Earlier this month we supported the call, led by Shelter, to urge Government to bring the Social Housing Regulation Bill to parliament as soon as possible. The open letter urged Secretary of State Michael Gove to prioritise making law the proposals outlined in the Social Housing White Paper, published in November 2020.

The white paper set out a new charter for social housing tenants with plans to reform the regulation of social housing with a focus on consumer standards. This followed from the publication of the Social Housing Green Paper in 2018 after the Grenfell Tower fire. While NHC members have undertaken extensive work to engage more effectively with tenants throughout that period, legislation to enact the new consumer regulation regime is long overdue.

There have been some developments since the publication of the white paper.  For example, the review of the Decent Homes Standard announced in the white paper is being turbocharged by the Levelling Up White Paper’s commitment to halve the number of non-decent homes in the rented sectors by 2030. The Standard will be extended to the private rented sector for the first time. The Regulator has also undergone a consultation to establish new Tenant Satisfaction Measures, as outlined in the Social Housing White Paper, as part of the new proposed consumer regulatory regime.

This month, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) published a series of sample draft clauses to be brought forward in the Social Housing Regulation Bill “when parliamentary time allows”. DLUHC make clear with this draft publication that they are continuing to encourage landlords to consider what action they can take now to prepare for these regulatory changes.

Along with the draft clauses, DLUHC also published plans to create a Social Housing Quality Resident Panel (accepting applications from tenants to join until 29^th April); plans to ‘name and shame’ poor practice by social landlords on social media; and a factsheet explaining the role of the Regulator and Housing Ombudsman.

The NHC has joined with Grenfell United, Kwajo Tweneboa, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Placeshapers, TPAS, CIH, NHF and others to ask Government to make this legislation a priority in the next parliamentary session (the Queen’s Speech to set the Government’s agenda is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 10^th May 2022).

Read coverage of the joint letter by Housing Correspondent, Vicky Spratt, in i news here and the full text can be seen below:

“Nearly five years after the Grenfell Tower fire, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has now published their draft Bill to regulate social housing.

This law is beyond overdue. Recent exposure of the living conditions and frustrations of some residents has revealed the continued devastating impact of poor housing conditions on our communities.

While we will continue to work with the Government to ensure this Bill does all it can do– we now need to prioritise getting these changes onto the statute book.

Residents deserve respect, and for their voices to be heard. Well-managed and well-funded social housing is vital if the government is to restore a sense of local pride and belonging to every neighbourhood.

This legislation would allow the social housing regulator to get to work building a system that delivers real accountability and gives tenants a voice. There is no reason for delay. The promises made to the bereaved, residents and survivors of the Grenfell fire should become the law this spring.

English Housing Survey figures reveal four per cent of social rented properties have some type of damp problem, compared to two per cent of owner-occupied homes.

A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: ““No one should have to live in a substandard home. Our priority is to create a fairer social rented sector for everyone.

We will introduce new legislation to improve the quality and regulation of social housing, give residents extra information to help hold their landlord to account and ensure that when residents make a complaint, landlords take quick and effective action to put things right.”

The letter was signed by:

Natasha Elcock (Chair) Grenfell United

Rob Gershon, Social Housing Campaigner

Darren Baxter (Housing and Policy and Partnerships Manager) Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Chloe Fletcher (Policy Director) National Federation of ALMOs

Tracy Harrison (CEO) Northern Housing Consortium

Darren Hartley (CEO)TAROE Trust

Kate Henderson (CEO) National Housing Federation

Alison Inman, SHOUT

Alistair McIntosh (CEO) Housing Quality Network

Geeta Nanda OBE (CEO) Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing and Chair, G15

Polly Neate (CEO) Shelter

Jenny Osbourne (CEO) TPAS

Nick Reynolds (Chair) National Federation of Tenant Management Organisations

Gavin Smart (CEO) Chartered Institute of Housing

Kwajo Tweneboa, Social Housing Campaigner

Matthew Walker (CEO) Leeds Federated Housing Association and Chair, PlaceShapers

Social housing landlords and residents are being asked to provide evidence to a new investigation, which will explore how social landlords manage reports of noise nuisance and what drives complaints about how those are handled.

The Ombudsman has received a “significant” number of complaints relating to noise over the past three years, with over 40% of complaints resulting in maladministration.

The investigation aims to understand how approaches to noise nuisance work in practice and how landlords work with other agencies.

It will also ask what is successful in mitigating inherent, or unavoidable, modern noise and what is successful intervention.

In addition to the survey responses, the Ombudsman will also draw from its casebook and from members of its resident panel.

