Policy update

POLICY DEVELOPMENTS IN OTHER PARTS
OF THE UK

UK

Osborne targets first-time buyers in final Budget

The final Budget before the Westminster general election saw chancellor George Osborne launch a third variant of Help to Buy.

Help to Buy ISAs are aimed at first-time buyers saving for a deposit. For every £200 they save up, the government will contribute another £50 up to a maximum of £3,000. The maximum eligible home value is £450,000 in London and £250,000 anywhere else in the UK.

Critics argued that the scheme will boost demand for homes while doing nothing about supply. The National Housing Federation said the £2.1 billion estimated cost would be enough to allow housing associations to build 69,000 affordable homes.

Osborne also announced a series of initiatives on housing in England, including the first 20 Housing Zones outside London plus City Deals for Cardiff, Aberdeen and Inverness.

The Budget was agreed by the coalition and several measures that were expected to include part of the Conservative manifesto did not appear. These are widely reported to include the extension of the right to buy to housing associations in England and a cut in inheritance tax on first homes. The Budget documents also provided no details of where the Conservatives would find £12 billion of cuts to the welfare bill by 2017/18.

ENGLAND

Survey reveals fresh fall in ownership

New official figures revealed another surge in private renting in England as the number of home owners continued to decline.

First results from the English Housing Survey for 2013/14 show that there are now more households who own their home outright than buying with a mortgage. The private rented sector overtook social renting two years ago and it grew by another 11 per cent or 421,000 households in 2013/14. Private renting also became the single biggest tenure in London. The results mean that total home ownership fell by 210,000 households in the first four years of the UK coalition government. Mortgaged ownership fell by 764,000 and is now lower as a proportion of households than in 1981. The proportion of 25-34 year olds who own their home in England has fallen from almost 60 per to just 35 per cent in the last ten years.

SCOTLAND

Councils pay out £46m to mitigate bedroom tax

Local authorities in Scotland made 101,000 awards of discretionary housing payments (DHPs) totalling £46 million between April and December 2014.

The Scottish Government has pledged to abolish the bedroom tax as soon as it gains new powers from Westminster but is mitigating the cost in full via DHPs until then.

The official statistics showed that local authorities received 110,000 applications to the scheme, which provides local financial assistance towards housing costs for people claiming housing benefit. By the end of December, 106,000 had been processed and 101,000 awards granted. The average payment was £456.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Welfare reform deal collapses

A deal on welfare reform collapsed in March amid recriminations between the governing coalition partners at Stormont.

Northern Ireland’s devolution settlement covers social security and it has still not introduced key elements of welfare reform including the bedroom tax that already apply in the rest of the UK. However, the delay is costing the government £2 million a week in block grant.

The Northern Ireland parties agreed a welfare reform deal in December covering both the bedroom tax and universal credit and including significant mitigations for people affected. But Sinn Fein blocked the Welfare Reform Bill in March after it accused its Democratic Unionist Party coalition partner of acting ‘in bad faith’ and going back on its promises. The DUP said Sinn Fein was being ‘dishonourable’.

WELSH GOVERNMENT   

Minister consults on end of right to buy

The Welsh Government published a consultation paper in January setting out its intention to end the right to buy and right to acquire.

Any new law would be introduced in the next Assembly term but ministers also consulted on a reduction in the maximum right to buy discount from £16,000 to £8,000 before then. The consultation was due to finish on April 16.

On the same day communities and tackling poverty minister Lesley Griffiths approved an application from Carmarthenshire County Council to suspend the right to buy and right to buy acquire to help tackle local housing pressures. This was the first application under existing legislation, the Housing (Wales) Measure 2011.

Lesley Griffiths said: ‘Our supply of homes is under considerable pressure and we are still seeing social rented properties being taken out of our social housing stock because of the right to buy, which is forcing many vulnerable people to wait longer for a home. This is why decisive action is needed to protect our social housing to make sure it is available for those who need it most.’

Cllr Dyfed Edwards, Welsh Local Government Association spokesperson for housing, said: ‘With many thousands of people currently on housing waiting lists, and at a time of acute shortages of affordable homes, the proposal from Welsh Government to abolish the right to buy scheme is a welcome step in tackling a growing problem in Wales.’

Report calls for action on direct payment

A Task and Finish Group investigating the UK Government’s proposal to pay housing benefit direct to claimants under universal credit found that nobody in Wales was in favour of the idea.

Scotland and Northern Ireland already have control over payment arrangements under universal credit and the group’s report found that Welsh tenants would be significantly disadvantaged unless Wales was given parity.

Communities and tackling poverty minister Lesley Griffiths said: ‘I will contact the Department for Work and Pensions to discuss the report’s recommendations. I have also already written to Lord Freud, minister for welfare reform, to bring to his attention the unfair disadvantage Wales faces from not having control of the way benefit will be paid within the Universal Credit system.’

