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Morning Briefing: MPs call for scrapping of Vagrancy Act
Labour MPs want an end to the criminalisation of rough sleepers, Civitas eyes expansion into Northern Ireland and Scotland, and the sector gears up for #HousingDiversityDay
More than 240 Labour MPs have signed a letter calling for the abolition of the Vagrancy Act to end the criminalisation of rough sleepers. The letter has been published in The Guardian under the headline “Don’t make criminals of homeless people”.
You can read a full version of the text and a full list of the MPs who have signed it on the Labour Homelessness Campaign website here.
Is red tape preventing the building of new homes? It might be a common complaint, but Steve Morgan, founder of Redrow, has said he would not have been able to create the business he has under today’s planning system. The BBC’s report on this is here.
Three children have written to east London MP Stephen Timms begging for help to move from their small flat into bigger accommodation, reports Metro.
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Hundreds of people face eviction after landlord Fergus Wilson decided to sell his entire property portfolio of around 300 properties, the BBC has reported.
The Residential Landlords Association has published an article for its members on how to improve fire safety, flagging information from the Home Office’s new Fire Kills campaign.
Civitas looks to be planning to expand into Scotland and Northern Ireland. The social housing real estate investment trust’s chief executive Paul Bridge and director Andrew Dawber revealed the move in an interview for website Proactive Investors.
In the videoed interview, Mr Dawber says we will “probably” see Civitas go into the Scottish and Northern Irish markets later this year. He also talks about Civitas’ model for funding affordable housing and says it is “genuinely doing real social good’’.
The Guardian has another piece about Universal Credit, this time looking at how the ‘digital by default’ assumption in the system is causing problems for large numbers of people who do not have the internet, or who are not comfortable using it.
The Derby Telegraph has a report about a dispute concerning 18 vulnerable people who have reportedly been asked to leave a housing shelter.
On social media
Today is #HousingDiversityDay and some of the biggest names in housing will be taking part in Twitter debates. Inside Housing will also be sharing some of the work we have done on diversity.
Housing associations including South Yorkshire Housing Association have been gearing up:
Today is #HousingDiversityDay and this year is all about celebrating the positive impact of diversity in the social housing sector. We’re looking forward to joining in the conversation @HDN_UK with @Alison_Inman, @KateNHF, @Susmita661 @DodsworthKate, @happymattuk & @PaulHackett10 pic.twitter.com/aSEP7q1XDp
— South Yorkshire Housing Association (@SYorksHA)Today is #HousingDiversityDay and this year is all about celebrating the positive impact of diversity in the social housing sector. We're looking forward to joining in the conversation @HDN_UK with @Alison_Inman, @KateNHF, @Susmita661 @DodsworthKate, @happymattuk & @PaulHackett10 pic.twitter.com/aSEP7q1XDp
— South Yorkshire Housing Association (@SYorksHA) March 19, 2019
What’s on
The Chartered Institute of Housing is hosting an event called Engaging and building trust post-Grenfell, which takes place in Manchester today
