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News Editor Patrick Mooney patrick@netmagmedia.eu


Publisher Anthony Parker


Features Editor Jack Wooler


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Account Manager Sheehan Edmonds


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Managing Director Simon Reed


Since being appointed as the Secretary of State for Levelling Up and Housing, Michael Gove has attempted to breathe fresh life into a number of policy areas where progress had stalled. T ese included improving residential building safety, completing regulatory changes in both social and private rented housing, getting tenants’ voices properly heard and sorting out the mess which planning reforms had been leſt in. Progress of a sort is being made in most if not all of the above, but the post-pandemic cost of living crisis (exacerbated


by energy price rises and Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine) has the potential for overshadowing all of this and introducing further problems in the shape of runaway infl ation (already at a 30 year high), as well as a growing poverty and homelessness crisis. Even before the war in Ukraine sparked economic upheaval, we were being warned about a tidal wave of cost pressures, housing need and an upsurge in the number of people becoming homeless this year and next. T e housing charity Crisis has forecast that another 66,000 people will become homeless by 2024, with 8,000 more people


rough sleeping and 9,000 people forced into unsuitable temporary accommodation. T ese are scary predictions and the fi gures alone do not do justice to the terrible impact such events and circumstances will have on every one of the individuals aff ected. We now need to add a looming refugee crisis to this list of problems. During the Covid lockdowns, the Government along with many statutory agencies, voluntary organisations and charities,


did a tremendous job with the ‘Everyone In’ initiative, which saw many thousands of vulnerable people assisted. A huge upsurge in homelessness and rough sleeping was avoided. In addition evictions largely dried up, but this was down to the Government’s actions rather than an outbreak of landlord benevolence during the lockdowns. Late in 2021 and early this year there have been worrying signs that evictions are beginning to rise again. “It doesn’t have to be like this,” said Matt Downie, the chief executive of Crisis, when commenting on the growth in


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homelessness and evictions. “T e protections put in place during the pandemic helped thousands of people off the streets and prevented many more from facing homelessness. It would be shameful for this progress to unravel before us, at a huge human cost and a fi nancial one for the local councils leſt to foot the bill.” In December last year, the Government announced a £316m homelessness prevention fund for councils for the current fi nancial year that it said would protect tens of thousands of people from homelessness. It was welcomed by Crisis but in the intervening months, seismic shiſt s in the economy and the energy market have made this support package look woefully inadequate. Crisis is also calling on the Government to further increase the Local Housing Allowance – the amount the state will pay to cover rent for people on benefi ts – so it truly covers the cost of rent across the country. T is is badly needed if we are to avoid the frightening increases in homelessness now being predicted. Meanwhile the performance of social landlords is coming increasingly under the spotlight with more revelations from


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the Ombudsman and the regulator that some services at housing associations and councils are falling well below acceptable standards. It is shocking to think that as we approach the fi ſt h anniversary of the Grenfell Tower disaster later in the year, that basic responsibilities in terms of health & safety within tenants’ homes are still not being fulfi lled and that when tenants complain about such matters, their concerns are not properly dealt with. To be honest this is a scandal and if the sector cannot sort this problem itself, then it is crying out for more regulatory action, including a more prescriptive framework, with tougher penalties. Fines and/or removing people from their well-paid jobs should be used in order to get senior executives to take this matter seriously. T e private rented sector will also be facing a new regulatory regime later this year, aimed at improving the quality of


housing on off er to tenants and to tackle the twin problems of ‘retaliatory evictions’ and rogue landlords. T e private rented sector is the second biggest part of the housing market and it probably contains some of the widest diff erences in living conditions. It will be in everyone’s interest if the proposed changes produce a fairer and more sustainable lettings sector. As a society we are in need of a decent supply of homes in a good condition and at fair prices, to rid us of the twin scourges of homelessness and poverty.


Editor’s comment


Government intentions will be seriously tested in the weeks and months ahead


Patrick Mooney, News Editor


HOUSING MANAGEMENT


& MAINTENANCE APR/MAY 2022


Patrick Mooney


Ombudsman warns landlords about complaints


Evictions on the increase


Council missed thousands of safety checks


Shortage of private rentals


Signs of a rising tide of homelessness


On the cover...


Demand for private rented housing remained strong at the end of 2021, according to data released by the National Residential Landlords Association. Photo by Ben Allan on unsplash.com/@ballonandon See page 22


HMM0405_2022 Covers.indd 1 14/04/2022 08:51 4 | HMM April/May 2022 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


Photo by Ben Allan on Unsplash.com


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