The Week in Housing: concern about benefit cuts as some families face more than 100-year wait for social home

In the meantime, councils are going to come under increasing pressure for housing and homelessness services. MPs heard this week how a decades-long 84% increase in households in temporary accommodation and 77% increase in out-of-area placements are clashing with spending on education, health and care plans.

In 2018, a group of London boroughs set up a company to address homelessness and reduce spending on temporary accommodation. However, Inside Housing broke the news this week that Capital Letters will close. This model is estimated to have saved taxpayers approximately £240m over six years, but Capital Letters blamed the post-pandemic housing crisis and rental rises for its closure.

There was good news for Inside Housing’s campaigning. Several councils confirmed that they had changed their reporting system since we launched our data dashboard tracking the number of young children in temporary accommodation.

The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) warned that specialised supported housing was not being delivered by lease-based providers in a way that consistently met its standards.

The RSH highlighted a number of issues with this model, and few providers are providing the required levels of support. This is because there is limited capacity to manage risks, ongoing repairs and maintenance, and void periods when the property is empty and no rent is paid.

There have been a number of these instances recently, including under-pressure investment trust Home REIT. It agreed to surrender the properties of another charity client as it struggled to cope with debts and legal challenges.

Following a self-referral to the RSH, one large council is to review 70 eviction cases after its investigation into “historic overpayments” found that it may have to refund tenants an estimated £1.8m in rent.

The Housing Ombudsman also identified confusion with rent payments at a housing association founded to help women fleeing domestic violence. “Multiple failings” were found after a resident was incorrectly told she owed £10,000 in unpaid rent.

Survivors and bereaved families of the Grenfell Tower fire, who have called for a ‘Hillsborough Law’ to be implemented in its entirety, raised concerns that it will be “watered down”.

This came as the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea progressed legal action for £360m against seven firms that were involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower.

There was an interesting report from the London Assembly Fire Committee this week that highlighted how a professional unit set up to help the capital’s fire brigade deal with misconduct has not been able to handle the volume of complaints it has received and “lacks independence”.

In Wales, a group was set up for residents and leaseholders as part of the devolved government’s building safety regime, allowing individuals to seek support and inform national policy.

A panel representing social housing residents in Northern Ireland called on the government to update its tenant participation strategy. It aims to make sure landlords are consistent and increase the extent and effectiveness of their tenant participation services.

Housing associations have welcomed the Scottish government’s decision to revisit the Heat in Buildings Bill, after a previous draft was scrapped last month. Nearly a quarter of empty social homes in Scotland are awaiting disposal, demolition or reconfiguration.

With officials looking at whether funding for social housing decarbonisation could be used to deliver regeneration schemes, Inside Housing revealed the shortlist for the Unlock Net Zero Awards 2025, which celebrate the individuals, teams and organisations behind innovative solutions.

Some of these ideas will be vital to meeting the government’s plans, as the minister for energy consumers pledged that tackling housing problems and decarbonising the UK economy by 2050 will be treated as “one agenda”.

Inside Housing also spoke to Florence Eshalomi, the Labour MP who chairs the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, about how she scrutinises the Labour government’s performance on housing.

And our latest Board Member Briefing looked at how landlords can manage their data flow better and guard against the growing risk of cyberattacks.

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing

Say hello: stephen.delahunty@oceanmedia.co.uk

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