Industry news
Council approves £25m re- investment of RTB receipts in new affordable housing scheme
A south London council has approved a £25m investment in more affordable housing via a new independent charity that guarantees cheaper rents for local people. Croydon council will use Right to Buy
receipts to buy properties and let them on assured short-hold tenancies for up to three years, as an alternative to using B&B hotels or temporary accommodation for up to 250 homeless families. The council believes the new scheme will give
families greater security of tenure in safer properties, while at the same time saving the authority up to £1m a year in the cost of emergency temporary accommodation. Councillor Alison Butler, deputy leader of the
authority, said: “Renting privately is expensive for many Croydon people, which is why this council is taking action to make it more affordable for them. I look forward to seeing Croydon Homes buy its first properties.” Homes will be bought for a target price of
between £300-400k each, with the council completing any repairs and refurbishment works before passing them to the charity on a leased basis. The scheme will focus on purchasing two and three bedroom properties, where demand is greatest and the highest savings can be achieved. The council deemed that no existing housing
association would be able to deliver housing in sufficient numbers to use the council’s level of RTB receipts. Earlier in the summer, the council’s cabinet
agreed the setting up of an independent charity provisionally called Croydon Homes to rent out 340 local homes costing 65 per cent of the usual private rent. This £25m allows the council to fund Croydon Homes’s purchase of another 250 properties on the open market. At the cabinet meeting which gave final
approval to the scheme for a £25m revolving fund to be loaned to Croydon Homes, members were told Croydon Homes will repay the council through the rent it receives, and will receive extra investment money from the council in stages as more properties become available. The scheme means that a two-bedroom
privately rented flat in Croydon at £1,380 per month would instead cost £900 through Croydon Homes. Tenants would benefit from the security of a three-year contract instead of the usual six months with a private landlord.
Homelessness of vulnerable groups is avoidable
A cross-party Parliamentary group believes that homelessness of people in high-risk groups can be prevented within the next few years. Following the passing of the Homelessness
Reduction Act, a new group of MPs are urging the Government to bring together national policies and local frontline work to prevent and end homelessness for good among care leavers, prison leavers and survivors of domestic abuse. The All-Party Parliamentary Group for
Ending Homelessness (APPGEH) have produced a report, in conjunction with Crisis, the national charity for homeless people. They say that with so many vulnerable people
already on the radar of police, local authorities, prisons and social services, it is ‘inexcusable’ that they fall through the net, yet they continue to do so, as reflected in the report:
• One third of care leavers become homeless in the first two years immediately after they leave care, and 25 per cent of all homeless people have been in care at some point in their lives;
• In 2016, 90 per cent of women in refuges were reported to have housing needs and in 2015/16, 6,550 people became homeless because of a violent relationship breakdown, accounting for 11 per cent of all homeless acceptances. In 2015, 35 per cent of female rough sleepers left their homes due to domestic violence; and
• In 2014, 20 per cent of prisoners said they had no accommodation to go to on release and there are many barriers which can make finding accommodation on release difficult.
The report was based on a year of research and consultation with experts and those with direct experience of homelessness. It recommends Whitehall departments
should work in partnership to audit existing policies and design programmes to specifically support care leavers, prison leavers and survivors of domestic violence.
TRANSITION The Government has already committed to putting prevention at the heart of its future working and to set up a Homelessness Reduction Taskforce. The report says there is an opportunity to bring together national policies and local frontline work to prevent and end homelessness for these cohorts for good. Neil Coyle MP, joint co-chair of the
APPGEH, said: “A local authority should know exactly when a care leaver or prison leaver is making the transition from institutional life to independence and should be ready and prepared to step in at that stage. “Similarly, survivors of domestic violence
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www.housingmmonline.co.uk
The Government has already committed to putting prevention at the heart of its future working and to set up a Homelessness Reduction Taskforce
should be given a crime reference number as soon as they make a domestic violence report to the police. Many survivors feel unable or too afraid to even report abuse to the police in the first place. “Time and again these people are getting lost
despite, in many cases, receiving assistance from public bodies which should be a trigger to prevent their homelessness. It is an achievable goal for these groups.” The group’s other co-chair Will Quince MP,
added: “The APPGEH championed the recently passed Homelessness Reduction Act, but more must be done and more resources made available. This report demonstrates there is nothing inevitable about homelessness. “It also gives government and other decision
makers carefully thought through recommendations for action.”
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