Industry news
NHBC agrees to pay for cladding removal
the National House Building Council agreeing to pay for remediation works at the New Capital Quay complex in Greenwich. It is unclear if this sets a precedent for other
A
blocks across the private sector but residents will certainly hope so as the Greenwich scheme in east
significant move forward in dealing with the removal of Grenfell style cladding from private tower blocks has been taken with
London is a large development and was being keenly watched. Total removal and replacement costs are estimated to amount up to £40 million. The NHBC said it would accept the insurance
claim after it had “concluded that there was a failure to comply with building regulations at the time of construction” following “expert input and a review of the individual circumstances at this site”. The Housing Secretary James Brokenshire
advised MPs on the Housing, Communities and Local Government select committee that he had received notice of the decision directly from the NHBC, which he warmly welcomed. It is unclear how quickly the developer Galliard Homes will proceed and what timetable exists for the combustible cladding panels to be removed and replaced. The Government has steadfastly maintained its
line that the private sector needs to find and fund its own solutions to the problem. Mr Brokenshire gave very guarded responses to MPs at the committee and refused to commit any money (at this stage) to remediation works, beyond the £400m already announced for social housing.
New housing minister appointed (again)
After just six months in post Dominic Raab has been replaced as housing minister by Kit Malthouse, as a result of a cabinet reshuffle arising from Brexit inspired resignations. The change happened just weeks before the launch of a delayed Green Paper on social housing.
The sector reacted to the news with something
similar to a shrug of the shoulders as it is accustomed to housing ministers being changed with increasing regularity. Raab’s predecessor Alok Sharma had lasted just seven months in post and Malthouse is the eighth
housing minister in the past eight years. The new minister arrives from the Department
for Work and Pensions where he was working on Universal Credit, so at least he should be well aware of welfare issues and their impact on housing. Kit Malthouse is MP for North West Hampshire and was a deputy mayor of London, deputy leader of Westminster City Council and a board member of the council’s ALMO.
News in Brief
• Families in rural areas are spending almost one third of their income on rent according to research by the Institute of Public Policy Research. A family with one child, and earning one full-time and one part-time median wage in a mainly or largely rural area, is spending 31 per cent of their income on rent. Only 8 per cent of the housing stock in rural areas is affordable, compared with 20 per cent in urban areas, and current delivery is failing to provide enough new homes. In their report published to mark Rural Housing Week the IPPR found there is an affordability “crisis” in rural areas where the average house price is £320,700, more than £87,000 higher than the urban average outside of London.
• The country’s largest housing association is bringing a repairs contract for 18,000 homes in London, Essex and the Midlands back in house. Clarion Housing has decided to end its current agreement with Mitie and Wates from November. The two contractors have delivered responsive repairs on the homes since 2015, when they took over the work from Kier whose multi-year contract was ended early.
• Midlands based Bromford has completed its merger with South West-based Merlin, to form a
40,000-home organisation. The association will still be known as Bromford and it plans to invest £1.5bn in 14,000 new homes over the next 10 years in both the South West and the Midlands. It is also in talks with Gloucestershire-based Severn Vale Housing over a further merger, which it aims to complete in early 2019, bringing the total number of homes owned and managed by the landlord to almost 44,000.
• Nottingham City Council is bringing in a selective licensing scheme of private landlords from 1st August. From that date landlords who receive rent on a private property in certain parts of the city will need a licence to show their property meets safety and quality standards set out in the conditions of the licence. Failure to do so can be an expensive mistake as it can lead to financial penalties of up to £30,000 or prosecution through the courts. Tenants can also apply to a tribunal to claim their rent back for up to 12 months. The licence conditions include - providing up to date safety certificates, evidence of any relevant training undertaken and evidence the property is sufficiently insured. The scheme covers an estimated 32,000 privately rented homes in areas of the city where the council has gathered evidence of poorer property conditions. The council aims to raise standards across the sector and provide a clear set of guidelines, which all landlords will need to achieve and follow.
• The number of households in temporary 24 | HMM July 2018 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
Families in rural areas are spending almost one third of their income on rent according to research by the Institute of Public Policy Research.
accommodation totalled 79,880 at the end of March this year, compared to 77,220 in March 2017, with London accounting for two thirds of the total. The overall UK figure was up 66 per cent on the low of 48,010 at the end of December
2010.One bright spark in the figures was that the number of families registered as statutorily homeless fell 6 per cent to 13,740 in the three months to 31 March 2018, compared to the same period last year. “It’s clear that our country is in the firm grip of a housing crisis as these figures starkly show, with older people and single parents both bearing the brunt,” said Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter.
• Welsh housing associations increased their operating surpluses by 12.7 per cent last year reaching £193m, from a turnover which rose just 0.3 per cent to £908m. The largest 33 Welsh HAs also reduced their operating costs by 2.6 per cent, down to £715m. The sector’s total debt level is now £2.7bn, up from £2.5bn in 2015/16, while it owns and manages 160,636 homes.
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