Industry news


Huge rise in number of homeless being moved out of London


first half of this year. In some cases families are being sent hundreds of miles away to cities in Scotland, Wales and the north of England. Council chiefs in London are blaming a sharp


T


rise in homelessness, a continuing tightening of public finances and a lack of affordable housing in the capital as the main causes for the crisis. According to figures collected by local


authorities, 740 households have been relocated to Kent, 574 to Essex, 30 to the West Midlands and 69 to Surrey. This is on top of figures for the 15 months to June 2018, when almost 2,500 homeless families were moved out of London – mostly to Kent and Essex Experts are highly critical of the practice which they say turns families’ lives upside down. “Losing


he number of homeless households being moved out of London has risen to over 1,200, a jump of almost 50 per cent in the


your home is a deeply traumatic event and then being offered accommodation miles away from your community, your work, your children’s school and your care responsibilities compounds all that trauma,” said Karen Buck, the MP for Westminster North. “People are struggling against the most appalling


odds to hold their own lives together and above all to hold their kids’ lives together.” She said it was almost impossible to get a local housing offer for her constituents. Almost 70 per cent of all of England’s homeless


households are in London. Councils say they are struggling to rehouse people within the capital because social housing is full and the amount people can spend on private rent under housing benefit has been been frozen since 2015 even as rents have risen. Shelter said the figures were “a damning


indictment of our housing system” and show how desperately more social housing is needed. “We see people having to quit jobs, drop out of education and move hours away from friends and family,” said Greg Beales, the director of campaigns at Shelter. Labour’s shadow housing secretary, John Healey,


called the figures “shameful”. “This is a crisis made in Downing Street,” he said. “There are now 120,000 children homeless in temporary accommodation each night, but deep Conservative cuts to housing investment mean the number of new social rented homes has fallen to a record low.” The Housing and Homelessness Minister,


Heather Wheeler, said: “Councils should try to place homeless households within their own area, and they must take into account healthcare needs, jobs and schooling when finding a suitable property. We are investing more than £1.2bn in tackling homelessness.”


Bill to give tenants more powers makes good progress


Tenants in both private and social housing are to get more powers to challenge their landlords over homes that are “unfit for human habitation” after a Private Member’s Bill won Government support. From next year tenants in England will be able to


force their landlords to remedy problems or hazards that make their home “unfit” and will be able to seek compensation under the Bill introduced by Labour’s Karen Buck. It passed an important hurdle in the


Commons and has moved to the House of Lords where it is sponsored by Lord Best, but Government support means that it will almost certainly become law unless Brexit problems result in an early General Election. The Bill will allow tenants to bypass council


enforcement teams, some of which have poor records of taking action against rogue landlords. It will also give council tenants an avenue for


redress, as local authorities cannot bring cases against themselves. It is being supported by the Residential


Landlords Association who say they welcome the fact it places all tenants on an equal footing, while giving tenants greater opportunities to tackle rogue landlords. Currently, a landlord commits an offence when


they fail to comply with a local authority enforcement notice, so they cannot be held responsible for poor conditions unless they have been told to carry out repairs by a council. During the Commons debate, Ms Buck said:


“Living in a cold, damp or unsafe home is hell. It damages people’s physical and mental wellbeing. It erodes the income of the poorest households. It impacts on children’s education. The most vulnerable tenants are most at risk of being trapped in substandard accommodation.


“There is a huge degree of variability in


inspection, notices and enforcement rates by councils. About half of all councils have served none or only one Housing Act notice in the last year. Newham Council has an active enforcement policy, amounted to half of all notices served nationally and 70 per cent of those in London “This means is that there is a complete postcode


lottery on the prospects of councils taking steps – and with the real prospect being that the council won’t do so.” Heather Wheeler, Minister for Housing and


Homelessness: said: “[Buck’s] bill is an important part of our work to raise awareness of this vital issue – that of standards in rented properties.” It is expected to become law in the early part


of 2019 and will apply to new tenancy agreements as well as existing social tenancies after a 12-month period.


Landlords welcome rental housing standards review


The Government’s decision to review the safety standards expected of rental housing has been welcomed by the Residential Landlords Association. David Smith, Policy Director at the RLA,


said: “We welcome the Government’s decision to review the safety standards around rented


housing which the RLA has long called for. The current system has not been updated for 12 years with the guidance alongside it equally out of date. “This review provides an important opportunity


to improve enforcement against the minority of landlords who bring the sector into disrepute


24 | HMM November 2018 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


and fail to provide the safe accommodation they should.” The Housing, Health and Safety Ratings System


is used by local authorities to assess health and safety in residential properties – this includes both private rental properties and properties in the social housing sector.


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