individual households as the changes work their way through into the system are still be understood. We understand the Resolution Foundation are undertaking more detailed modelling on this and we will signpost NHC members to this analysis when it is available.

As part of its drive to make work pay, the Budget confirmed extension of free childcare but with the condition that non-working parents (including lone parents) should now make themselves “work ready” and begin searching for work when their youngest child is three years old.

Regional welfare cap

The Conservative manifesto pledged to reduce the overall benefit cap to £23,000 but this has now taken on a regional flavour with the cap outside of London now being set at £20,000. Although this was not detailed in the manifesto, many Conservative politicians have previously called for a different level outside of London.

Cuts to housing benefits for 18 to 21 year olds

As expected, the Chancellor has announced that jobseekers aged 18 to 21 years old will no longer be able to claim housing benefit. The Government estimate that this will save around £120m a year. However, Centrepoint, the youth homelessness charity, estimate that this will affect around 20,000 young people. Research by the Northern Housing Consortium has found that such proposals will affect around 6,000 young people who claim jobseekers allowance and housing benefit in the north. The Chancellor noted that there would be protections in place for those at risk and vulnerable.

Other housing benefit changes

The Budget document contained plans that will, from April 2016, see a new limit on the backdating of housing benefit for a maximum of four weeks. It also contains plans to implement seven waiting days for Universal Credit from August 2015. The Chancellor also pledged that £800m in Discretionary Housing Payments will be given to local authorities.

Changes to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)

Announcing this measure, the Chancellor said that “the current system creates a financial incentive to claim sickness benefits over Jobseeker’s Allowance”. He announced that from April 2017, new claimants of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who are placed in the work-related activity group will receive the same rate as those claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance, alongside additional support to help them take steps back to work. This equates to a 30% reduction.

He noted that this will ensure the right incentives and support are in place for those closer to the labour market to help them make this transition when they are ready, while maintaining the extra financial support ESA provides for those in the ESA Support Group who are furthest from work. Existing ESA claimants will be unaffected. Concerns have been raised by disability campaigners about the quality of support offered to claimants in the WRAG.

Economy

Compulsory National Living Wage

Perhaps the Chancellor’s most significant announcement was that from next April, there will be a compulsory National Living Wage (NLW) for over-25s beginning at £7.20 an hour and rising to £9 an hour by 2020. This represents a 70p rise relative to the current National Minimum Wage rate. The government will ask the Low Pay Commission (LPC) to set out how the new NLW will reach 60% of median earnings by 2020.

Based on the OBR’s earnings forecasts, this means that the NLW will reach the government’s target of over £9 by 2020. This will mean a direct boost in earnings for 2.7 million low wage workers, and the OBR have indicated that knock-on effects further up the wage distribution could mean a further 3.25 million people also see an increase in wages as a result of the NLW.

Public sector pay freeze

The Chancellor announced that the 1% public sector pay freeze would be extended from the planned two years to four years.

Personal allowance increase

The Chancellor has announced in previous Budgets his will to increase the personal allowance to £12,500, thus exempting those on the minimum wage from tax all together, by 2020. He used today’s Summer Budget to announce that he will do so earlier than anticipated. This will cost £1.05bn in 2016-17 rising to £1.2bn in 2020-21.

40p tax threshold

The 40p tax threshold, currently levied on incomes over £42,385, will rise to a threshold of £43,000 by 2020 which represents a significant delivery of a Conservative Party manifesto to do so. Chancellor said it is a ‘strong start’ to raising it to £50,000 as he wishes to do so. It is estimated that this will benefit 800,000 middle income earners saving them around £1,300 a year.

Non-dom tax status

Borrowing a policy from the Labour Party’s manifesto, George Osborne announced that he would be abolishing the permanent non-dom tax status when someone has been resident in the UK for more than 15 years and that he expected £1.5bn will be raised in extra taxes. He noted that this arrangement will be in place by 2017.

Work and skills

Northern Powerhouse

On the now infamous but geographically undefined Northern Powerhouse, George Osborne announced that following further meetings and consultations with the leaders of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the Authority would now receive new powers over fire services under the control of the elected Mayor; new powers on children’s services and a land commission for Greater Manchester. The land commission is particularly interesting when coupled with the housing fund already underway in Greater Manchester and may provide more housing and regeneration opportunities.

He revealed that Sheffield, Liverpool, Leeds, and West Yorkshire were all in negotiations for devolution deals with powers similar to what have been given to Greater Manchester. There may be concern in the north east that no mention was made of their progress towards devolved deals. Does this suggest the NE is running behind the Powerhouse race? Additionally, the Chancellor announced that Transport for the North will become enshrined as a statutory body with statutory duties underpinned by £30 million of additional funding over three years to support Transport for the North’s running costs and enable them to advance their work programme. He also said that he would be devolving far reaching powers over transport to the north’s Mayor-led city regions to deliver fully integrated public transport systems, supported by smart and integrated ticketing technology.

Health and social care

NHS funding 

The Budget protects spending on the NHS in England and backs its five year plan. The government will continue to spend more on the NHS in real terms every year, as it has in every year since 2010. It will fully fund the NHS plan which called for £8 billion more by 2020-21. This additional funding comes on top of the £2bn announced in the Autumn Statement 2014.

The government will ensure the NHS becomes a seven day service by 2020-21. Hospitals will be appropriately staffed at weekends to ensure people can obtain the care they need every day of the week. Everyone will be able to access GP services from 8am – 8pm seven days a week. These improvements will allow people to better balance work, health and family and will be a key to a more productive economy.

