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Morning Briefing: Hunt will roll out Housing First ‘immediately’ if elected PM
Conservative leadership hopeful commits to the expansion of Housing First if elected leader, leasehold sales drop, and all your other housing news
Conservative leadership hopeful Jeremy Hunt will look to expand the use of Housing First across the country if he wins the leadership race next week, he has revealed in a piece for The Big Issue. In a piece for the magazine, Mr Hunt said he would set aside an extra £30m to roll out the project – which is already being trialled in the West Midlands, Liverpool, Manchester and Scotland – in London and “at least two other cities”.
Housing First is a strategy aimed at helping rough sleepers. It involves immediately moving rough sleepers into their own accommodation and then building services around that, rather than progressing them through emergency shelters and temporary accommodation.
Yesterday, Inside Housing featured an article by Martin Armstrong, chief executive of Wheatley Group, in which he details why he believes Housing First is working in Scotland.
Mr Hunt also pledged his commitment to housing, stating: “Giving a whole generation a leg up on to the housing ladder will be one of my priorities as prime minister.”
The Big Issue also reached out to Boris Johnson for comment, although he is yet to respond.
An anonymous local authority housing officer from London has written a powerful piece in The Guardian as part of its ‘working week’ series about people who work in public services.
Giving a day-by-day account of their week, the housing officer largely focuses on the experience of telling clients there is no council home available for them. “Later I lie awake thinking and worrying. Am I actually helping anyone?” they write.
Also in The Guardian is a report by PwC revealing that young key workers in London are being forced to spend more than half of their pay on rent.
The article warns that London and the South of England is “facing a dearth of teachers, nurses and police officers” due to rising rents making parts of the country unaffordable for many public sector workers.
The Times reports that the number of new homes being sold as leasehold properties has plummeted amid political pressure. Only 4.2% of new build properties in England and Wales were sold as leasehold, compared to 13.3% in 2017.
Meanwhile, rough sleepers are being denied registration at GP offices and discharged from hospital without referral, according to a report in The Independent.
Researchers at the University of Birmingham, who carried out the study featured in the report, said the exclusion of homeless people from basic health services was causing “unnecessary deaths”.
In local news, the Harrow Times reports that Brent Council is carrying out an “intrusive” fire safety programme to ensure buildings in the borough are safe.
The programme involves the introduction of specialist fire doors in council properties and the installation of sprinklers and higher quality fire alarms.
Leeds City Council is expected to approve plans for 701 new homes on a former coal mining pit near Skelton Country Park this week, according to Leeds Live.
Finally, Wales Online are reporting that Swansea Council have unveiled a proposal which recommends the doubling of council tax for homes that have been empty for 12 months or more. Currently, owners of long-term empty properties get a 50% council tax discount after an initial six-month exemption.
On social media
A councillor in Swindon says the article from a housing officer in London is a “depressing depiction of the local housing situation”.
A depressing depiction of the local housing situation and the immense pressure council housing officers are under: ’I tell a homeless 18-year-old he can’t have a council house. I hate this part of the job’ t.co/qWAZUN3pkm
— Emma Bushell (@bushellemma)A depressing depiction of the local housing situation and the immense pressure council housing officers are under: 'I tell a homeless 18-year-old he can't have a council house. I hate this part of the job' https://t.co/qWAZUN3pkm
— Emma Bushell (@bushellemma) July 16, 2019
The former chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Building questions whether the government is putting quantity over quality with its housebuilding policies.
Having policies to build a million new homes in next to no time does not stand up. The current volume housing output is of such dubious quality- it seems pointless to promise quantity without a guarantee of quality and @NHBC is not the answer #newhomesombudsman #leaseholdscandal
— Chris Blythe OBE (@formerCEOCIOB)Having policies to build a million new homes in next to no time does not stand up. The current volume housing output is of such dubious quality- it seems pointless to promise quantity without a guarantee of quality and @NHBC is not the answer #newhomesombudsman #leaseholdscandal
— Chris Blythe OBE (@formerCEOCIOB) July 15, 2019
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