Bedroom Tax
On 9 November 2016 the Supreme Court handed down judgment in appeals relating to eligibility to Housing Benefit following amendment of bedroom criteria made by the Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Size Criteria) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013. For the judgments, see
Housing Law Cases.
Welfare benefit cap
On 7 November 2016 a new welfare benefit cap came into effect, meaning the total amount households can receive in benefits is limited to £20,000 across the UK or £23,000 within Greater London. For single people without children, the cap is £15,410 in Greater London and £13,400 elsewhere. The new cap will be phased in across the country from 7 November 2016, and will be fully implemented by local authorities by January 2017. According to figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 3 November 2016, 79,000 households have had their benefits capped between 15 April 2013, when the benefit cap was introduced, and August 2016. To see the latest statistics,
click here
Affordable homes
On 7 November 2016 the CBI published a report –
No Place Like Home – advocating ‘an ambitious new way of thinking – matched with action – to tailor the types of houses that are built and the way they are delivered to the needs and aspirations of those who will live in them’. The organisation notes that the country’s population is set to grow by 10 million in the next 25 years and wants to see: a strategic housing plan from the DCLG, with the forthcoming white paper on housing being integrated and joined up across Whitehall and beyond; Government help for small and medium-sized enterprise housebuilders through improved release of small sites of public land and making access to finance easier, by rolling out its Home Building Fund; and recognising the importance of and improving the attractiveness of the Private Rented Sector. To read the report,
click here
Domestic violence – funding to support provision of accommodation-based support services
On 3 November 2016 the DCLG published a prospectus explaining how local authorities can apply for funding of up to £20 million over two years (2016-2018) to support the provision of accommodation-based support services and the local reforms needed to meet the Priorities for Domestic Abuse Services (as set out in Annex B to the prospectus). To access the prospectus,
click here
Housing Benefit and private renting
On 1 November 2016 the House of Commons Library published a briefing paper discussing evidence to suggest that private landlords are reluctant to let to prospective tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit. The paper considers the reasons behind this reluctance and why refusals are unlikely to amount to direct discrimination. To read the briefing,
click here
Allocation of Housing and Homelessness – eligibility of immigrant families
On 3 November 2016 the DCLG published a letter dated 21 October 2016 notifying local housing authorities of the commencement (on 30 October 2016) of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2016. The letter explains the effect of the Amendment Regulations, ie they amend regulations 3 and 5 of the Allocation of Housing and Homelessness (Eligibility) (England) Regulations 2006 to provide that the following persons are eligible for an allocation of housing accommodation or homelessness assistance: namely, persons who have leave to enter or remain in the UK on family or private life grounds under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, granted under paragraph 276BE(1) or 276DG of, or under Appendix FM to, the Immigration Rules, where this leave is not subject to a condition of ‘no recourse to public funds’. To read the letter,
click here To access the Amendment Regulations,
click here To access the 2006 Eligibility Regulations,
click here
Local Government Ombudsman
On 4 November 2016 the Communities and Local Government Committee endorsed the appointment of the Government's preferred candidate for Local Government Ombudsman and Chair of the Commission for Local Administration in England, Michael King. Mr King has been Chief Executive Officer and Accounting Officer of the Local Government Ombudsman and the Commission for Local Administration in England since 2015. He was Executive Director of the LGO/CLAE from 2012–15 and was previously a Deputy LGO, responsible for the regional office for the North of England and the Midlands. For more information,
click here
Syrian refugee resettlement programme
On 4 November 2016 the Public Accounts Committee discussed the cost of the programme to resettle Syrian refugees in the UK, estimated to be £1.734 billion over its lifetime. For more details,
click here
Applying as homeless from an assured shorthold tenancy – England
On 1 November the House of Commons Library published a short briefing paper which considers the practice of English local authorities requiring assured shorthold tenants, who have been served with a notice of the landlord’s intention to seek possession under section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, to remain in situ until a court order/bailiff’s warrant has been obtained before accepting a statutory duty under the homelessness provisions of Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 (as amended). To read the briefing,