Richard Blakeway, Housing Ombudsman, said: “Noise complaints can have a particularly significant impact on residents causing deep frustration and stress, and it’s an area that also presents difficult challenges for landlords.

We are keen to examine all aspects of noise related complaints and particularly how complaints are managed under anti-social behaviour policies. The statutory thresholds can be high and result in a lengthy process for residents while they may continue to experience the disturbance.”

He also said the investigation will also examine the relationship between anti-social behaviour and noise with best practice and learning being shared across the social housing sector.

The online survey will close on Friday 13 May and can be accessed via the Housing Ombudsman website.

The Housing Ombudsman was granted powers to investigate systemic issues in 2020. It has since produced Spotlight reports on damp and mould, heating and hot water, and cladding complaints.

For further information about this matter please contact karen.brown@northern-consortium.org.uk

In the run-up to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement, the NHC joined the Child Poverty Action Group’s (CPAG) campaign, along with more than 50 other organisations, to call for the Government to increase benefits by at least 8% to match inflation forecasts, instead of the planned 3.1% increase from April 2022.

The joint statement led by CPAG, and supported by others in the sector including the Chartered Institute for Housing, received coverage in the BBC, Guardian and the Mirror.

Disappointingly, the Chancellor’s announcements did not include plans to provide additional support through the welfare system. The Resolution Foundation has since estimated that a further 1.3m people, including 500,000 children, will fall into absolute poverty next year.

See the full CPAG statement and signatories below:

“Prices are rising at the fastest rate in 30 years, and energy bills alone are going to rise by 54% in April. We are all feeling the pinch but the soaring costs of essentials will hurt low-income families, whose budgets are already at breaking point, most.

There has long been a profound mismatch between what those with a low income have, and what they need to get by. Policies such as the benefit cap, the benefit freeze and deductions have left many struggling. And although benefits will increase by 3.1% in April, inflation is projected to be 7.25% by then. This means a real-terms income cut just six months after the £20 per week cut to universal credit.

Child Poverty Action Group’s analysis shows families’ universal credit will fall in value by £570 per year, on average. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has calculated that 400,000 people could be pulled into poverty by this real-terms cut to benefits.

The government must respond to the scale of the challenge. Prices are rising across the board. Families with children in poverty will face £35 per month in extra energy costs through spring and summer, even after the government’s council tax rebate scheme is factored in. These families also face £26 per month in additional food costs. The pressure isn’t going to ease: energy costs will rise again in October.

A second cut to benefits in six months is unthinkable. The government should increase benefits by at least 7% in April to match inflation, and ensure support for housing costs increases in line with rents. All those struggling, including families affected by the benefit cap, must feel the impact.

Much more is needed for levels of support to reflect what people need to get by, but we urge the government to use the spring statement on 23 March to stop this large gap widening even further. The people we support and represent are struggling, and budgets can’t stretch anymore.”

 

Alison Garnham, Chief Executive, Child Poverty Action Group

Emma Revie, Chief Executive, The Trussell Trust

Graeme Cooke, Director of Evidence and Policy, Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Morgan Wild, Head of Policy, Citizens Advice

Dan Paskins, Director of UK Impact, Save the Children UK

Imran Hussain, Director of Policy and Campaigns, Action for Children

Thomas Lawson, Chief Executive, Turn2us

Sophie Corlett, Director of External Relations, Mind

Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive, Oxfam GB

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director, Age UK

Eve Byrne, Director of Advocacy, Macmillan Cancer Support

Kamran Mallick, CEO, Disability Rights UK

Katherine Hill, Strategic Project Manager, 4in10 London’s Child Poverty Network

Mubin Haq, Chief Executive Officer, abrdn Financial Fairness Trust 

Bob Stronge, Chief Executive, Advice NI 

Dr Ruth Allen, Chief Executive, British Association of Social Workers

Joseph Howes, Chief Executive Officer, Buttle UK

Helen Walker, Chief Executive, Carers UK 

Balbir Chatrik, Director of Policy and Communications, Centrepoint

Gavin Smart, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Housing 

Leigh Elliott, CEO, Children North East

Paula Stringer, CEO, Christians Against Poverty (CAP)

Niall Cooper, Director, Church Action on Poverty

Lynsey Sweeney, Managing Director, Communities that Work

Anna Feuchtwang, Chair, End Child Poverty Coalition

Claire Donovan, Head of Policy, Research and Campaigns, End Furniture Poverty

Victoria Benson, CEO, Gingerbread 

Neil Parkinson, co-head of casework, Glass Door Homeless Charity

Graham Whitham, Chief Executive, Greater Manchester Poverty Action

Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director, Human Rights Watch

