New analysis shows case for unfreezing Local Housing Allowance in next week’s Budget

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The Northern Housing Consortium (NHC), which represents housing organisations in the North, is calling on the Chancellor to use next week’s Budget to uprate Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to provide a lifeline for struggling renters in the North.

The NHC and others welcomed the decision from government last November to protect the most vulnerable in society by increasing benefits in line with inflation in April. However, one key benefit was missing, Local Housing Allowance – which provides support for those renting in the private rented sector. This remains frozen at 2020 rates, limiting the support available to private renters and adding to cost of living pressures across the North.

Rents have risen across the North since the LHA was frozen and analysis from the NHC’s Northern Housing Monitor shows that only 7% of 2-bed rentals advertised in the North are affordable for someone reliant on Local Housing Allowance to pay their rent. These increases have accelerated over time with huge gaps emerging between rents and what people are entitled to receive from the LHA. New analysis from the Northern Housing Consortium shows that for a three-bedroom family home to rent in Tameside and Glossop, the gap between real rents at the 30th percentile (as determined by the government’s Valuation Office Agency) and the frozen LHA is now £24 a week – £104 a month, or £1,248 a year.

The NHC say the Chancellor must re-set the Local Housing Allowance to cover at least the 30th centile of local rents, and then relink the benefit to the real cost of renting for future years.

Tracy Harrison, Chief Executive of the Northern Housing Consortium said:

“This continued freeze on LHA impacts many different households – from people living alone, or in shared accommodation, to couples and families. Tenants need to find the extra money from somewhere, and people are now having to make a choice not just between heating and eating but keeping a roof over their heads. Councils in the North are particularly worried about the LHA freeze as it’s resulting in homelessness presentations and driving up the use of temporary accommodation.”

Dave Richmond Chief Executive at St Leger Homes of Doncaster said:

“The government have worked hard to support local authorities to tackle homelessness, but when it comes to the issue of welfare benefits being sufficient to pay for private rents they seem to be asleep at the wheel. In Doncaster we are seeing more people needing council housing because they simply cannot afford to rent privately. This isn’t people being choosy, but an inability to find any private home that meets their needs at the LHA rate.

“Whilst Doncaster has 20,000 council homes the private rental sector is larger and unfortunately only a small proportion of those private properties are affordable to people on benefits. As a result we are placing more people in temporary accommodation, including hotels until we can find them a suitable alternative. The impact on the public purse is concerning, but more concerning is the impact on families of having to live in such a way.”

The long-term solution to this crisis is more affordable housing – but the government needs to act now and use next week’s Budget to uprate Local Housing Allowance to protect private renters in the North.

Decent Homes Review – sign up for updates

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The Review of the Decent Homes Standard has been underway since early 2021 – and the Northern Housing Consortium are part of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Review Sounding Board.

With a consultation on extending the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector having concluded last year, the NHC are expecting the Review of the Standard itself to pick up pace in coming weeks.  During the passage of the Social Housing Regulation Bill, Ministers also pledged to bring forward a consultation on a regulatory standard for energy efficiency in the social rented sector, within six months of the Bill receiving Royal Assent.

The NHC are therefore expecting the next few months to be a critical period to influence the development of both initiatives, and to ensure we have ambitious and deliverable standards to take us into the 2030s. Commenting, NHC Executive Director (Policy and Public Affairs) Brian Robson said:

“We welcome the Government’s commitment to bringing forward a new Decent Homes Standard to replace the current 2006 version. Energy efficiency will form an important part of updates to the Standard, and the NHC is therefore encouraging the Department to bring these consultations forward in parallel, in order that social landlords can provide holistic and considered feedback.”

NHC members can sign up for updates direct from the NHC’s policy team, ensuring that you are kept up-to-date on the progress of the review, and get to shape our response. If you’d like to receive our Decent Homes Review update, please email kristina.dawson@northern-consortium.org.uk

Northern Housing Markets Outlook with JLL 2023 – Event write-up

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International real estate company JLL gave a session on market trends in housing on the 22nd February 2022. The session was hosted by NHC with involvement from members in the roundtable. From JLL, we had Marcus Dixon and Paul Winstanley, who gave insights into the economic insight into the housing market, the PRS and the situation in social housing. The session was chaired by Dave Richmond, chief executive of St. Leger Homes.

