Policy update

POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE UK

UK

Chancellor pledges to do ‘whatever it takes’ on Coronavirus

A rapidly escalating response saw the UK Government announce hundreds of billions of pounds worth of loans for businesses and support for employees and self-employed people put out of work.

Promising to do ‘whatever it takes’ chancellor Rishi Sunak also announced a series of changes to benefits including:

Restoring the Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of the local market. This should help to meet shortfalls between rents and benefits for private renters that have escalated under the four-year benefits freeze between 2016 and 2020.
A £1,000 a year increase in the standard allowance for Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits
Suspension of the minimum income floor that Universal Credit assumes how much self-employed people earn for the duration of the outbreak.

However, as WHQ went to press, the government continued to reject calls to scrap the five-week wait for the first Universal Credit payment. Within the first two weeks of the outbreak, almost a million people applied for the benefit.

The outbreak also led to the suspension of all activity in the housing market.

ENGLAND & WALES

Courts halt possession actions

Courts in England and Wales suspended all possession actions for at least 90 days from the end of March in response to the outbreak.

The decision meant all proceedings in the system at the time or about to enter it were halted.

Earlier, the Westminster government had announced a ‘complete ban’ on evictions but faced criticism that emergency legislation merely extended the notice period from two months to three for shorthold tenants.

The decision by the courts covers mortgage possession claims as well as private and social tenancies and some short-term tenancies.

ENGLAND

Budget boost for housing

In a Spring Budget that was rapidly overtaken by events as the Coronavirus spread, chancellor Rishi Sunak announced extra funding for new affordable homes and the replacement of combustible cladding.

England’s Affordable Homes Programme will be worth £12.2 billion over the five years from 2021/26.

This represents a 33 percent or £3 billion increase on the 2016/21 programme, although £2 billion of it had been announced in advance.

However, it means total funding for new affordable homes is still running significantly below the level that the Conservative-led Westminster government inherited from Labour in 2010.

A new £1 billion Building Safety Fund will extend government help beyond the existing £600 million for the removal and replacement of Grenfell-style Aluminium Composite Cladding on apartment buildings over 18m to cover other cladding materials including High Pressure Laminate.

However, it seemed it would only apply to building of 18m or more, leaving residents of mid-range blocks in limbo.

And it still leaves landlords facing a huge bill for fire safety work. Housing associations alone estimate their costs could exceed £10 billion.

The chancellor also gave council housing a boost by reversing an increase in the interest rate charged on Housing Revenue Account borrowing from the Public Works Loans Board. The Budget means consequentials of £640 million for Scotland, £260 million for Wales and £210 million for Northern Ireland.

SCOTLAND

Tenants get six months’ notice during outbreak

MSPs gave unanimous backing to emergency Coronavirus legislation that increases the minimum notice period for evictions to six months.

The increase applies to both social and private tenants and gives Scottish tenants twice as much notice as their counterparts in England and Wales.

People and some small businesses that are unable to repay debts due to the outbreak will be able to apply for a six-month ‘breathing space’ period. This will allow them to seek money advice and find long-term solutions to repay debts.

The majority of the emergency measures will automatically expire six months after they come into force. The Scottish Parliament may extend them for two further periods of six months, giving the measures in the Bill a maximum duration of 18 months.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Housing support crucial, says minister

No social housing tenants facing difficulties paying their rent during the Covid-19 outbreak will be evicted under an agreement between the Housing Executive, housing associations and the Department for Communities.

Housing minister Deirdre Hargey said her department would work with landlords to help keep tenants in their homes and ensure that the welfare system provides help as quickly as possible.

The minister said that evictions should also be avoided in the private rented sector private renters too with help from Universal Credit and Local Housing Allowance.

And she said that the Housing Executive had a central Covid-19 team in place to address the needs of homeless people: ‘In these very exceptional times, in the interests of protecting the health of all our citizens, I welcome the statement from the Housing Executive that it is working to identify temporary accommodation for those individuals who need it, regardless of whether they currently have recourse to public funds.’

She said co-owners were also secure in their homes with mortgage lenders pledging to support their customers and that lenders would offer a mortgage holiday of at least three months to home owners.

WELSH GOVERNMENT

Emergency legislation to halt evictions

Tenants will be protected from eviction for at least three months under emergency legislation introduced by
Welsh Government in response to Coronavirus.

A package of measures also gave mortgage borrowers a three-month payment holiday.

The Welsh Government agreed that measures being developed by the UK Government, to suspend evictions from social or private rented accommodation would apply to Welsh tenants.

New protection under the emergency legislation means:

Landlords will be unable to start possession proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three month period during the crisis

The three-month mortgage payment holiday will be extended to Buy to Let mortgages to protect landlords.

Housing minister Julie James said: ‘It is vital that no renter in Wales will be forced out of their home during this difficult and unprecedented time. These measures will alleviate pressures on landlords to meet mortgage payments and will further reduce pressure on tenants as a result.’

However, Plaid Cymru said Welsh Government needed to do more to protect tenants, pointing out that the Scottish Government had gone further.

South Wales East AM Delyth Jewell said: ‘Since housing is devolved the Welsh Government should do what the SNP Government is doing in Scotland and bring forward legislation that definitively prohibits any evictions taking place for the next six months, with an option to extend if the lockdown lasts for longer.