Conclusion

Politically this Budget has a bold Conservative vision: promoting aspiration and moving from a “high welfare and high tax” to a “low welfare and low tax” one. For the north, there was progress on some devolved deals and more to come as we reach the Spending Review and Autumn Statement. We knew significant welfare changes were planned and most were announced as we had envisioned. The push back on the date to hit surplus has allowed the Chancellor to phase in welfare changes which he will hope will mean he avoids political backwash. However the extent of the some of the changes, particularly in terms of income tapers under Universal Credit and changes to child tax credit, will be significant.

In terms of the housing sector directly, the 1% reduction in rents will lead to reviews of business plans, cost bases and investment decisions. The hours after a Budget announcement only ever give a partial understanding on the impact and we will be continuing to assess the details as they emerge in further Bills and Plans over the coming days. It is also worth reminding ourselves that further significant changes may yet be pencilled in for the Spending Review.

Universal Credit – some pilots to last longer

Eleven partnerships were formally selected as universal support trials and went live from September 2014. In June 2015 DWP announced that six of the eleven were to be extended for an additional three months, until 30th November 2015. The final reports evaluating the trials will be published Spring 2016.

The trials are:

  • Carmarthenshire (South West Wales)
  • Dundee City (East of Scotland)
  • Northumberland and South Tyneside (Northumberland Tyne & Wear) South Staffordshire (Midland Shires and Black Country)
  • South Staffordshire (Midland Shires and Black Country)
  • Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (North London)

Extending until November 2015:

  • Argyll and Bute (West of Scotland)
  • Blaenau Gwent (South East Wales)
  • Derby City (Midland Shires District)
  • Islington (North London)
  • Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark – referred to as ‘Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark’ (South London Jobcentre Plus District)
  • West Lincolnshire – including West Lindsey, Lincoln City, North Kesteven and Lincolnshire (Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland)

The trials represent a mix of local authority structures, geographies and demographics. All of the trials are testing approaches to partnership working, triage and digital support; and all trials except for Dundee are also testing approaches to personal budgeting support.

HCA calls for HAs to rescue other HAs who will fail due to rent reduction

The English social housing regulator is seeking out associations which would be willing and able to take over other landlords if they struggle due to the Budget changes.

According to Inside Housing:

“The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) is involved in discussions with a number of landlords about how recent policies, particularly the 1% annual reduction in social rents, will affect their finances anddevelopment plans.

As part of these discussions, the HCA is asking providers if they could in principle step in to take over a provider in trouble. It is also going back to associations which have previously indicated they could help to see if they are still able to do so.

The HCA initially estimated, based on financial returns and accounts, that around one in three of the largest 250 housing associations in England may run into difficulties due to the Budget changes. Inside Housing understands this has been revised to a smaller number following reassurances given by landlords to the HCA.

Jonathan Walters, deputy director of strategy and performance at the HCA, said: “We want to talk to providers who may be willing to step in.”

If an association looks likely to get into trouble – by, for example, running short of liquidity, or is in danger of breaching lending agreements – it is up to associations in the first instance to find a solution, including a rescue partner if necessary.

The HCA can, however, help organisations informally to find merger partners and does have statutory powers to force mergers in some specific circumstances.

The HCA last month set all 255 associations with 1,000 homes or more an October deadline to submit fresh information about their finances to the regulator in the wake of the government’s rent reduction announcement.

Julian Ashby, chair of the HCA regulation committee, wrote to all landlords owning fewer than 1,000 homes each, warning them to tell the regulator immediately if they think they cannot cope.

Mr Ashby said some landlords “may conclude that an independent future is no longer possible and seek a merger partner”. ”

 

Ombudsman struggles to cope with complaints surge

The Housing Ombudsman has warned it may not be able to manage its casework following a surge in enquiries and complaints about social landlords over the last two years. SO – if you have nto already done so – why not contact us to set up a designated tenant panel?

According to Inside Housing:

The ombudsman revealed in its annual report that it responded to 16,337 complaints and enquiries in 2014/15. This is up from 12,782 the previous year and represents a 66% increase over two years (see box).

The number of complaints about social landlords increased 10% year-on-year to 6,737. Of these, a total of 1,130 cases entered the Ombudsman’s formal remit to deal with a 31% increase on the previous year.

The increase has led to a ‘key risk’ that the service will be unable to cope, the ombudsman warned.

The report said: “We may be unable to manage casework volume in the face of increasing demand and restrictions on resource and head count.” The ombudsman will now look to outsource some activity.

A spokesperson for the Housing Ombudsman Service said the increase in complaints may be underpinned by “many factors… most of which are not specific to housing complaints”, but did not elaborate further. It also said some of the increase could be due to an expansion in the ombudsman’s jurisdiction and because more people are now aware of the ombudsman’s role.

The ombudsman said, however, there has been a “9% improvement in case closure” at early stages.

Since 2012, the English social housing regulator no longer routinely deals with tenant complaints. The Housing Ombudsman also took on responsibility for dealing with complaints about councils, expanding its services to an extra 2.1 million tenants, in 2013.

 

The ombudsman accounts also showed a post-tax deficit of £591,407 in 2014/15, compared to a surplus of £774,348 the previous year. This was largely due to a £954,000 increase in net pension liability.

The government earlier this year consulted on proposals to merge several ombudsmen together to create a ‘Public Service Ombudsman’.  It will consider whether the Housing Ombudsman should be included in this.

HOUSING OMBUDSMAN: IN NUMBERS
16,337 – Complaints and enquiries in 2014/15

12,782 – Complaints and enquiries in 2013/14

9,790 – Complaints and enquiries in 2012/13

£591,704 – Deficit in 2014/15

5 million – Tenants covered by the scheme

55 – Maximum employee head count set by Department for Communities and Local Government

27.8% – Annual increase in complaints and enquiries between 2013/14 and 2014/15

1,130 – Cases entering Ombudsman’s formal remit last year

579 – Cases resolved last year

Source: Housing Ombudsman