The session began with an introduction from Marcus Dixon with an economic narrative giving a breakdown of what is happening in different areas of the housing market. Mr. Dixon informed the roundtable of key headlines, such as the fact that housing prices have risen significantly over the past two years, with a 27% rise compared to pre-pandemic. Similarly, when looking at the private rented sector, JLL predicts that rents are predicted to grow by 15.6% over the next 5 years. JLL highlighted that it is the poorest households who will be impacted by any financial instability, and according to their presentation around 40% of those in the lowest income bracket rent through either a housing association or a local authority. Finally, the presentation ended with information around the highlighted living priorities for people, in terms of things that are important for people in terms of what they look for in a home. These include; Access to green spaces, close to public transport, Broadband, Energy efficiency and space for home office.

Secondly, Paul Winstanley gave an update on what is happening in the private rented sector, informing the group that regulatory factors are having an impact on the financial viability of landlords in the PRS sector and they’re being asked to do more and more. The key headline from this presentation is that landlords in the PRS are valuable as they increase the amount of housing available on the market. However, now, landlords are leaving the markets due to increasing pressures, and this is having an impact on the amount of housing going forward. Mr. Winstanley highlighted to the group that there needs to be consideration for the PRS alongside affordable housing to help solve the housing crisis.

Finally, there was a questions and answers session chaired by Dave Richmond, with questions from the group asking about regional differences in the market, age profiles of potential buyers, the situation for social landlords and homelessness. JLL gave their insight into the questions and answers informing the group of trends that are appearing in each of these questions.

The NHC would like to thank JLL for their participation in the event, particularly Marcus Dixon and Paul Winstanley for their engagement with the group and for their presentations. If you would like to find out more about the Roundtable with JLL, please contact Liam Gregson, Membership Engagement Manager liam.gregson@northern-consortium.org.uk.

 

 

DLUHC consultation on tenant involvement and mutual exchange

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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has launched a new consultation on issuing new directions to the Regulator of Social Housing relating to tenant involvement and mutual exchange.

This is part of the Social Housing White Paper’s commitment to introduce a proactive consumer regulation regime. DLUHC has reviewed existing directions covering tenant involvement and mutual exchange to ensure they are suitable for the new regulatory framework.

The Social Housing Bill is currently progressing through parliament enabling the Secretary of State to direct the Regulator on certain aspects of regulatory standards to deliver the reforms set out in the White Paper.

The consultation proposes a number of small, but important changes to the existing directions covering tenant involvement and mutual exchange to support the implementation of the new consumer regime. DLUHC will issue new directions to the Regulator in spring 2023 subject to the outcome of the consultation and the Social Housing Bill’s passage through parliament.

The consultation closes on 30 March 2023.

The direction relating to tenant involvement requires the Regulator to set a standard on tenant involvement that applies to all registered social housing providers. For example, a requirement to provide tenants with greater opportunities to engage with and scrutinise their landlord’s activities. The direction regarding mutual exchange covers tenants’ rights to access a service that helps them exchange their propriety with other social housing tenants.

We are keen to hear feedback from our members to inform our submission. If you would like to comment on the consultation please send your comments to:

Joanne Wilson at joanne.wilson@northern-consortium.org.uk by the 24th of March 2023.

 

Government launches ‘Make Things Right’ campaign

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The Government has this week launched its new ‘Make Things Right’ campaign to inform social housing residents that if they have a problem, it’s now easier to make things right.

The campaign aims to help more social housing residents in England know how to complain if they’re unhappy with a service provided by their landlord. The ‘Make Things Right’ website provides information on how to raise a complaint and contact the Housing Ombudsman. Additional information is also available to help tenants who wish to contact their local MP, councillor, or Tenant Panel.

The campaign will feature on radio and social media adverts, as well as in online searches, and will run until the end of April 2023. Community engagement will also take place in the North West and London, where there are higher concentrations of social housing.

