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Editor’s comment


Commitment to fixing severe housing problems required


Patrick Mooney, News Editor


The extension of the ban on evicting tenants is to be warmly welcomed, BUT and it’s a very big but, it is essential this is not seen as a solution to the current problem of rising levels of rent arrears particularly in the private sector. The evictions ban needs to be accompanied by financial support for both tenants and landlords to ensure there is a robust and long-term solution to a very difficult problem that’s been kicked down the road for far too long. Deferring a problem is very different to solving it. A variety of recent surveys estimated the rent arrears of private sector tenants in England at levels of upto £800 million. This is big money by any standard of measurement. Even if private landlords were to recover most of this money in the near future (which in itself is highly doubtful), the absence of this money now from landlords’ bank accounts is an enormous financial hit to them. If a landlord has established a small portfolio of rental properties using a business loan or a series of buy to rent mortgages, then the landlord will struggle to make the necessary loan re-payments without the rent on those properties being paid. This alone could result in many thousands of rental properties being sold and many more tenants losing their homes in the coming months. In both Wales and Scotland, the devolved administrations have come up with various support packages including a series of cash backed grants and loan schemes for landlords and tenants, which will avoid a cliff edge when the eviction ban ends. We urgently need to avoid putting huge pressures on councils’ homelessness services, which are already creaking under unprecedentedly high workloads.


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A SHINING EXAMPLE OF HOPE But this is not an insurmountable problem and over the course of the past 11 months, the Government has shown what can be achieved when it decides to mobilise its resources and take on a leadership role. Working in partnership with local authorities, homelessness charities and even hotel chains, the Government has averted a potential health crisis among thousands of rough sleepers, during the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. The success of the ‘Everyone In’ programme to tackle street homelessness and rough sleeping from late March last year (and to safeguard rough sleepers from the pandemic) meant that 33,000 people were supported, with nearly 10,000 people moved into emergency accommodation and 23,000 moved into longer-term accommodation. According to the National Audit Office this programme prevented 20,000 COVID-19 infections and saved 266 lives upto the end of November. What makes this all the more remarkable is that at the beginning of the programme, officials thought they were going to be dealing with only about 4,000 rough sleepers – or one eigth of the number covered in the NAO report. Many of these hotels are now being turned into emergency quarantine accommodation for travellers from abroad as the Government continues to grapple with the pandemic, but it must not abandon the homeless people already assisted, or they risk undoing all of the fantastic work done so far.


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Printed in England One size does not fit all


John Mellor of Glidevale Protect explains why specification matters in roofing membrane and ventilation products.


ACTION URGENTLY NEEDED ON OVERCROWDING Something the Government should also be addressing as a matter of urgency is improving the condition of housing, particularly the homes of lower income groups. Data released from the English Housing Survey shows that just before the pandemic hit in March last year, some 830,000 households in England were living in overcrowded, mostly rented properties. That was 200,000 more than the number of overcrowded homes a decade ago and it now stands at its highest level since records began 25 years ago. Many of these homes also suffer from problems with damp and mould. According to research by the Health Foundation, overcrowded housing has helped to spread Covid-19 in England and may have increased the number of deaths among tenants. People living in cramped conditions have been more exposed to the virus and were less able to reduce their risk of infection as their homes were so small and often lacked gardens or access to open space. Overcrowding was also a key reason why poor people and those from ethnic minorites in particular have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Researchers concluded that overcrowding, as well as problems such as damp and insecure tenancies, led to a rise in physical and mental health illness. Comprehensive strategies as well as cash are badly needed to solve these problems. This has been exemplified in the Government’s response to the Grenfell fire and the building safety crisis. Despite allocating £3.5 billion for cladding removal work on high-rise blocks, Ministers discover this is seen as inadequate as they have yet to signpost solutions to the wider set of fire safety problems blighting so many homes, including those in low-rise blocks.


HOUSING MANAGEMENT & MAINTENANCE


FEB/MAR 2021


Record overcrowding levels in rentals


£3.5 billion cladding budget is insufficient


Rent arrears surge in PRS


Evictions ban extended again


Grenfell Inquiry resumes


Patrick Mooney


John Mellor of Glidevale Protect explains why specification matters in roofing membrane and ventilation products. Photo © Matthew Nichol


See page 33. www.housingmmonline.co.uk | HMM February/March 2021 | 5 On the cover...


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