POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER PARTS
OF THE UK
UK
Universal credit ‘reset’ by projects watchdog
The UK Government’s flagship welfare reform universal credit hit more trouble after it was officially ‘reset’ by the Major Projects Authority (MPA).
The MPA is the official watchdog for 199 major government programmes and maintains a delivery capability assessment (DCA) for each of them. The ‘reset’ means it regards universal credit effectively as a new project.
In its annual report published the day after the European elections: ‘The “reset’ category has been applied to the universal credit project. We have undertaken significant work to develop
a “reset plan” to place the roll-out of universal credit on a more secure footing, and the “reset” DCA reflects this new status of the project.’
The rating is the latest blow to the reform that aims to make the benefits system simpler and more transparent. Universal credit has been dogged by IT problems and changes in senior management.
However, a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: ‘Universal credit is on track. The reset is not new but refers to the shift in the delivery plan and change in management back in early 2013. The reality is that universal credit is already making work pay as we roll it out in a careful and controlled way. It’s already operating in 10 areas and will start expanding to the rest of the North West [of England] in June.’
Shotton became the 10th job centre to accept universal credit claims – and the first in Wales – at the start of April. However, these are only the simplest claims and work on the full IT system continues.
Scotland
Holyrood gains power to mitigate bedroom tax
Scotland will be able to mitigate the impact of the bedroom tax in full after the UK Government offered in May to transfer the power to set the cap on discretionary housing payments (DHPs) .
The Scottish Government had already spent up to the previous legal limit in order to mitigate the effects of the bedroom tax but power over DHPs was reserved to Westminster.
Once the powers are transferred, a total of £50 million can be invested to help the 72,000 households in Scotland who are suffering from the effects.
Deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘We have been pressing since January for Iain Duncan Smith to remove this cap – and at last Westminster has seen sense and have given us what we requested. We will now work to ensure the law is changed as quickly as possible.
‘The DHP scheme is the only legal way – under the powers that Scotland currently has – to provide regular financial payments to people on housing benefit. But the only way to get rid of the bedroom tax for good is through the powers of an independent Scottish Parliament.’
Scotland Office minister David Mundell said: ‘The UK Government believes in taking a pragmatic approach to devolution and we believe in a United Kingdom that gives Scotland the best of both worlds. I hope that officials from both governments will now be able to take this forward.’
CIH Scotland head of policy and public affairs David Bookbinder said: ‘It will now be important for the Scottish Government and landlords to give a clear message to tenants that they still have to engage in the process of applying for a DHP. The sector also needs to consider its approach to arrears built up in 2013/14: some will be a result of unsuccessful DHP applications, and some a result of a failure to engage with the landlord.’
England
Labour proposes longer tenancies for private renters
The Labour Party proposed default three-year tenancies and predictable rents plus a ban on letting agent fees in the private rented sector in England. Leader Ed Miliband made the bold appeal to Generation Rent at the launch of the party’s local and European election campaign in Essex.
He said Labour would legislate to ban letting agent fees that mean renters can be charged up to £500 just for signing a tenancy agreement and deal with the insecurity of six-month tenancies that leave families at risk of being thrown out of their homes with just two months’ notice.
‘The next Labour government will legislate to make three-year tenancies the standard in the British private rented sector to giving people who rent the certainty they need. These new longer-term tenancies will limit the amount that rents can rise by each year too – so landlords know what they can expect each year and tenants can’t be surprised by rents that go through the roof.’
Under the plans, tenancies would start with a six-month probation period after which landlords would be able to terminate for reasons such as rent arrears and anti-social behaviour. After that, tenancies would run for another 2.5 years, with tenants able to terminate with one month’s notice and landlords only able to terminate with two months’ notice for good reason.
Landlords and tenants would set initial rents based on market value and conduct a rent review no more than once a year with an upper ceiling on increases to prevent excessive rises.
Northern Ireland
Home starts lowest since crash
Starts of new homes fell to their lowest level since the housing market crash, according to figures published at the end of April.