Ministers reveal funding boosts

Housing and regeneration have benefitted from a series of Welsh government funding announcements over the last three months.

In February, finance minister Jane Hutt allocated an extra £5.8 million from reserves to social housing in 2014. She said the new investment would support the Social Housing Grant programme and the delivery of 70-90 new affordable homes,

Communities and tackling poverty minister Lesley Griffiths made a series of funding announcements including:

• £10 million for the Home Improvement Loans scheme, which will offer interest-free loans of up to £25,000 per property to be recycled by local authorities
• £10 million to extend the Houses Into Homes scheme, which offers interest-free loans for owners of empty properties to bring them back into use for sale and rent
• An extra £1.5 million to support the Project Riverside regeneration scheme on the site of the old Merthyr Vale colliery
• £5 million loan funding for seven local authorities for 15 years to help regenerate town centres
• £200,000 over the next two years to continue the work of rural housing enablers (for more on this, see CREW feature p43)
• Almost £2 million of Vibrant and Viable Places funding to support six regeneration projects, shared between Newport, Neath Port Talbot, Blaenau Gwent, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Vale of Glamorgan and Wrexham.

New rules on discretionary housing payments

A new system that aims to ensure ‘fair and consistent’ treatment for people who need help with their rent came into effect at the start of April.

The Welsh Government, Welsh LGA, Welfare Reform Club and local authorities worked closely to develop new protocols for awarding discretionary housing payments (DHPs).

DHPs provide a lifeline for tenants struggling to make up shortfalls between their housing benefit and their rent as a result of UK welfare reforms such as the bedroom tax and shared accommodation.

The focus in the new system will be on giving all applicants a clear and consistent decision, giving priority to people who are doing all they can to help themselves and ensuring local authorities assist tenants with the underlying problems causing hardship including advice and support from other agencies.

The Welsh Government criticised Department for Work and Pensions guidance as too vague and too inconsistent, especially for disabled people and people living in specially adapted properties.

Strategy reaffirms child poverty commitment

The Welsh Government has published new plans to reduce the number of children living in poverty in Wales.

The 2015 Child Poverty strategy, revised following public consultation, includes two new key objectives:

• Using all available levers to create a strong economy and labour market in Wales to reduce in-work poverty
• Helping families increase their household income through effective debt and financial advice and taking action to reduce the poverty premium, which sees low income households pay more for goods and services.

Councils celebrate self-financing

The 11 Welsh councils with retained housing stock celebrated their financial freedom on April 2 as they exited the UK Government’s Housing Revenue Account Subsidy (HRAS) system.

After hours of complex negotiations, they gained control over their housing assets which are forecast to generate around £18 billion.

Communities and tackling poverty minister Lesley Griffiths said: ‘The increase in councils’ housing revenue as a result of this deal will allow them to improve their existing properties and build new council houses. Today’s historic deal will, therefore, also have a direct impact on tenants who will benefit from living in more comfortable, higher quality homes.’

Consultation papers

• Devolution, Democracy and Delivery White Paper – Reforming Local Government: Power to Local People gov.wales/consultations/localgovernment/power-to-local-people/?lang=en – Responses by April 28
• Tax Devolution in Wales – Consultation on a Land Transaction Tax gov.wales/consultations/finance/land-transaction-tax/?status=closed&lang=en – Responses by May 6
• Consultation on the Regulation of Private Housing (Information, Periods and Fees for Registration and Licensing) (Wales) Regulations 2015 gov.wales/consultations/housing-and-regeneration/regulation-of-private-rented-housing-information-periods-and-fees-for-registration-and-licensing/?lang=en – Responses by May 7
• Consultation on a Private Rented Sector Code of Practice for Landlords and Agents gov.wales/consultations/housing-and-regeneration/private-rented-sector-code-of-practice-for-landlords-and-agents/?lang=en – Responses by May 22
• Exemptions to the Council Tax Premium on Second Homes in Wales gov.wales/consultations/localgovernment/council-tax-premium-second-homes-consultation/?lang=en Responses by June 13
• Exemptions to the Council Tax Premium on Long-Term Empty Homes in Wales gov.wales/consultations/localgovernment/council-tax-on-long-term-empty-homes-consultation/?lang=en– Responses by June 13

