Policy update

POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE UK

UK

Borrowing caps to be scrapped for council housing
Prime minister Theresa May used her leader’s speech at the Conservative Party conference to announce that borrowing caps on local authority Housing Revenue Accounts (HRA) will be abolished.

Borrowing has been capped for English councils since self-financing was introduced in 2012, although the Treasury has twice increased the caps.

Housing and local government campaigners have long complained that the caps stop councils building new homes and prevent them contributing to the Westminster government’s target of 300,000 new homes a year in England.

With more details expected in the Budget at the end of October, analysis by Savills suggests that English councils should be able to build 15,000 new homes a year, or 100,000 in total, as a result of the move.

As WHQ went to press, there was no official confirmation that borrowing caps will also be abolished in Wales but a similar self-financing settlement has applied to Welsh councils since April 2015.

Caps do not apply in Scotland and councils there completed 1,320 new homes in 2017/18.

ENGLAND

Westminster changes tune on social housing in green paper
The Westminster government has signalled a major overhaul of consumer standards in the regulation of social housing and hinted at stronger representation for tenants at national level.

The social housing green paper published in August brings a significant change of tone on social housing in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire and pledges to tackle the stigma faced by social tenants.

It also announced two significant u-turns on policies introduced in 2016. Plans to force councils to pay a levy based on sales of their high-value stock and to introduce fixed-term tenancies will not now be implemented.

However, the government continues to insist that welfare reform is ‘empowering tenants as consumers’ and that social housing should be ‘a springboard to home ownership’.

Minister confirms combustibles ban on high-rises
Combustible materials will be banned on blocks of flats, hospitals, care homes and student accommodation over 18m tall, housing secretary James Brokenshire announced at the Conservative Party conference.

The outcome of a Westminster government consultation means all materials used on the exterior of the buildings will have to be rated Class A1 or A2 – limited or no combustibility – rather than just cladding.

However, this means combustibles could continue to be used on buildings like residential care homes and hospitals that are below 18m.

A similar consultation in Wales that proposed to ban combustible materials on high-rise residential buildings closed in September.

SCOTLAND

Minister calls for end to benefits freeze

Social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville has called on the UK government to end the benefits freeze after a report estimated that Westminster cuts will lead to a £3.7 billion fall in social security spending in Scotland by 2021.

The annual Welfare Reform Report says the benefits freeze will have the biggest impact, cutting spending by £190 million in the current year and rising to £370 million by 2020/21,

The report also showed that 3,500 Scottish households have had their incomes reduced by the benefit cap since it was lowered in 2016. Of those, 89 per cent have children and 45 per cent lose out by £2,600 a year or more.

Shirley-Anne Somerville said: ‘This detailed report paints a stark picture of the reality of life for many people in Scotland. It represents damning evidence against the DWP’s current programme of welfare cuts which are only set to get worse.’

WELSH GOVERNMENT

Draft Budget safeguards housing support

Funding for housing-related support will be ring-fenced for the rest of this Assembly term under Draft Budget plans proposed by finance secretary Mark Drakeford.

Welsh Government had planned to combine ten government grants, including Supporting People, into one ‘super-grant’ for Early Intervention: Prevention and Support in 2019/20.

That led to fears that money previously ring-fenced for housing-related support services under Supporting People and for homelessness prevention could be put at risk, as happened in England after the ring-fence was removed.

Under the Draft Budget, Welsh Government has accepted a proposal by the Housing Matters campaign led by Cymorth Cymru and Community Housing Cymru to split the super-grant into two instead, with one grant focused solely on housing.

One ring-fenced Housing Support Grant will now cover Supporting People, Homelessness Prevention Grant and Rent Smart Wales enforcement funding from April 2019 while Children and Communities Grant will cover programmes including Flying Start and Families First.

The decision was taken following work to test the new grant regime and evidence gathered from pathfinder areas and discussions with stakeholders and local authorities.

Welsh Government has published an interim evaluation report and says the new arrangements will be carefully monitored and evaluated to ensure that concerns raised by the Assembly’s Public Accounts Committee and Welsh Audit Office.

The Draft Budget also confirmed an extra £35 million of funding for Social Housing Grant.

Detailed departmental spending plans were due to be published on October 23.

For more detail, see Katie Dalton’s article, Let’s make the Housing Support Grant a Success

Grant, rents, standards and rights feature in Affordable Housing Review responses

Leading housing organisations responded to the Independent Review of Affordable Housing Supply with submissions covering a wide range of policy issues.