Total starts in October to December 2013 were down 17 per cent on the previous quarter and 35 per cent on the same quarter of 2012 at just 918. Completions totalled 2,045, similar to the number in the previous quarter but down 15 per cent on a year ago.
CIH Northern Ireland policy and public affairs officer Justin Cartwright said: ‘The total number of new dwelling starts across all sectors fell to just 918 in Oct-Dec 2013, when almost 3,000 are needed in each quarter to cater for a growing and changing population. It paints a grim picture for house-building in Northern Ireland. The fact that not enough homes are being started means fewer and fewer social homes for those who are homeless or in housing stress. And it means that homes are becoming increasingly unaffordable for first-time buyers and people on modest incomes.’
WELSH GOVERNMENT
Pact promises 10,000 affordable homes
The Welsh Government and Community Housing Cymru launched a Housing Supply Delivery Pact to deliver 10,000 affordable homes during this term of government.
The pact sets out clear commitments from both parties. While 60 per cent of the Welsh Government’s original affordable housing target of 7,500 homes was reached in the first two years of this administration, the need for new homes still greatly exceeds supply.
Housing minister Carl Sargeant said: ‘Increasing the supply of homes in Wales is my top priority and I am committed to working with developers, housing associations, local authorities and financiers to bring forward innovative schemes that will increase the supply of good quality affordable homes.’
Nick Bennett, chief executive of Community Housing Cymru, said: ‘We warmly welcome the new Pact approach and believe it reflects genuine partnership working. Welsh Government set so many factors in our external environment: regulation, rent policy and capital investment levels. Housing associations continue to deliver and the more security for planning the Welsh Government can give us, the more we can do.’
Hutt supports more innovative financing
Finance minister Jane Hutt highlighted the wider benefits of investment in housing and set out her ambition to expand Welsh Government’s involvement in innovative financing.
She told a housing conference in May: ‘What we have to remember is the wider impact that investing in housing can have. By investing in housing we are investing in jobs, skills and communities. Growth and jobs is right at the top of the Welsh Government’s agenda and by investing in housing we can deliver growth and jobs whilst providing safe, secure and affordable homes for those in need.’
The minister said housing is a key priority area in the Wales Infrastructure Investment Plan. ‘This is why I have generated additional investment of £600 million since the plan was published in 2012 to support a range of initiatives which will contribute to increasing housing supply and boosting the construction industry in Wales.’
On top of traditional capital in schemes such as social housing grant, she highlighted the Housing Finance Grant, Welsh Housing Partnership and Help to Buy Wales Shared Equity Scheme.
Extra funding for deprived areas
Housing minister Carl Sargeant announced another £2 million of funding to help regenerate some of the most deprived areas of Wales. The cash is on top of £5 million announced in September as part of the Welsh Government’s Vibrant and Viable Places Tackling Poverty Scheme and means seven local authorities will now get £1 million each.
The communities who will receive the funding are: Tredegar, in Blaenau Gwent; Rhymney, in Caerphilly; Grangetown, in Cardiff; Llanelli, in Carmarthenshire; Rhyl, in Denbighshire; Caernarfon, in Gwynedd; and Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan.
The funding is for communities who were unsuccessful in bidding for a share of the £100 million Vibrant and Viable Places fund but who are in the top 10 per cent of the Welsh Index for Multiple Deprivation.
Carl Sargeant said: ‘We will now discuss with the local authorities concerned to decide the best way of meeting these objectives and ensuring that local communities get the maximum benefit from this funding.’
Wales leads the way on tackling hate crime
Minister for communities and tackling poverty Jeff Cuthbert announced funding for a new national centre where victims of hate crime will be able to report incidents and get the support the need.
He was speaking at the launch of the Welsh Government’s Tackling Hate Crimes and Incidents – A Framework for Action at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to an audience of more than 300 people. The framework covers hate crime of all kinds including race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity and age. Age was added following a consultation that highlighted how both older people and children and young people are experiencing and being targeted for hate crime. The framework also includes tackling cyber and far right hate.
