Rules and processes designed to decide who gets social housing may be failing people in greatest need, according to new research f
In Rethinking Allocations, CIH found that faced with not enough genuinely affordable homes, councils and housing associations are forced to ration the housing they have – and that the way they allocate these homes can exclude some very vulnerable people.
The full report is available here.
We just came across this publication from the LGA in June.
Local authorities have a range of duties and wider interests in ensuring the most effective functioning of their local housing markets. They want to ensure affordable, appropriate, good quality housing for everyone in the community within successful and sustainable places. Therefore, a better understanding of their local housing markets will empower local authorities to make decisions best suited to maximise positive added value in local markets.
This is especially timely as more local authorities are: developing interests in directly delivering new homes alone or in partnership, embedding housing as part of wider strategies for the health and well-being of individuals and places; building relationships with the reshaped Homes England or the Greater London Authority (GLA), and; taking forward new planning responsibilities within the new NPPF guided by the locally assessed housing need numbers.
LGA RA Understanding Local Housing Markets June 2019
The governmets spending review slipped out without a fanfare due to the focus on Brexit.
Here is the document you need to find out what was said:
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/summary-2019-spending-review-how-run-it-well
Here is the response from CIH
CIH’s chief executive Terrie Alafat has responded to today’s announcement of a one-year spending settlement by Chancellor Sajid Javid.
“We recognise this was an unusual spending review: it dealt with only one year, and with only a few exceptions it relates only to revenue, rather than capital spending.
“We welcome the additional £54 million the Chancellor announced to tackle rough sleeping. CIH has previously called for more money to help councils meet their legal obligations.
“We are disappointed the government has not included housing in those areas, like health and education, getting a long-term additional funding settlement. We are facing a national housing crisis, and every day we do nothing about it, it’s getting worse. Having a safe and secure home with the right support is as important as having access to good schools and hospitals in building thriving families and sustainable communities.
“While the additional £40 million for discretionary housing payments will be helpful, it will not make up for the effects of the freeze on local housing allowance, which continues to cause misery.
“In some parts of the uk as much as 97 per cent of private rents are now simply unaffordable under benefit rules. This leaves thousands of families having to choose between paying their rent and feeding their children. It is a national shame that people face being made homeless and councils have to spend £1 billion a year on temporary accommodation because LHA is failing to do its job. Restoring LHA to cover the most affordable 30 per cent of rents in this spending review would have brought the government significant savings in the benefit bill, as well as giving some of our most vulnerable fellow-citizens a more secure environment in which to live.
“Given the huge problem facing councils in meeting social care needs the additional £1 billion is welcome. There will also be a consultation on whether councils should be allowed to raise an extra £0.5 billion, though this would put the onus on councils to increase council tax, and we are concerned that the areas that need this extra help the most may be those least able to meet that cost.
“Given the huge role housing plays in supporting effective care, we are disappointed the Chancellor failed to mention housing in this context. We still don’t have a sustainable plan for funding support services. This causes real problems for landlords and service providers and does not create an environment in which organisations will invest in new supported housing. But more importantly this chronic uncertainty should not be a feature of the lives of some of our most vulnerable fellow citizens.”
Well done Prima
https://cdn.flipsnack.com/widget/v2/flipsnackwidget.html?hash=fhk9epc7e&t=&fullscreen=1
This might help anyone thinking about survey questions in this matter:
CIH Cymru public perceptions report FINAL
We heard a lot in the RSH consumer regulation review about complaints management – getting it right to build the trust and confidence of residents.
Here is a useful reminder on what to do from our friends at Housemark:
Here is some useful information on engaging and co-creating in the build environment and transport/travel from our friends at Common Place:
Here is a useful report from our friends at Common Place aimed at engaging and consulting community members
😉 under 55!
Here is a useful document from the experience of 18 community building projects:
Here is the much awaited response from the great places commission
NHF_Great-Places_Report_Online_FINAL
“Housing associations are significant economic players across the Midlands and the North. They own almost 1.3 million homes, have a turnover of nearly £7.5bn and employ over 72,000 people.
They are committed to their places for the long term, and are well placed to use their deep community links, resources, networks and expertise to contribute to sustainable regeneration and economic renewal. There is huge potential for
them to work with other anchor institutions and partners to deliver shared local objectives and strive for more inclusive economies and growth.”
The report shares the findings and discussion points in four interdependent themes: people, places,
partners, and housing associations.