PUBLICATIONS 10 TO LOOK OUT FOR

1. An Economic Strategy for Wales – Institute of Welsh Affairs, March 2014 www.iwa.org.uk/en/publications/view/240
2. Is Welfare Reform Working? Impacts on working age tenants – London School of Economics, March 2015 sticerd.lse.ac.uk/dps/case/cr/casereport90.pdf
3. Managing the Impact of Welfare Reform Changes on Social Housing Tenants in Wales – Wales Audit Office, January 2015 www.wao.gov.uk/publication/managing-impact-welfare-reform-changes-social-housing-tenants-wales
4. The Wales We Want report – The Wales We Want, March 2015 thewaleswewant.co.uk/sites/default/files/The Wales We Want Report ENG.pdf
5. UK Housing Review 2015 – Chartered Institute of Housing, March 2015 www.cih.org/publication/display/vpathDCR/templatedata/cih/publication/data/UK_Housing_Review_2015
6. Hard Edge – Mapping severe and multiple disadvantages – Lankelly Chase Foundation, January 2015 www.lankellychase.org.uk/assets/0000/2858/Hard_Edges_Mapping_SMD_FINAL_VERSION_Web.pdf
7. Benefit Sanctions and Homelessness: A scoping report – Crisis, March 2015 www.crisis.org.uk/data/files/publications/Sanctions Report 2015_FINAL.pdf
8. The Challenge of Accelerating UK Housebuilding – Policy Network, January 2015 www.policy-network.net/publications_detail.aspx?ID=4810
9. The Future of Private Renting – Civitas, January 2015 www.civitas.org.uk/housing/thefutureofprivaterenting

10. The Economic Footprint of UK House Building – Home Builders Federation, March 2015 www.hbf.co.uk/fileadmin/documents/research/Economic_Fotprint_BPF_Report_March_2015_WEB.pdf

WALES

Accounts show progress by associations

Global accounts for the year ending March 2014 showed continuing resilience from Welsh housing associations in the face of challenging economic circumstances.

The accounts published by Community Housing Cymru showed that:

• The sector now owns and manages 157,000 homes.
• CHC members have directly spent £1 billion in the economy with 80 per cent retained in Wales, with the indirect supplier effect equating to almost £2 billion.
• Total debt level is now over £2 billion for the sector.
• Sector gearing continues to increase and is now at 61 per cent, representing a 3 per cent increase on 2013.
• Turnover for the year was £784 million, an increase of £48 million (6.6 per cent) on 2013.
• Operating surplus for the year was £150 million, with a net surplus after interest payments of £74 million.

Group chief executive of Community Housing Cymru Stuart Ropke said: ‘The global accounts show how the sector has progressed to become a collection of highly capitalised businesses that are adopting a more commercial attitude in order to accomplish their social objectives.

‘Our sector’s operating environment is shifting – our members are adapting to deal with issues as a result of welfare reform, cuts in public expenditure and long-term demographic changes, and are sustaining a pivotal role in providing new housing capital subsidy to deal with the housing supply shortage in Wales.’

The global accounts are available at chcymru.org.uk/uploads/general/The_2014_Financial_statements_of_ Welsh_Housing_Associations.pdf

First for new regulatory process

NPT Homes has become the first registered social landlord in Wales to undergo the Welsh Government’s new risk-based approach to regulatory assessment.

The findings of the assessment, which commenced in September, were published in March and have given NPT Homes an overall summary of its strengths and areas for improvement. It also outlines the level of ongoing regulatory engagement needed and reasons for this involvement.

The new risk based approach was piloted with two housing associations but NPT Homes was the first to undergo the process since its approval. It enables Welsh Government to focus on the key risks faced by housing associations and to work with them on an ongoing basis to ensure that risks are effectively managed and associations continuously improve.

The findings of the assessment are available on www.npthomes.co.uk and www.wales.gov.uk

Three stars for Linc

Linc Cymru has become the first housing association in Wales to be awarded three-star accreditation by the Centre for Housing and Support for its services in extra care, sheltered housing and housing-related support for older people.

Accreditation demonstrates the association’s commitment to delivering significant and positive outcomes to improve the quality of life of its tenants and has been judged to be an outstanding service.

An independent assessor carried out a thorough review of the services, speaking to staff, tenants and key stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the service and how this is viewed by the people that receive it.

Brian Thomas, chair of Linc’s tenant panel and sheltered housing tenant, said: ‘It’s great that Linc has been recognised in this way. My views along with other tenants were sought by the CHS assessor and I cannot fault where I live or the staff. There are opportunities for tenants to have their say and influence decision outcomes with Linc.’

Flintshire County Council has approved plans for a new extra care housing scheme in Flint. The scheme by Clwyd Alyn housing Association will provide 72 self-contained one and two bedroom apartments together with a wide range of communal facilities.

Wrexham sets out WHQS plan

Wrexham Council has agreed a £38 million spending programme for 2015/16 as part of its plan to bring all its social housing up to the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS) by 2020.

The council owns 11,000 homes, making it the largest provider in Wales outside Cardiff and Swansea. The county includes Caia Park (pictured), the largest housing estate in Wales with 11,000 residents.

The spending programme over the next two months includes new kitchens and bathrooms for 2,500 homes, new heating systems for 700, the re-roofing of 600 properties and external wall insulation for 160. The £38 million is a significant increase on the £34 million agreed for 2014/15.

Wrexham’s lead member for housing, Cllr Ian Roberts said: ‘This is a massive capital spend, and we are doing our best to make sure we reach the Welsh Quality Standard in 2020.’