Jeff Cuthbert said: ‘I want the victims of hate crime to have confidence to come forward and report. The framework and our delivery plan will aim to help them to find the confidence. This includes funding for Victim Support to run an all Wales Hate Crime Reporting Centre. My message to all victims of hate crime is that action will be taken. Hate in any form will not be tolerated.’
Ministers call for bedroom tax exemption for adapted homes
Five Welsh Government ministers wrote to UK welfare reform minister Lord Freud calling for disabled tenants who have had adaptations to their homes to be exempt from housing benefit changes.
The ministers for housing and regeneration, communities and tackling poverty, and local government and government business, joined with the deputy ministers for tackling poverty and social services to sign the letter. This followed a report from the all-party Westminster work and pensions select committee that reinforced their concerns.
Housing minister Carl Sargeant said: ‘The bedroom tax is having a profound effect on many of the most vulnerable people in our communities and it makes no sense for money invested in adapting homes to meet the needs of disabled households to be wasted. Disabled tenants cannot easily up sticks and move home. They should be exempt from these reforms and should not be left to rely on help from the discretionary housing benefit system.’
PUBLICATIONS
10 TO LOOK OUT FOR
1) Homelessness amongst people from Black and minority ethnic populations in Wales –
Shelter Cymru and Tai Pawb, April 2014
www.taipawb.org/USErfILES/fILE/NEw/BmE-rEPort-2014.Pdf
2) Presentations from innovative Finance for housing conference – Welsh Government, May 2014
wales.gov.uk/topics/housing-and-regeneration/housing-supply/innovative-finance/innovative-finance-past-events/ event-2014/?lang=en
3) Tackling Hate Crimes and Incidents: A Framework for Action – Welsh Government, May 2014
wales.gov.uk/topics/equality/rightsequality/hate-crime/?lang=en
4) UK Housing Review – Chartered Institute of Housing, April 2014
http://www.cih.org/publication/display/vpathdcr/templatedata/cih/publication/data/Uk_housing_ review_2014
5) Let’s House Britain – Legal and General, May 2014 www.rostrumpr.com/assets/caseStudy/housingBritain.pdf
6) Smaller Housing Associations’ Capacity to Deliver New Homes – Joseph Rowntree Foundation, May 2014
www.jrf.org.uk/publications/smaller-housing-associations-capacity-develop-new-homes7) Bedroom tax – one year on – Grand Union Housing Group, May 2014
www.grandunionhousing.co.uk/news/latest-report-bedroom-tax-one-year-on/
8) Building the homes we need – a programme for the 2015 government – Shelter/KPMG, May 2014
www.shelter.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/802270/Building_the_homes_we_need_-_a_ programme_for_the_2015_government.pdf
9) Tacking Poverty through Public Procurement – Joseph Rowntree Foundation, April 2014 www.jrf.org.uk/sites/files/jrf/poverty-procurement-social-mobility-full.pdf
10) Welsh Power Report – Representation of Women in Public Life – Electoral Reform Society Cymru, March 2013
www.electoral-reform.org.uk/images/dynamicImages/welshpowerENg.pdf
WALES
Homes a key part of Newport regeneration mix
Landmark buildings in Newport city centre will get a new lease of life thanks to a £15 million injection of cash.
Newport City Council was awarded the funds under the Welsh Government’s Vibrant And Viable Places regeneration programme. Its bid was one of only three to be awarded the full amount requested. In a change to previous improvement schemes, the funding for a series of projects has already been allocated and a programme has been drawn up to deliver the schemes over the next three years.
The council will work with the private and third sector to transform some key properties, mainly converting them into new homes but there will also be space for some business start-ups.
Councillor John Richards, cabinet member for regeneration and development, praised the in-house team from across a number of departments who put together the successful bid. He went on: ‘We have long recognised that introducing a strong residential element to the heart of the city centre is key to its regeneration. A healthy mix of homes, retail, business and leisure use will breathe new life into this important area.’