The emergency legislation came after Welsh Government moved to amend an existing law to give private renters in Wales a guaranteed minimum of 12 months’ protection against eviction at the start of a new tenancy if they have not breached the terms of their contract

The Renting Homes (Amendment) (Wales) Bill is aimed at increasing security for renters whole also enabling landlords to get timely possession of their property when necessary.

Ending homelessness in Wales

Welsh Government has accepted in principle wide-ranging recommendations from the Homelessness Action Group to end homelessness in Wales.

The group of experts was appointed last year to advise on Welsh Government’s ambitious goal of ending all forms of homelessness or ensure it is rare, brief and unrepeated where it cannot be prevented.

The first of a series of reports, published in October, focused on the actions required to tackle rough sleeping during the winter of 2019/20 and the actions needed to prevent it in the longer term. In its initial response, the Welsh Government implemented
a series of immediate actions to help more people who are sleeping rough off the streets.

The group, chaired by Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis, submitted its second and most comprehensive report on the long term, structural and strategic policies needed to end homelessness in mid-March.

Extra homelessness funding to fight Covid-19

Housing minister Julie James announced £10 million to help homeless people and rough sleepers in the wake of the Coronavirus outbreak.

The additional funding from Welsh Government was intended to enable local authorities to secure accommodation needed to ensure those without a home can be protected, supported, and isolated if necessary.

This could include the block purchase of B&B or hotel rooms, empty student accommodation and other premises to operate alongside existing provision to be managed
and supported to ensure high quality support, hygiene standards and appropriate monitoring for symptoms and illness.

Ministers also acted to ensure those who have no recourse to public funds, such as victims of domestic abuse and asylum seekers, are supported during the outbreak.

The law currently prevents ministers from offering them certain types of support, including housing support. Local authorities have been directed to utilise alternative powers and funding to assist those who require shelter

and other forms of support during the pandemic. This will ensure they are supported to stay safe and well.

MMC to be at heart of social house building

Factory-made housing should be at the heart of affordable housing supply in Wales, says housing minister Julie James.

Welsh Government wants local authorities to build far more council homes at scale and pace but says they face the same capacity constraints as traditional house builders.

Launching a new strategy in February to kick-start modern methods of construction (MMC), the minister said they would help councils build better quality homes faster to meet the growing need for affordable homes across the country.

However, the strategy is about much more than housing, with ministers seeing opportunities to bring significant new benefits to the Welsh economy.

Reimagining social house building in Wales includes plans to use national assets such as Welsh timber and steel, develop skills in communities hardest hit by the decline of traditional industry and a training programme to teach new skills to people leaving prison.

And it seen as a key part of Welsh Government’s ambitions to reduce carbon emissions from housing and move to a circular economy by reducing construction waste by up to 90 per cent. The strategy sets out an incremental approach to MMC, starting with the panelised systems that are most widespread at the moment and moving towards the most efficient, volumetric methods.

Ministers are also making a major £45 million investment in the modular housing industry in Wales.

Some £20 million is being made available for MMC businesses to help and encourage the market, especially SMEs, to develop off-site manufacture (OSM) solutions such as supply chains, factories and skills development centres.

A further £25 million is being made available for round 4 of the Welsh Government’s Innovative Housing Programme, which will focus on innovative housing delivered through MMC.

Consultations

Estate charges on housing developments – gov.wales/estate- charges-housing-developments – Closing date April 30.

WALES

CCHA wins upgrade

Cardiff Community Housing Association (CCHA) was upgraded and returned to standard for governance and services at the end of March – two years after being downgraded by the regulator.

The process of improvements started with changes on the board with new members and a new chair. A whole
new senior management team was appointed led by chief executive Hayley Selway. In the Regulatory Judgement, CCHA also maintained its standard rating for financial management.

Hayley Selway said: ‘This regrading is testament to the commitment of our tenants, staff and board. It comes following an exemplary internal audit on our approach to landlord health and safety. ‘The coronavirus is creating a very difficult environment, and we will continue to strive to ensure that tenants are core to everything we do. I would like to thank everyone involved for their focus and dedication in getting CCHA back on track and giving tenants the services that they deserve.’

Latest regulatory judgements for Welsh housing associations are available at gov.wales/regulatory-judgements

New boss at Valleys to Coast

Joanne Oak will start work as the new chief executive of Valleys to Coast in early May.

A qualified accountant with over two decades of senior leadership roles across the public and third sectors, she replaces interim chief executive Duncan Forbes at the Bridgend-based housing association.

Experienced in leadership, change management, strategic planning, financial management and governance, she moves from Social Care Wales where she was director of strategy and corporate services, alongside being a board member at Bron Afon and trustee for Building Communities Trust.

PUBLICATIONS 10 TO LOOK OUT FOR

1) 50 Out-Of-The-Box Housing Solutions To Homelessness And Housing Exclusion

Housing Solutions Platform, January 2020

www.housing-solutions-platform.org/

2) Social House Building Strategy

Welsh Government, February 2020

gov.wales/social-house-building-strategy

3) The Case for a Welsh Benefits System

Bevan Foundation, February 2020

www.bevanfoundation.org/publications/the-case-for-a-welsh-benefits-system/

4) UK Poverty 2019/20

Joseph Rowntree Foundation, February 2020