The Week in Housing: the Kiziak saga and development concerns

And back at UKREiiF, the boss of a property consultancy said build-to-rent investment in London has become a “massive risk” due to gateway delays.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook warned developers that they must deliver quality homes in return for the government removing uncertainties from the planning system.

Adding to the ongoing debate over whether to sell or not to sell, a director at a large for-profit provider told delegates that housing associations have put 107,000 homes on the market this year alone.

Research by Savills found that for-profit registered providers could own at least 150,000 homes by 2030.

And Peabody’s chief executive flagged the high cost of bringing in third-party capital, after revealing that a “well known” for-profit provider pulled out of a deal with the landlord over homes with low Energy Performance Certificate ratings.

Also at the conference, the chief executive of Homes England said that he aims to have the new Affordable Homes Programme designed by the end of summer.

There was lots of movement on tackling homelessness this week.

London mayor Sir Sadiq Khan launched a £17m plan to help tackle rough sleeping in the capital. The strategy includes plans to renovate 500 empty homes and bring them back into use via the Homes off the Streets scheme, which provides supported housing to people at risk of sleeping rough, and opening a sixth ‘ending homelessness hub’.

He told Inside Housing that “we’ve been dealing with the symptoms… rather than the causes” as he pledged to end a requirement for Londoners to be verified as rough sleepers before they can access support.

In Wales, the government introduced its “landmark” homelessness bill to the Senedd focused on prevention rather than crisis response. The Homelessness and Social Housing Allocation (Wales) Bill aims to “fundamentally change” the nation’s response to homelessness and would grant a range of new powers to local authorities.

The same day, a group of academics and campaigners in England put out a national call for evidence on what life in temporary accommodation is like for families with neurodivergent children. The research seeks to find out more about the impact that staying in temporary accommodation has in the short and long term on neurodivergent children’s health, well-being and education.

Justlife launched an interesting new ‘testing hubs’ scheme. The charity is offering grants to organisations to develop solutions to improve conditions for those living in temporary accommodation.

In Northern Ireland, charity Homeless Connect, which represents the homelessness sector, warned that its members are facing significant financial challenges as a result of changes to employers’ National Insurance contributions and the increase in the National Living Wage.

Its chief executive told Inside Housing: “If additional funding is not found, organisations may potentially have to reduce service provision or, in some cases, even consider their viability, going forward.”

After Riverside highlighted its concerns around the government’s consultation on the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023, the National Housing Federation joined the calls for some proposals to be reconsidered. 

The Housing Ombudsman put out its final ‘learning from maladministration’ report related to Awaab’s Law this week ahead of the law’s implementation this October. Richard Blakeway urged social landlords to examine what they consider to be an emergency repair, as there is not consistency across all providers, to ensure they meet the requirements of the legislation.

The watchdog also published its special investigation into Hackney Council, which found that a performance-related bonus scheme may have created a “perverse incentive” for operatives to mark repair jobs as ‘complete’ to meet targets.

Inside Housing revealed that leaseholder groups and the Social Housing Action Campaign have joined forces to oppose a High Court challenge being brought by large freeholders against government reforms. 

We also revealed that England’s largest for-profit registered provider Sage Homes issued a £270m sustainable bond to refinance existing homes.

The same week that Barratt announced plans to build 728 Passivhaus homes in the capital, we looked at what it is like to live in Scotland’s biggest Passivhaus development.

It emerged that the Crown Estate entered a partnership with Australian developer Lendlease to build more than 26,000 homes.

Homes England announced that it had exceeded three housebuilding targets for 2024-25. Mr Pennycook said the agency is playing a “crucial role” on the journey to 1.5 million homes this parliament. 

And finally, but importantly, a new tool aiming to help landlords and tenants work together to address social housing stigma was launched in parliament this week. The ‘Tackling Stigma Journey Planner’ has been created by campaign group Stop Social Housing Stigma, academics Dr Mercy Denedo and Professor Amanze Ejiogu, Tpas, the Chartered Institute of Housing and YD Consultants.

Have a great weekend.

Grainne Cuffe, deputy news editor, Inside Housing

Say hello: grainne.cuffe@oceanmedia.co.uk

Editor’s picks: five stories you may have missed

The Kiziak saga – what went wrong and what happens now

The Kiziak saga demonstrates the need for culture change in building safety

‘Assure yourself, and you will have a much easier time assuring us’ – in conversation with the Building Safety Regulator

What it’s like to live in Scotland’s biggest Passivhaus development

We have time to turn things around on homelessness