The Week in Housing: Covid Inquiry begins on housing and homelessness, Economic Crime Levy exemption needed and Repairs Tracker launches
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The Week in Housing: Covid Inquiry examines impact on housing and homelessness, and sector seeks exemption from Economic Crime Levy #UKhousingA weekly round-up of the most important headlines for housing professionals #UKhousingGood afternoon.
Module 10 of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry began this week. An exclusive report, shared with Inside Housing, highlighted the impact the pandemic had on housing and homelessness.
In the sessions that followed, the inquiry heard how housing conditions were a “structural driver” of poor mental health during the pandemic, with certain groups hit harder than others.
There was also discussion at the inquiry of how the government’s Everyone In homelessness initiative, launched at the start of the pandemic, was a “missed opportunity” to end rough sleeping for good.
In another major policy intervention, the National Housing Federation has called for a carve-out for housing associations from the Economic Crime Levy, warning that upcoming changes could increase fees by 1,300% for some members.
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English housing providers have increased their repairs spend for the fourth year in a row, reaching another record high. Inside Housing explored what landlords are spending and why in our exclusive annual Repairs Tracker.
We also rounded up the three biggest takeaways from this year’s Repairs Tracker here.
In a major interview, Inside Housing spoke to Jenny Osbourne about her return to Tpas, the tenant engagement membership body, after a year away following a cancer diagnosis. She spoke candidly about her difficult year, her plans for Tpas and her hopes for the year ahead.
Shahi Islam, director of affordable housing at Homes England, explained how for-profit providers have received a “welcome boost” in the new grant programme, and that recent changes have increased parity with not-for-profit landlords.
Additionally, the government’s housing and regeneration agency has taken on a former prison site in East Sussex, with plans to develop the brownfield land for new homes.
A number of policy changes came from the local authority sector this week.
Birmingham City Council received its first affordable housing grant since it effectively declared bankruptcy two years ago, after the government agreed to waive funding conditions.
In Camden, a taskforce urged the council to set up partnerships with institutional funders to see if these can deliver extra homes for the London borough more quickly.
This call came on the same day as Inside Housing Living published an exclusive series of interviews with top private investors in rental housing.
In Wales, new government data revealed a rise in households in temporary accommodation, which has led to a 64% increase in unmet housing need since 2019.
Plus, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has decided to go ahead with two investigations into how social landlords respond to damp and mould concerns, following a consultation last year.
On the policy front, district councils have warned that the government’s housebuilding plans could be undermined over fears that planning authorities will be excluded from strategic planning.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government also confirmed it is “considering improvements” to the shared ownership model after new data revealed that less than 1% of owners staircased to 100% last year.
There were a number of big appointment announcements, as Inside Housing revealed that outgoing housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway has been announced as the preferred candidate to chair the Office for Legal Complaints.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations appointed a new policy, public affairs and communications boss.
And one North West landlord revealed its new finance director.
Finally, the West Midlands Combined Authority published a five-year plan to act on climate change in the region.
New research indicates such plans are needed, as a report found that one in nine homes built in England between 2022 and 2024 were in areas of medium or high flood risk.
Have a great weekend.
Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing
Say hello: stephen.delahunty@oceanmedia.co.uk
Editor’s picks: five stories you may have missed
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City council negotiates temporary accommodation rates down by a third as it reduces hotel use
London council to partner up with housing associations to build more affordable housing
Bellway seeks affordable partner for one-third of properties in 3,000-home vision
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