One of the first projects to get underway will involve working with the Seren Group. A building on Cardiff Road, which has been vacant for a number of years, will be refurbished to create 15 affordable apartments. Newport city centre boasts some stunning architecture, especially if people look up, and the project will seek to preserve and enhance some of these features. One of these
is Griffin Island (above), near the historic indoor market, and it is proposed to create 40 flats on the upper floors.
Linc Cymru appoints Lovell for Bridgend scheme
Affordable housing specialist Lovell has been appointed by Linc Cymru Housing Association to build phase one of an £8.6 million development of 99 affordable homes at Coity, Bridgend.
The homes are being built on land sold to the housing association by the Welsh Government under its land release protocol designed to provide publicly owned land for affordable housing. The development is going ahead in partnership with the Welsh Government and Bridgend County Borough Council.
Work is now under way on the first phase – 56 houses and flats to be completed by early 2015 – located off the Coity bypass. The first phase will be for social rent and intermediate rent (intermediate rent means that homes are let at prices higher than social rented homes but below the market level).
New homes from oldest houses in Rhyl
The oldest houses in Rhyl, a pair of semi-detached properties on Pendyffryn Road that have long been unoccupied and left to decay, are being given a new lease of life by North Wales Housing and Denbighshire County Council, with a full redevelopment and repair programme.
North Wales Housing has acquired both properties at Plas Penndyffryn, built in 1571, and is set to start an ambitious and sympathetic programme of restoration. The Grade 2 listed buildings will be transformed to provide three two-bedroom houses and three two-bedroom bungalows to be built within the large garden to the rear.
Repair works to the existing structure will utilise traditional methods of construction and materials. The building is generally unchanged since its construction, still having no indoor bathroom
or toilet, whilst timber frame sash windows will be repaired and replaced. Masonry walls are lime plastered and refurbishment works will be carried out using similar applications and materials. More recent additions and alterations will be removed and replaced with sympathetic techniques and applications.
Energy wardens scheme
is just the job
A Caernarfon woman has turned her life around by helping fellow north west Wales residents save money on their energy bills.
Seven months ago, 50-year-old Sandra Kargin was out of work, had lost her confidence and was even struggling to leave her home in Cadnant.
But a place on Grwp Cynefin’s energy wardens scheme, which offers an opportunity for people out of work to train as energy efficiency advisors, has given her a new sense of purpose – helping reach out to people experiencing fuel poverty.
As well as building a new sense of self-worth, Sandra and her fellow wardens have helped more than 600 people across Gwynedd and Anglesey save more than £18,000 on their household bills.
Sandra said: ‘I didn’t know what to do with myself really, I would get up, stay in my pyjamas, and often sleep for most of the day. I was put in touch with the programme by the job centre, but didn’t really have any hope of getting an interview, never mind a job at the end of it. The energy wardens scheme really was a turning point for me, it’s changed my life.’
The energy wardens scheme is one a of a number of community initiatives run by Grwp Cynefin, which provides more than 3,700 rented homes and 700 affordable properties to people across North Wales and Powys. The organisation was formed earlier this year following the merger of Tai Eryri and Tai Clwyd housing associations.
Tylorstown glory returning
Welsh businesses have given the last remaining theatre in the Rhondda Fach another chance at hitting the big time.
The Grade II listed Tylorstown Welfare Hall, which was built 80 years ago, was at the point of closure in 2013 as there was no-one in place to manage the building, which had fallen into a state of disrepair.
Local woman Rebecca Sullivan left her secure job with Communities First to help look after the building, which was still providing services, events and entertainment to the surrounding communities. Rebecca received the support of Meadow Prospect, the charity set up by local housing organisation RCT Homes, to help raise funds to restore the building to its former glory.
Over the last 12 months Welsh companies have provided almost £30,000 worth of services, free of charge, to help bring Tylorstown Welfare Hall into a secure state. Services included project management, architectural support, mechanical and electrical engineering services, quantity surveying and structural engineering support.
The hall is now at a point where it is ready for renovation, and Rebecca is working closely with Meadow Prospect to apply for funding from Heritage Lottery for the next stage, which will take in a complete renovation, making the popular venue a sustainable and viable venue for the valleys.