Industry news


LGA launches new housing advice programme for councils


The Local Government Association (LGA) has launched a new programme to pay for independent experts to assist councils with tackling housing shortages and related issues like homelessness in their areas. Established to tackle problems


associated with our broken housing market, the Housing Advisers Programme will see up to £14,000 given to councils embarking on specific projects which deliver new homes, reduce homelessness or help to generate savings and revenues. Advisors will provide expertise to aid local authorities in completing the projects. The sum has been calculated on the


rate of providing up to 20 days of support at £700 per day but with flexibility in its use so councils could either fund fewer days at a higher daily rate, or they can extend the project’s length using their own funds. Participating councils will be expected to share good practice and lessons learned throughout the programme, taking part in events and possibily assisting other authorities. The support will be locally led and vary


in their scope according to the specific problems or challenges identified by individual councils. The scheme is not intended to impose a central model of delivery onto local authorities. Martin Tett, housing spokesperson for


the LGA, said: “There’s no substitute for central government giving local authorities the tools they need to invest in the homes, of all type and tenure, which their communities desperately need. “However, councils need the best tools


available to them to help build on the innovation in the sector. The Housing Advisers Programme will be an essential aid to councils wanting some expertise to innovate and improve in their efforts to help build homes, plan prosperous places and economies, and reduce homelessness.” To take part in the programme,


councils must have registered their interest by 12 September. The initiative follows the launch of the Housing Finance Institute, launched in March 2015 by the Treasury, to “address the skills and knowledge gap in delivering local authority housing”.


Government urged to speed up replacement of right to buy homes


The Chartered Institute of Housing and councils are urging the Government to be more flexible and to relax building and funding regulations, to allow local authorities to replace RTB properties at a much faster rate. With sales of council homes recovering to


beat pre-recession levels, councils are struggling to build new homes for social rent in significant numbers and many are forecasting significant shortfalls. This is expected to increase the pressure on homelessness services. Among the suggestions being put forward is a


proposal that councils should be allowed to keep all of the sales receipt (after the discount given to the tenant) rather than passing much of it to the Treasury. Figures released by the Department for


Communities and Local Government show that for the last financial year a total of 12,826 homes were sold, while just 4,475 new homes were started or acquired to replace them. Total sales receipts amounted to just over


£1bn - the first year since discounts were raised when receipts have broken the billion figure.


Former housing minister Gavin Barwell said the Right to Buy is “only politically justifiable” if the replacements pledge is being met


REPLACEMENTS PLEDGE This means that since RTB discounts were increased by the Coalition Government in April 2012, a grand total of 54,581 homes have been sold, while only 12,472 have been started or acquired to replace them. This is despite the often mentioned aim for


sold homes to be replaced on a one for one basis within three years. Admittedly the woeful rate of replacement,


which has been as low as one new home for every seven or eight homes sold in recent years, has significantly improved. Former housing minister Gavin Barwell said the Right to Buy is “only politically justifiable” if the replacements pledge is being met. In the last quarter of 2016/17, the


replacement rate rose to one in two with 2,890 homes sold by councils while 1,378 were started or acquired to replace them using the receipts. Councils are not expecting to be able to build or acquire new homes at a faster rate unless rules on funding are changed. Among the suggested alterations to the


22 | HMM September 2017 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


current system, the CIH and local councils are calling for:


• Councils to have more flexibility to combine the receipts with other grants, funding and land to deliver replacement homes;


• Councils to be allowed to share their receipts with ALMOs (Arms Length Management Organisations) for them to build;


• Councils to retain 100 per cent of receipts from sales to reinvest locally (only about 40 per cent of receipts are currently available to councils for reinvestment); and


• Allowing councils to vary the RTB discounts offered locally to tenants in specific circumstances.


CRUCIAL Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) chief executive Terrie Alafat CBE said: “We understand that the government is trying to help people achieve their aspiration of home ownership – but if affordable homes for rent are being sold, it’s absolutely crucial that they are replaced. “We are deeply concerned about the loss of


social rented homes at a time when more and more people are in need of genuinely affordable housing. "The figures are further confirmation that the


number of replacement homes being built is nowhere near the number being sold. Our research has shown that most councils only expect to be able to replace half or fewer of the homes they sell under right to buy. “It’s always been clear that there would be a


time lag between homes being sold and homes being built to replace them, but it’s now been more than five years since right to buy discounts were increased and there is mounting evidence that replacements are simply not keeping pace with the level of sales."


CAPITAL Councils in London have experienced particular problems with high volumes of sales, given the very high demand for property in the capital while facing difficulties with acquiring sites and financing new developments. Kensington and Chelsea, the borough at the


centre of the row over the Grenfell Tower fire, has built no new council houses since 2014 but has sold 46, netting the council more than £14.3m. Over in the east, Waltham Forest council has sold 345 council houses but similarly no replacements have been built in the borough since 2014. Tower Hamlets, which sold seven times as


many council homes as were built over the last three years, raised the most cash from the sales, at just under £104m.


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