The Government campaign will reinforce the message that everyone deserves to live in a home that is safe, secure and well-maintained.

You can view the ‘Make Things Right’ campaign assets and support the campaign through your channels. Posters, leaflets and social media posts are all available to print, download or share. There’s also a blank poster to enable you to add in details of your own complaints process, plus translated materials available.

Read more in the press release or share your work and social media content with the @luhc Twitter account.

The DLUHC campaign team would also like to hear how you’ve used the campaign materials to support your local community – please send case studies to socialhousingcomplaintscampaign@23red.com

If you’d like any further information on the campaign please contact externalaffairs@levellingup.gov.uk

Focus group findings will shape new sector-wide retrofit campaign

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Would you want retrofit work done on your home? How do you like your landlord to communicate with you? What language should we use to talk about energy efficiency?

Those are just some of the questions which were discussed at a focus group with the tenant advisory group for the cross sector retrofit communications project.

Launched by Northern Housing Consortium, Placeshapers and Tpas the project will create a suite of resources to support social landlords to communicate with tenants about net zero and retrofit. It follows on from research which highlighted the importance of getting communication with tenants right if the sector wants to meet decarbonisation targets and offer great customer service.

The session was facilitated by Dominic Ridely-Moy from the Behaviour Change Network and creative partners Maxmedia also attended.

The tenants’ advisory group will play a key role in making sure the project addresses the needs of tenants. We’ll also pilot the resources to get input from a wide range of people.

We’re also holding a focus group session with housing colleagues, to find out more about the challenges they’re facing in communicating about retrofit.

If you’d like to find out more about the cross sector retrofit communications project, contact Project Communication Manger (Net Zero) Kathy Thomas.

NHC meets new Housing Minister

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Northern Housing Consortium chief executive, Tracy Harrison, and Executive Director (Policy & Public Affairs), Brian Robson, met new Housing Minister, Rachel Maclean MP, in Westminster yesterday to brief her on some of the key issues facing the sector in the North – and the things you our members tell us. We were pleased to brief the Minister on the role NHC members play in delivering better homes and places across the North and discuss how we can work together to deliver shared priorities on housing, levelling-up and net zero.

Tracy said:

“It was a fantastic opportunity to meet the new Housing Minister early on and share some of the great work being done by our members. We were pleased the Minister was keen to engage and understand the key challenges many of our members are concerned about. We also discussed the wider role NHC members play in supporting vulnerable people in local communities, which is often complex. It was good to have time to touch on this important but often unseen part of members’ work. I hope this will be an initial first meeting with the Minister and that we’ll continue to have positive discussions over the coming months.”

Brian added:

“It was good to see that the Minister understood the policy issues our members often raise with us and which we’ve been focusing on. From the Local Housing Allowance, through to energy efficiency and the need for regeneration, we had a wide-ranging discussion which I hope is the first of many.”

Rachel Maclean was appointed as part of the Prime Minister’s reshuffle and restructure of Government – read more here.

The Sustainability Academy – discount for NHC members

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Climate change is the defining challenge of a generation and tackling it will require organisations and individuals to play their part in creating a more sustainable future. The task of becoming a sustainable organisation is a mandatory one and cannot be left solely to sustainability departments to implement. However, without the knowledge to do so, how can every individual play their part? The Sustainability Academy provides sustainability training mapped to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to empower all colleagues in an organisation and provide them with the tools to make sustainable decisions through The Sustainability Academy’s CPD accredited programme. As members of the Northern Housing Consortium, your organisation is entitled to 25% discount on the programme.

As organisations seek to improve in areas of sustainability, health and well-being and diversity and inclusion, The Sustainability Academy can provide training directly and in partnership with industry experts to address these challenges

For organisations at the start of their sustainability journey, The Sustainability Academy can provide consultancy to support strategy creation and map out the pathway to a sustainable future.

Contact us at info@thesustainabilityacademy.co.uk and quote NHC to see how we can support your transition to a sustainable future.