Sabine Goodwin, Coordinator, Independent Food Aid Network 

Jess McQuail, Director, Just Fair 

Gemma Hope, Director of Policy, Leonard Cheshire

Paul Streets, Chief Executive, Lloyds Bank Foundation for England & Wales

Jackie O’Sullivan, Director of Communication, Advocacy and Activism, Mencap

Mark Rowland, Chief Executive, Mental Health Foundation

Chris James, Director of External Affairs, Motor Neurone Disease Association

Nick Moberly, CEO, MS Society

Anna Feuchtwang, Chief Executive, National Children’s Bureau

Charlotte Augst, Chief Executive, National Voices

Jane Streather, Chair, North East Child Poverty Commission

Tracy Harrison, Chief Executive, Northern Housing Consortium

Karen Sweeney, Director of the Women’s Support Network, on behalf of the Women’s Regional Consortium, Northern Ireland 

Satwat Rehman, CEO, One Parent Families Scotland

Mark Winstanley, Chief Executive, Rethink Mental Illness

James Taylor, Executive Director of Strategy, Impact and Social Change, Scope

Irene Audain MBE, Chief Executive Scottish, Out of School Care Network

Steve Douglas CBE, CEO, St Mungo’s 

Richard Lane, Director of External Affairs, StepChange Debt Charity

Robert Palmer, Executive Director, Tax Justice 

Claire Burns, Director, The Centre for Excellence for Children’s Care and Protection (CELCIS)

The Disability Benefits Consortium 

Dr. Nick Owen MBE, CEO, The Mighty Creatives

Peter Kelly, Director, The Poverty Alliance

Elaine Downie, Co-ordinator, The Poverty Truth Community

Tim Morfin, Founder and Chief Executive, Transforming Lives for Good (TLG)

UCL Institute of Health Equity 

Dr Mary-Ann Stephenson, Director, Women’s Budget Group 

Natasha Finlayson OBE, Chief Executive, Working Chance

Claire Reindorp, CEO, Young Women’s Trust 

The £2bn Green Homes Grant (GHG) scheme was launched by the Government in 2020 to increase the energy efficiency of 600,000 eligible homes by providing discounts to incentivise householders to upgrade their homes. The scheme was announced as part of a wider strategy to meet net zero by 2050, “build back greener” after the pandemic, and as part of the plan to reach the Government’s target for as many homes as possible to be Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) Band C by 2030.

As we know, the delivery of the Green Homes Grant scheme did not meet expectations and was scrapped by the Government just six months after its launch, with only a fraction of the available vouchers issued in the period. The objectives of the scheme still remain incredibly important for the North: to reduce carbon emissions from homes, cut household bills, make homes warmer and more comfortable, and bring new jobs and skills to the region. Action to reduce fuel poverty is particularly important to NHC members at the moment due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and subsequent pressure to reduce gas demand.

£500m of the initial GHG funding was for the Local Authority Delivery (LAD) scheme for local authorities to target households with an income under £30,000. Though not without its own challenges, this has arguably been the most successful element of the GHG scheme.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) release monthly statistics on the progress of energy efficiency measures installed through the LAD scheme which allows us to track the number and nature of energy efficiency improvements being carried out.

Here’s what we know from the data so far:

Since October 2020, a total of 10,920 homes have been upgraded through the LAD scheme – 9,761 through Phase 1 and 1,159 through Phase 2.

Under Phase 1 of the LAD scheme (allocated to successful local authority bidders), around 12,000 measures have been installed across the country. 60% of these have been insulation measures (the most common type being external solid wall insulation), 19% electricity-related measures (mostly solar PV), 9% window and door measures (such as double or triple glazing), 8% low carbon heating measures (the majority being air source heat pumps), and 4% heat control measures.

For Phase 2 (allocated directly to Local Net Zero Hubs), the proportion of measures so far have been as follows: 55% electricity-related measures (solar PV), 33% insulation measures (mainly internal solid wall insulation and loft insulation), 7% low carbon heat (mostly air source heat pumps), 3% windows and doors, and 1% heating controls.

The data is broken down regionally, showing that around 30% of households with at least one measure installed through Phase 1 are located in the North. For Phase 2, Northern households make up a bigger share of the total of households with at least one measure installed so far, at around 50%. Given the North accounts for 29% of England’s households, and 32% of England’s fuel poor households, these are encouraging results.

