Inside Housing Revolution

16/09/2009 1:22 pm

Not being one who pins my colours to any particular political mast - at the moment it seems whoever you vote for, the govts going to get in (groan). In respdonse to the points you've made Chris I'd say;

1) Totally unworkable, private landlords are in it for the profit, rather than force them to lower their rents, they'd just sell up or do up the properties for those in work, leaving a housing solution for many, closed.
2) totally agree, would need to put some sort of cap on properties listed to one address, landlord with 10 properties could place some in family names, etc.
3) Good idea, those with the "right" who haven't yet exercised it would be sure to legally challenge it, some lawyers would lick their lips at that one!
4) Great Idea, however in my experience too many residents are quite apathetic in community matters, and I include myself in that (not professionally) people want these measures but often won't play a part but then sl@g it off in the future.
5) Co Ops properly run (see previous point) beat RSL's hands down, no question
6) Hmmm it'll only be rebadged and relaunched in 12/24 month cycles anyway
7) I'd say dogs only to be barred - I've yet to come accross any other type of pet that caused me issues as a Housing Manager

Good Thread - who's next??

16/09/2009 2:41 pm

and the ultimatge decision about which pet can be contained or is allowed to be contained in a tenant's home should reside not with the landlords but with the animal protection society.

17/09/2009 11:17 am

4. RSLs with remaining stock after transferring all grant-funded property to be de-regulated and allowed to charge whatever rents they want. Abolition of the TSA....
I WOULD ADD, "... RSLs allowed to do so would NOT be entitled to any public grant."

17/09/2009 11:33 am

There wouldn't be any more grant Kass. I already abolished that.

I would also end all unhappiness and suffering :D

17/09/2009 12:50 pm

Well, Kass, I just kind of fell into it and, by all accounts, I'm pretty good at what I do and not much good at anything else. Food has to go on the table, so I guess I should stick at it.

That doesn't mean that I (or indeed most people in housing) think that the system we've got in place works though.

You'll notice that most of my proposals revolve around national policy, not actions by individual landlords. To my mind, the whole housing system in Britain is essentially a failure. It has, for at least 30 years, had a series of ad hoc patches applied to try and make it work, but all these additional policies, controls and regulatory bodies have only served to make people more confused. In a way, housing as a profession is suffering from the same issues as teaching - more and more ever changing policy and paperwork which means that none of us ever get any work done because we're too busy filling in forms and analysing policies.

What you perceive as a lack of care on the part of housing providers is actually a lack of resources, but various Government drives for 'efficiency' mean that housing providers are not able to afford more resources to deal with the increased workload.

The system is broken, overloaded and confused. Someone needs to pull the plug and start again. My suggestions (which are not exactly fully thought through) are my idea of how we press the reset button.

17/09/2009 9:00 pm

Hi Sancho / Kass

The resources question is a good one, but I feel we are asked to carry out too may innappropriate functions from the rents. ASB is a crime (breach of tenancy excepted) so why should tenants fund the service. Community Development is for the community, again why should tenants fund the cost. Social integration, education, the list goes on as more and more is expected from housing providers, but never the money to carry it out. The rent income should be for providing and maintaining homes, administering and controlling the tenancy - full stop - let the general fund or central funds pay for policing etc. That way efficiencies will enable lower rents or enhanced service.

I like the flexible tenure idea. It can help with sustainable commuties and lead to people having a real interest in their neighbourhoods.

Turning the clock back, returning RSLs to specialist housing providers and having local authorities as the main housing provider is something that views are needed on. The backward propaganda against the 'sprawling council estates' does not match the numbers of tenants who so loved these areas that they put their money into them, but equally there were issues that needed resolving. The solution was rather to throw the baby out with the bath-water, but can we bring back the best of Council Housing without bringing back the problems?

Councils were better when they were made up of committed volunteers. The new breed of councillor, earning their right to higher political office, are not helping us but helping themselves. Should this mean getting rid of all councillors though? One of the plusses of the pre-80's was if you did not like your landlord you could vote them out. Without the elected element in local housing you risk all the worst of the quango. That is why my preference is towards co-operatives, or a co-operative form of local housing management. But this would require ongoing commitment from the tenants. You are right Sancho, that Councils are not all serving us well, but what is the alternative?

In a number of areas in Britain resident associations field candidates for Council with some success. Why not tenants as well. Could this give better led Councils?

18/09/2009 3:26 pm

The issue around what landlords are "supposed" to do, and the blurring of the lines, or out and out ignorance of peoples plights is brought into sharp focus by this case currently in the news ;
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/sep/18/police-hate-crimes-mother All too often police abdicate their responsibility when genuine offences have been committed if it's housing related, in the vain hope others will do what they should. I will await the full inquest verdict with interest.

21/09/2009 11:54 am

Golly Gosh,

Whilst I can't speak for others, my intention would be to improve people's lives. What I think is that policy has lost sight of the fact that these are real people we're talking about and that's exactly what we need to get back towards.

As for "get real", it's a hypothetical question.....

23/09/2009 6:08 pm

I think the short answer is that there is no 'fair' way to ration social housing. If people need it, they need it, regardless of how long they've needed it for, how good a tenant they've been in the past or how big/disabled/destitute their family is.

If there is a shortage of social housing (another hot topic), the government should simply buy a load of market properties and put people in them. The needs of those who have no choice have to come above the desires of those who want an investment property, a holiday home etc.

The problem, if I remember the thread we are talking about correctly, is what to do if someone needs a property but, in all honesty, doesn't deserve it. 'Feral scum' was the phrase, I think....Well, that's where the fact that we are housing providers, not gods, comes back in. The police and social services should be dealing with that, not us. If they're criminals, put them in jail. If they need support, give them support. Don't just leave them with us and say we need to protect other residents but can't evict them.

28/09/2009 1:01 pm

The reason why comparing where agreement can be reached, is that it has no basis in fact.

The political parties come up with ideologies.

Ideologies are the ravines that the parties get trapped (as does the populations who get stuck between two opinion-based approaches).

These tend to be:

Left. More state intervention and centralised top-down control. Central control = less oppression of the poor and disposed by the rich. Nationalise.

Right. State bad, choice and market to improve. Less state = freedom and wealth. Top-down power. Privatise.

Of course the problem is that these ideologies don't work. They keep being tried by each successive generation and keep failing.

Time for a change in thinking?