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News Editor Patrick Mooney patricknetmag@gmail.com


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Editor’s comment


Never a dull moment, but wouldn’t a period of boring normality be good for the sector


Patrick Mooney, News Editor


T e list of challenges and changes facing both the private and social housing sectors never seems to diminish, but surely there will come a time when politicians will accept that landlords and their staff need a rest from the constant pressure of change in order to plan for and implement the last set of changes, or even the ones previous to that. T e never ending merry-go-round of policy initiatives, new laws and regulations means that it can be a blinking diffi cult job to just keep track of what we are all supposed to be doing. Of course while some people say they thrive on change, it is also true that the fast pace of change can result in burnout and good staff leaving the sector prematurely. T e country is not building enough aff ordable homes in the places where people need them and as a consequence there is


huge pressure on the rental market, which in turn is driving rents up and forcing more people than ever out of their homes, either voluntarily or as a result of being evicted. T e cost of living crisis which has been going on for an awfully long time is squeezing incomes and making managing household budgets incredibly diffi cult. One light on the horizon for tenants in the private sector was the plan to force landlords to improve the energy effi ciency


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of the coldest and draughtiest properties over the next few years. But in the face of pressure from private landlords, the Government has caved in and cancelled this measure, supposedly on the grounds that we can still meet net zero carbon emission targets while at the same time delaying or abandoning the measures drawn up to deliver it. OK so we’ve seen Governments perform spectacular u-turns before, but this measure will hit vulnerable households on low incomes the hardest and will inevitably damage their health. It will also hit them severely in the pocket as they try to keep warm and dry in properties in a poor condition. While the Prime Minister chases votes ahead of the next General Election he is consigning at least 1.5 million households to a miserable existence. You have to ask yourselves ‘Why?’ and ‘Is it really worth it?’ T e use of temporary accommodation to house homeless people is already at a record high, with little prospect of the


rate of increase slowing down or even tailing off . T is is having a dramatic impact on the fi nances of many local authorities. In this issue we have covered the plight of Hastings Borough Council on the Sussex coast. It is not alone in facing a huge upsurge in homelessness, but this relatively small council has been driven to the brink of bankruptcy by the staggeringly expensive cost of temporary accommodation. T e Government has done very little to help the likes of Hastings, in fact it could be said they have exacerbated the issue by cutting grants to the council, while at the same time overseeing changes to the housing market which has created the conditions under which household fi nances have collapsed, mortgage rates have soared, evictions have risen and there is little help at hand. Politicians continue to tinker (at best) or they make wholescale changes (at worst) and all the while councils, housing


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Patrick Mooney


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HOUSING MANAGEMENT


& MAINTENANCE OCT/NOV 2023


Regulator gearing up for new powers


Rishi u-turns on PRS energy effi ciency


Ombudsman criticises more landlords


Homelessness on the rise


Calls to speed up banning S21 evictions


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Rhys McNichol from Videx Security explains how remote entry management is transforming the approach to access control across local authority and housing association developments. See page 41


19/10/2023 12:09 4 | HMM October/November 2023 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk On the cover...


associations and landlords are nearly all trying to do their best to alleviate matters. Sadly it is probably in their DNA to push change as they think this is how they make their mark. But in the same way that ‘less can be more’ so it is ‘that leaving well alone, can be the best way to solve a problem’. So if only politicians can resist the urge to tinker or coming up with yet another new initiative, then housing organisations can get on with the task of tackling damp and mould, improving communications with tenants and getting better value for money from their contractors, while at the same time building more homes. As an analogy, I would point people towards the health service which has endured a near constant stream of changes since 2010 (and probably before then, but I’m relying on my memory!) with successive Ministers bringing in new structures, new payment plans, new IT systems etc and where has it leſt us – with an NHS which is struggling to cope and with the longest waiting lists for treatment in its history. If housing organisations, landlords and staff are to deliver the raſt of changes brought in over the past 18 months in both


the private rented and social sectors, then they need to be given a chance to deliver them. Tenants will not thank anyone if staff (and Boards) are distracted from the job at hand by another round of changes.


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