The last phase of the LAD scheme was distributed through BEIS’ Sustainable Warmth Competition in December last year (no data available on this yet), which comprised Phase 3 of LAD and Phase 1 of the Home Upgrade Grants which target off-gas homes. Our analysis showed the North only received around 20% of funding through LAD Phase 3.

The most illuminating element of the statistical release is the detail around the savings made by householders because of these improvements. The total estimated annual bill savings for households upgraded through Phase 1 of LAD – a total of 12,143 measures across England – is £1.2m. The majority of these savings come from solid wall insulation measures (£660,000) with the next highest savings from heat pumps (£230,000).

Recent analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has shown that energy efficiency measures were installed in 6m homes across the UK between 2009 and 2019 to bring them up to EPC C. Action taken throughout the decade is subsequently estimated to be saving bill payers £1.15bn this year. The often stop-start nature of government green schemes means this figure could have been a lot higher, but it still demonstrates the impact energy performance improvements have. ECIU analysis shows upgrading homes from EPC D to EPC C will result in a 20% reduction in gas demand per home. This is particularly important at the moment due to our exposure to the volatility of international gas markets impacting energy bills and therefore levels of fuel poverty.

And that’s just on energy efficiency, transitioning to efficient forms of clean heat (such as heat pumps) will reduce demand even further. As the LAD data shows, the highest proportion of energy bill savings have resulted from solid wall insulation and heat pump installation.

There is huge potential to go further on this. The LAD scheme showed that local authorities are able to act quickly using local expertise to bring together partners and supply chains to deliver energy efficiency upgrades to homes and reduce household bills. However, competitive funding arrangements and short deadlines are not the most effective way to upgrade the region’s homes at pace and scale; the NHC will continue to make the case to Government that long-term certainty is needed to build the supply chain and skills capacity to deliver in the North.

Greening our homes is the ‘shovel-ready’ way to reduce the impact of soaring energy bills.

In response to the cost-of-living-crisis and the presence of Russian gas in global markets, the Prime Minister is expected to publish an energy strategy with a focus on moving away from gas to renewable sources. NHC members can play a major role in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, reducing household bills, and creating healthier homes by upgrading the energy performance of existing homes and transitioning to low carbon heat technologies.

You can see the full list of successful bids for the LAD scheme here.

Please do not hesitate to follow up on any of this with the NHC by contacting Anna Seddon (Policy and Public Affairs Manager) at anna.seddon@northern-consortium.org.uk.

The APPG for Housing in the North, the forum for Parliamentarians to discuss and advance housing and related policy issues, met this month to launch a new work programme for 2022/3.

2021 had proved to be a productive year for the group with a string of Ministerial engagements. The APPG was joined in both January and May by the Minister for Housing where priorities including PRS standards, affordable housing, Local Authority capacity, and Net Zero were discussed. The Minister for Business, Energy and Corporate Responsibility also provided a keynote address at the APPG’s first joint-event held in collaboration with the APPG for Housing and Social Mobility exploring the barriers to scaling up the retrofit supply chain and embedding good green jobs at the local level.

Building on this work, it was announced that the forthcoming year’s meetings would look at ensuring housing investment, and housing providers, can contribute fully to the Government’s Levelling Up agenda.  As attendees were told at the outset; whether it’s restoring local pride and community agency, improving housing quality, ensuring communities can access excellent public services, or boosting living standards, a high quality and affordable housing offer will be central to success.

It was noted that the APPG for Housing in the North could take much from the recent publication from the long-trailed Levelling Up White Paper. The White Paper has reflected back much of the APPG’s work and priorities in recent years; an acknowledgement that the importance of housing goes beyond availability, and having a decent home is fundamental to individual and collective wellbeing, that raising and enforcing standards in the Private Rented Sector is a particular challenge, and that the resources of Homes England could be reorientated towards supporting area regeneration. The task for the APPG and stakeholders in the North, was to ensure the agenda has the longevity needed to deliver.

Against a back drop energy insecurity and price volatility, a range of stakeholders were brought together to discuss the cost of living crisis and work being undertaken by Northern Housing Consortium members to support communities in the short term, and improve the energy efficiency of homes across the North to protect people in the long term. Contributions were made by National Energy Action, North Star Housing Group, Centre for Sustainable Energy, Liverpool City Council, Burnley Borough Council, and Cosy Homes in Lancashire.

A post-event-meeting pack, detailing key points and discussion, can be accessed here:

https://www.northern-consortium.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/APPG-HiN-Post-Event-Meeting-Pack-08.03.22.pdf