click here
Landlord registration – Wales
The Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (Commencement No. 8) Order 2016 revokes the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 (Commencement No. 7) Order 2016 and brings into force on
23 November 2016 the following provisions of Part 1 (regulation of private rented housing) of the Housing (Wales) Act 2014 which implement the compulsory landlord registration scheme: sections 4, 9, 11, 13, 28, 30 to 33, 35, 43 and 44 and the following provisions for all remaining purposes: sections 5 to 8, 10, 12, 29, 34, 40 to 42 and 46. For the Commencement Order,
click here For the statute,
click here For more details of Rent Smart Wales (ie the Welsh landlord registration scheme),
click here For information about the scheme (provided by the Residential Landlords Association),
click here
Property litigation procedure – Scotland
On 1 December 2016 a range of Scottish statutory instruments will come into force governing the composition of and transfer of functions to the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. To access the statutory instruments,
click here
Families and households in the UK – 2016
On 4 November 2016 the Office for National Statistics published
a statistical bulletin showing
trends in living arrangements in the UK including families (with and without dependent children), people living alone and people in shared accommodation, broken down by size and type of household. The bulletin shows, for example, that in 2016, around 25% of young adults aged 20 to 34 were living with their parents, increasing from 21% in 1996. To read the bulletin,
click here
Right to Buy – housing associations
It has been reported by
The Independent and other media that the Government is to delay extending right to buy to housing associations, with the policy no longer a priority. Hilary Davies, a DCLG official, is said to have told a conference of housing associations that the ‘new government’ was re-thinking the policy and ministers’ views were not yet clear. To read
The Independent report,
click here
Right to Buy – Wales
On 5 November 2016
BBC News reported that Cardiff City Council is considering an application to the Welsh Government to suspend the right to buy scheme. The council said that there were currently 8,300 people on the waiting list for social housing. It has 13,470 properties, which has fallen from 23,000 since 1985, largely due to the right to buy legislation. Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Anglesey councils have already been given the power to halt sales. For more details,
click here
Social housing management – Brent
On 7 November 2016 Brent Council announced that its Cabinet will consider a report seeking approval to begin a 12 week consultation with residents regarding the arrangements for the future management of Brent's own housing, currently undertaken by Brent Housing Partnership. In June Cabinet commissioned a review of the current arrangements because of the challenges presented by the Government's housing reforms, cuts to welfare benefits and demand for housing in the borough continuing to outstrip supply. The recommendation being presented to Cabinet is to bring the service back in-house so it is directly under the council's control. For more details,
click here
Homelessness housing projects – Help-To-Rent funding programme
Crisis, the national charity for homeless people, has announced that five UK housing projects helping homeless people – or those at risk of homelessness – to rent a home have been chosen as the beneficiaries of a new £150K fund. The Help-To-Rent funding programme has been commissioned by Crisis and will support the five projects to continue their innovative work enabling single homeless people to find long-term solutions to their homelessness. For more details,
click here
Social housing fraud
On 4 November 2016 the National Fraud Initiative published its annual report. The NFI matches electronic data within and between 1,300 organisations, including councils, the police, hospitals and almost 100 private companies in order to help identify potentially fraudulent claims, errors and overpayments. The 2016 report reveals that in the last year £6.3 million has been saved (compared with £26.7 million in 2014) in respect of social housing tenants/waiting list applicants who were subletting, were not entitled to social housing because of their status in the UK, or had multiple tenancies unlawfully. 54 properties were recovered (86 in 2014) and 726 applicants were removed from housing waiting lists (2,394 in 2014). To access the report,
click here
Private landlords and tax
On 7 November 2016 the Residential Landlords Association announced that in its response to a Government consultation on Making Tax Digital the RLA said it is concerned the scheme is being rushed through and is worried about how landlords without access to the necessary technology will manage. The Government is overhauling the way the tax system operates and from 2018 most businesses, the self-employed and landlords will need to use software or apps to keep their business records, updating HMRC quarterly. For more details,
click here