Community Housing Cymru called for greater flexibility in rent setting, development quality and the distribution of grant in its submission.

CIH Cymru argued for action across the housing system and the chance to explore a rights-based approach to providing homes.

Shelter Cymru strongly supported Welsh Government’s target of 20,000 affordable homes but stressed the need for them to be truly affordable and for more help in accessing and sustaining social tenancies.

Tai Pawb stressed a need to address demand from groups including refugees and disabled and older people and for the provision of Lifetime Homes.

In a joint response following their report on affordable housing supply in the Valleys, the Bevan Foundation and Joseph Rowntree Foundation argued for a greater understanding of need, a clear measure of affordability and greater adjustment of grant levels between lower- and higher-demand areas.

WHQS compliance reaches 91%

The proportion of social housing meeting the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) rose five percentage points to 91 per cent in the year to March.

Welsh Government’s target is for full compliance with WHQS standards for all council and housing association stock by 2020.

Housing minister Rebecca Evans said:

‘Good quality housing is a Welsh Government priority because it is crucial to our health and wellbeing. Public Health Wales’ work tells us that poor housing costs the NHS £67m a year, so this investment is an investment in people’s health, an investment to tackle fuel poverty and an investment to improve people’s lives.’

‘I am pleased to see good progress against this target and I expect to see local authorities and housing associations work to meet this target by 2020.’

The 91 per cent figure includes acceptable fails, which means that achieving the standard for an individual element is not possible. This could be because of the cost or timing of the work, physical constraints to the work or residents choosing not to have work done.

Compliance was 99 per cent for housing association homes and 77 per cent for local authority homes.

Consultation papers

Open consultation papers of interest to WHQ readers include:
• Implementing changes to the park home commission rate – Responses by December 14
•Housing adaptations service standards – Responses by December 19

WALES

Universal Credit plunges tenants into debt

Welsh housing association tenants on Universal Credit are now £2.3 million in debt – an increase of 150 per cent since December 2017.

Research for Community Housing Cymru (CHC) conducted with 7,000 people shows that average rent arrears have risen from £420 to £434 over the same period and that 23 per cent of tenants currently in arrears were up to date with their rent before switching to the new benefit.

The news came as the chancellor Philip Hammond was under increasing pressure to find more money for Universal Credit in his Autumn Budget and work and pensions secretary Esther McVey admitted that some people will be worse off.

Only 11 per cent of claimants in Wales are on Universal Credit so far but an extra 350,000 households are due to be transferred between July 2019 and 2023.

Will Atkinson, policy and programmes manager at CHC, said:

‘Tenants are struggling to clear rent arrears caused by the initial financial shock of claiming Universal Credit, despite housing associations doing their best to support tenants with budgeting support and advice.

‘We urge DWP to reconsider plans to extend Universal Credit to 350,000 existing benefit claimants in Wales, to ensure that no one is financially disadvantaged by this change.’

‘Diverted giving’ schemes warning

Crisis and Shelter Cymru have joined forces to call on local authorities to think again about supporting schemes that discourage the public from giving money to people who are begging.

The move comes as more and more Welsh councils are introducing ‘diverted giving’ schemes that encourage people to donate to them rather than directly to people on the streets.

Schemes are already running in Neath Port Talbot, Cardiff and Swansea and others are in development. Homeless people must apply to the scheme explaining what they need the money for and why.

The two charities say the diverted schemes raise a number of problems that the public may not be fully aware of:

It is extremely difficult for people who are street homeless to apply unless they go through a support worker, meaning that money does not reach the most excluded
Adverts for the schemes sometimes give the impression that it’s easy for people who are begging to access accommodation and support when in reality it is much more difficult.
Schemes could increase public intolerance of people who are begging or sleeping rough.

John Puzey, director of Shelter Cymru, said: ‘We encourage the public to use common sense when deciding whether to give money to people who are begging. The truth is you have no idea how hard their life might be. If you decide to give money, make it a gift with no strings from one citizen to another. You may choose to give food or other useful items instead. Again, respect people’s preferences. Try asking them if there’s anything they need.’

Shortlist revealed for Welsh Housing Awards

More than 40 projects, organisations and individuals made the shortlist for the Welsh Housing Awards 2018.

The full list of those shortlisted in the 11 different awards is available on the WHQ website atwww.whq.org.uk/2018/10/01/welsh-housing-awards-shortlist-revealed/.

The winners will be revealed in November 23 and covered in the next issue of WHQ.