Industry News


End of benefit freeze announced as food bank use surges


the Coalition Government over four years ago, but the announcement coincided with a huge increase in food bank use. Universal Credit will rise by 1.7 per cent, in line


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with inflation, and the state pension will increase by 3.9 per cent, the Department for Work and Pensions announced. It said the end to the freeze, which was introduced by the former chancellor George Osborne, would cost the public purse £5bn a year. But many organisations and charities working in


the housing sector have said the move will fail to improve the financial predicament of many claimants and is unlikely to prevent thousands of evictions due to rent arrears. Rents in both the private and social sectors have risen during the benefits freeze. The scale of the problem is amply demonstrated


in the growing reliance on food banks. The main provider of these is the Trussell Trust and they have released a report ‘State of Hunger’ which shows at the start of the decade they ran just 57 food banks, whereas now it is 424. For 86 per cent of the people using food banks, their main source of income is state benefits, usually Universal Credit. The trust said it distributed a record 823,145


food parcels between April and September 2019, including 301,653 that went to children. This was a 23 per cent increase on the same period last year, representing the steepest rise the charity has seen since its network of food banks was fully established fve years ago.


DESTITUTE HOUSEHOLDS One in 50 households across the country made use


he benefits freeze is due to end in April, bringing an end to one of the most contentious austerity policies brought in by


of a food bank in 2018/19 and 94 per cent of the people using them were “destitute” meaning they cannot afford to eat regularly, be clothed or clean. Almost three quarters of people who use food banks live in households struggling with ill health or disability. One in ten have a learning disability. Seven in ten households who use food banks live


in rented properties, mostly in social housing. Most of the remaining households were homeless, living in emergency or temporary accommodation, staying at a family or friends’ house or sleeping rough. Home-owners constituted only four per cent of the households referred to food banks. The top three reasons given by people needing


emergency food assistance were insufficient benefit income, at 36 per cent, followed by delays in benefit payments at 18 per cent and changes to benefit at 16 per cent.


The Resolution Foundation said the unfreezing


benefits announcement was a missed opportunity. Its senior economic analyst Adam Corlett said: “The freeze was always due to end next year. Confirmation that working-age benefits will only keep pace with rising prices means there will be no increase in living standards and those in need of extra support will continue to be left behind. “With child poverty at risk of hitting record


highs, this is a missed opportunity to provide a much-needed boost for low to middle-income families.” Sam Lister, policy and practice officer at the


Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “The last time benefits were up-rated fully by inflation was 2012. If the freeze ends they will still only be worth 91 per cent of their 2012 value. A loss of £377 a year for a jobseeker that’s equal to going over a month without anything for living expenses.”


HA secures its largest partnership deal for 455 homes


Bromford has entered into a multi-million pound partnership with a national housebuilder to deliver hundreds of affordable homes in Gloucestershire. The association has secured a deal with Taylor


Wimpey to build 455 homes at Innsworth, in Gloucestershire. It represents Bromford’s biggest deal of this kind to date. The homes will be a mixture of one to four-bedroom houses and flats for rent and shared ownership. They are part of a larger development of 1,300 homes being built on the site along with infrastructure, a business park, and a primary school. Bromford’s executive director of new homes


Martyn Blackman said: “We’re delighted to confirm this partnership with Taylor Wimpey which is the


biggest in our history and strengthens our already excellent relationship with them. “We’re committed to investing in building new


homes to help meet the rising demand for affordable homes. We’re already one of the biggest builders of affordable homes in the country and aim to build on this to deliver 14,000 new homes by 2028. “To meet this goal we will be seeking further


opportunities to work together with housebuilders on projects like this one with Taylor Wimpey, as well as increasing the number of new homes we develop ourselves.” James McLoughlin, business development lead at Bromford, added: “We’re excited to be working with


16 | HMM December/January 2020 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


Taylor Wimpey to provide affordable housing for hundreds of local families. Gloucestershire is an important area for us and the addition of these homes will help to tackle the housing crisis here. “House prices across the county are more than


ten times average earnings, which is increasingly pricing many out of the housing market and increasing the demand for affordable homes.” The deal between Bromford and Taylor Wimpey


is the latest in a string of partnerships between the two organisations, who are already working to deliver more than 340 affordable homes at other sites. The first homes at Innsworth are due to be completed in 2020-21, with the rest completed in phases up to 2029.


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