NHC Spring Budget representation calls for boost to Local Housing Allowance

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With Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Spring Budget statement coming on the 15th March, the NHC has submitted a budget representation to the Treasury. The NHC has long-term asks on investment in energy efficiency of existing homes, on brownfield land remediation and local authority capacity, which we set out in our 2021 Spending Review Representation. However, at the Spring Budget, we are focusing our representation on the need to uprate Local Housing Allowance (LHA) so that it reflects the real cost of renting in the private sector. We believe that the most pressing priority for the Chancellor is to take urgent action to tackle the cost-of-living crisis by making this policy change.

The NHC and our members believe that a continued freeze on LHA would make it even harder for existing private renters to make ends meet, risking homelessness and making it increasingly difficult for local authorities to discharge their homelessness duties effectively. Therefore, our recommendation is that the Chancellor must re-set the Local Housing Allowance to cover at least the 30th centile of local rents, and then relink the benefit to the real cost of renting for future years.

While Local Housing Allowance has been frozen for the last two years, rents have continued to rise in the North, resulting in a situation where last year’s Northern Housing Monitor found just 7% of rental ads in the North were affordable to those reliant on Local Housing Allowance. This change would primarily benefit private renters who are struggling with the cost of living crisis. It will particularly benefit the 246,000 renters across the North facing unaffordable rents and affordability pressures. Another benefit, as aforementioned, would be to aid local authorities in the discharge of their homelessness duty, enabling them to secure private rented homes rather than using temporary accommodation or bed and breakfast.

The NHC will continue to focus on our influencing objectives of meeting the net zero challenge and putting housing at the heart of a rebalanced country, through engagement with parliamentarians, civil servants and other relevant stakeholders.

Look out for our on-the-day briefing on the 15th March, which will cover all of the details announced in the Chancellor’s statement, and put it into context for the North’s housing sector.

LUHC Committee publish report on Reforming the Private Rented Sector          

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In June 2022, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published its White Paper, A Fairer Private Rented Sector, which outlines the Government’s long-term vision for the private rented sector (PRS). The Government has confirmed that the proposals are to be implemented this Parliament through a Renters’ Reform Bill. The proposals in the White Paper include the abolition of section 21 and the replacement of fixed-term tenancies with open-ended tenancies. It also focuses on housing quality and the condition of private rented accommodation, which is more likely to be non-decent than homes in other tenures.

In February, the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee – the Committee that scrutinises the policy, administration and spending of DLUHC – published a report into Reforming the Private Rented Sector. The report provides recommendations for government on reform to the PRS, in response to the White Paper. Following a call for evidence from the Committee, the NHC submitted written evidence in August 2022, responding to the questions posed by the Committee around the proposals in the White Paper. Our response was informed by consultation with our local authority member organisations with direct experience of supporting residents in the PRS, and who work to improve and enforce decent standards throughout the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Committee report cited the NHC on multiple occasions, including on a new decent homes standard (DHS) and incorporating minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) into the DHS. With thermal efficiency in the private rented sector typically poorer than in the social rented sector, the NHC called for the Government to confirm the EPC MEES standard for the PRS, which would accelerate progress towards meeting one element of the DHS. The LUHC Committee recommended that the MEES be incorporated into the DHS with financing solutions included for landlords faced with excessive necessary improvement work costs.

On ending Section 21 evictions, the NHC evidence submission stated that removal of no-fault evictions would be a key step toward increased protection for renters, and that longer tenancies could improve relationships between tenants and landlords. The Committee echoed this view in the report, stating “we conclude that the abolition of fixed-term tenancies, combined with the repeal of section 21, would undoubtedly give tenants greater security of tenure, and we therefore welcome the proposals.”

The NHC hosts a quarterly Private Rented Sector Network for all NHC members working in connection with, or with an interest in, private sector housing and private sector housing reform to discuss day-to-day challenges and track and respond to national policy development. All meetings are Chaired by Dr Julie Rugg, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Housing Policy, University of York.

The next meeting takes place 22nd March 2023, 13.00 – 14.30, online via Zoom, and will focus on the supporting on the cost of living crisis. For further information and to book your place visit MyNHC: https://www.mynhc.org.uk/event/general?id=Private_Rented_Sector_Network2873515587