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A weekly round-up of the most important headlines for housing professionals
Afternoon all.
It has not been the easiest 12 months for housing associations.
The COVID-19 pandemic was an unexpected shockwave for landlords’ finances, as rental arrears shot up and money had to be ploughed into areas to support the residents they house.
This, together with escalating fire safety bills, an increasing need to meet net zero-carbon targets and the continued requirement to keep building homes, means there are arguably bigger pressures on resources than there has been for a long time. As a result, surpluses are shrinking.
So, where do housing associations find the extra cash from?
On Wednesday, Inside Housing published a story highlighting a growing trend in the sector from landlords looking to free up cash. A number of associations are now looking to sell off parts of their shared ownership portfolios to private providers.
We spoke to housing sector figures from Savills and JLL, who said there has been an increased interest from associations looking to find suitors for their shared ownership assets.
The biggest deal to have been struck so far came last month, when investment giant BlackRock loaned for-profit provider Heylo Housing more than £300m to buy up 3,000 of its shared ownership properties.
With the escalating costs for associations not expected to cease any time soon, expect more deals similar to the above to take place in the coming months.
Elsewhere, the sector’s largest landlord, Clarion, came under fire this week. An expose from ITV News and MyLondon revealed the appalling conditions that some of its residents in a south London estate have been living in.
Case studies of the tenants revealed vermin-infested flats, widespread damp issues and one family who had to live without lights on their top floor for eight months after a ceiling collapsed.
Clarion apologised for the conditions residents had to contend with and said it was well below the standard it expects.
Residents said they had repeatedly made the landlord aware of the problems, but the calls fell on deaf ears.
It is just another signal that more needs to be done to ensure that social housing residents have a voice and feel empowered. This is one of the things that it was hoped the Social Housing White Paper and the changes that came with it, may have addressed. However, since any mention of it was conspicuously absent from the Queen’s Speech, residents could be waiting a while longer yet for any meaningful change.
Yesterday we found out how successful housing associations were in applying for money to cover cladding removal work for its leaseholders through the government’s Building Safety Fund. Of the 73 buildings that social landlords have claimed for, the government has approved funding for 39 of those blocks, while 34 have been found to be ineligible for money.
The start of this week was the fourth anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire. Inside Housing published a number of pieces for the anniversary, with a standout one being this excellent investigation from deputy editor Peter Apps looking at how the government missed the chance to prevent the cladding crisis in the 1990s. It is well worth a read.
This week also saw us receive the sad news that John Pierce, campaigns manager at the National Housing Federation (NHF), passed away at the age of 40.
Tributes have poured in for the much-loved colleague and friend. Kate Henderson, chief executive of the NHF, said: “We feel lucky to have been able to call John a colleague and a friend. He brought passion, creativity, professionalism and fun to each project he worked on over his 16 years with us, and we are devastated by his death. “
Rest in peace, John Pierce.
Jack Simpson, news editor
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