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Morning Briefing: surge in unpaid council tax following scrapping of benefit system
A thinktank reports an increase in non-collection of council tax, and an estate agency looks at the future of housing
In the news
At Inside Housing we often write about arrears and how the housing market, the role played by government policies and the economic climate can affect people’s ability to cover their rent.
Don’t forget though that it isn’t just rent that tenants have to pay, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) thinktank has published research showing non-collection of council tax has risen sharply.
As the Independent reports this morning, the IFS found that non-collection of council tax is 10 times higher than it was before the government in 2013 scrapped the old council tax benefit system and replaced it with a “less well-funded” support system run by councils. Inside Housing has for several years reported on concerns over the impact of the changes, and revealed in 2016 that many councils had increased the council tax contribution from claimants.
We might be nearly be in February now, but it is not too late for another review of housing 2018. Recruiters Odgers Interim have summarised 2018 for the social housing sector here.
Another day and we have another rash of stories about Universal Credit and its impact. The HuffPost has a blog about what it’s like to be a single mother on Universal Credit, the Hull Daily Mail has an interview with a cleaner who says the system has left her on the breadline.
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The Worcester News reports that councillors are considering funding a foodbank charity as Universal Credit delays are reportedly having an impact.
Wales Online, meanwhile, has published a guide to how many people are claiming Universal Credit in each part of Wales.
How likely is renting privately to damage your health? Two academics have written a piece for the Metro newspaper describing their research findings, including that social housing, by comparison, has improved health benefits.
The West of England Combined Authority will discuss plans for £580m of investment, including £100m for new homes, at a meeting on Friday. The website Business Leader has a report on this here.
Swale Council in Kent is to tackle holiday park owners who market homes as permanent, despite having to close for two months of the year. This is leading to people declaring themselves intentionally homeless for those two months, the Kent Online website is reporting.
Elsewhere, the Daily Record is reporting that residents of Sanctuary Scotland Housing Association are unhappy about a 3.7% rent increase.
Also north of the border, Scottish Housing News has a piece about Falkirk Council’s plans for £280m of housing investment over five years.
Finally, what will the housing of the future look like? Online estate agency The House Network has written a piece for City Metric looking ahead to a time of robot builders, living in space and new materials for homes.
On social media
Rose Bean of Yarlington tweets about the potential for smart technology to improve building safety in response to a piece today by Nigel Newman of Raven Housing Trust:
Smart technology will absolutely impact the future of Asset Management but also the potential to use this to make our homes safer provides a huge opportunity for the sector #ukhousing t.co/oYNZXTewc2
— Rose Bean (@RoseYarlington)Smart technology will absolutely impact the future of Asset Management but also the potential to use this to make our homes safer provides a huge opportunity for the sector #ukhousing https://t.co/oYNZXTewc2
— Rose Bean (@RoseYarlington) January 29, 2019
