industry news


Eviction worries over impact of new benefit cap


Over 100,000 of the poorest households in Britain are at risk of being evicted from their homes after the latest benefit cap came into effect. From 7 November total household benefits


were limited to £23,000 (£442 a week) in London and £20,000 (£385 a week) in the rest of the country. The cut from the present level of £26,000 is being rolled out, but is expected to be fully implemented by the end of January 2017. Research undertaken by the Chartered


Institute of Housing has revealed some families will lose up to £115 a week, pushing them ever deeper into poverty. The CIH analysis shows the new lower benefit cap is likely to impact 116,000 households with between one and four children. However, the Department for Work and


Pensions has argued that the benefit cap acts as an incentive to get people into work because moving on to working tax credits gains an exemption from the cap.


Homelessness


Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the CIH, said: “We are seriously concerned that this could have a severe impact on these families, make housing in large sections of the country unaffordable, and risk worsening what is already a growing homelessness problem.” The benefit cap was originally introduced in


2013 and mainly affected families in high-rent areas such as London. But the extended cap is expected to impact on families in all areas of the country. The cap will see “average” sized families


affected in even those parts of the country with the cheapest housing, such as Wales and north- east England. According to the CIH, a couple with three


children outside London will have £50.80 a week left for housing costs after out-of-work benefits are taken into account. In Leeds, where a three- bedroom property at local allowance rates costs £151.50, this would leave them with a shortfall of £100.70. In Northampton a similar family would face a shortfall of £89.04 a week, and £75.78 in Leicester. A couple outside London with two children


would have £117.92 a week for housing costs. In Reading, however, a two-bedroom property would cost £188.33 per week. leaving a shortfall of £70.41. The same family would face a shortfall of £38.46 in Southampton and £33.58 in both Bristol and Milton Keynes.


Unaffordable


Alafat said the new cap could put many families at serious risk of losing their homes and would make housing in significant parts of the country unaffordable for those affected. “The results of our research are extremely


worrying,” she said. “It shows that the reduction in total benefits is going to hit some of the most vulnerable families of all sizes across England, Scotland and Wales. “In many cases these families will straight


away face a substantial gap between their rent and the help they receive to pay for their housing. Worryingly, our analysis shows many families could be one redundancy or a period of ill health away from being in this situation. “We are seriously concerned that this could


have a severe impact on these families, make housing in large sections of the country unaffordable and risk worsening what is already a growing homelessness problem. We suggest that the Government looks at this policy again urgently.”


Tenants complaints on the increase


The number of complaints made by tenants to social landlords has risen steadily over the past three years. Analysis carried out by Housemark, shows


the average social landlord received 33 complaints per 1,000 homes managed in 2015/16. This figure was up from 31 complaints per 1,000 homes in 2014/15 and from 27.6 in 2013/14. The results are at odds with data published earlier in the year by the Ombudsman and the Homes & Communities Agency which showed that complaints from tenants to these two organisations were actually falling. Many social landlords are also expecting the number of complaints to increase in coming years. The main reasons cited for this are an increase in customer expectations, combined with many housing providers having to strip back services to make up for expected reductions in funding, most notably the annual rent cuts affecting English landlords until 2020. The Housemark data shows complaints about property services – including repairs and maintenance – made up more than half of the complaints last year. Housing management was the next area to receive most complaints, mostly about rent arrears and collection.


“The results are at odds with data published by the Ombudsman and the Homes and Communities Agency”


Student housing costs have risen by a quarter in past seven years


The cost of student housing has increased by almost a quarter in the past seven years, raising the prospect of a wave of rent strikes at British universities and colleges. The average weekly rent for purpose-built


student accommodation rose 23 per cent from £120 to £147 between 2009-2010 and 2015-2016, according to a survey undertaken by the National Union of Students. Shelly Asquith, vice president of welfare at


the National Union of Students (NUS), said the rising cost of accommodation was now the biggest worry for students. “The main concern is that their income, their loans and grants, hasn’t been rising at anywhere near the same rate,” she said. “We’re now in the situation where the average rent for students is the equivalent of 85 per cent


of their maximum loan and grant if you’re coming from the poorest background, which doesn’t leave you much money for other bills, food, social life or anything else.” According to the NUS, the quality of


accommodation does not always improve in line with cost increases. “Not only are they charging ridiculously high rents but the service is poor in lots of situations,” said Asquith. Some students are now taking action. The Cut


the Rent campaign at the University of Sussex has gathered more than 1,000 signatures in protest at the conditions at the university’s halls. This follows similar protests last year at the University of London over poor conditions in halls of residence, which saw compensation paid to tenants.


Compensation


The average time taken to respond to a complaint was 10 days. Seventy per cent of participants in the exercise had at least one complaint where compensation was awarded. The average compensation payment was £145.48. Several participants said they were actively working to reduce payments going forward. The average satisfaction rate for how their


complaint was handled fell over the three years from 66.75 to 58 per cent, while tenants’ satisfaction with the outcome of the complaint actually rose from 51.5 to 54.45 per cent. The main driver for satisfaction is


responding to a complaint within the landlord’s stated target time, although upholding the complaint and paying compensation also have a smaller impact. Over 80 social landlords took part in the


exercise and they came from all parts of the UK. The majority were housing associations, but councils and ALMOs also participated.


www.housingmmonline.co.uk


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