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Morning Briefing: Universal Credit fuels foodbank use
New research has revealed the connection between Universal Credit and foodbank use, and all the other major housing stories from this morning
In the news
Research carried out by foodbank network The Trussell Trust revealed that the use of the service has soared in areas where Universal Credit has been in operation for a year, The Guardian reports.
Based on data from 414 foodbanks, the analysis revealed that demand for food parcels increased by 40% in areas where Universal Credit had been in place for at least 18 months, and by 48% where it had been established for at least two years.
Emma Revie, chief executive at The Trussell Trust, blamed the figures on the five-week wait some claimants are forced to endure before receiving the benefit, which she said was “pushing people into debt, homelessness and destitution”.
House prices in Britain are rising at the slowest rate in seven years, according to new government figures.
The Guardian reports on the numbers which show that national house price growth for the country at large dropped to 0.7% in July from 1.4% a month earlier, hitting the slowest growth rate since 2012.
Steep declines in London and the South are to blame for the national slowdown, with house prices in London dropping for the 17th month in a row.
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Also in The Guardian is research carried out by the Institute for Public Policy Research thinktank, which found that 84% of care home beds in England are owned by private, for-profit firms.
Only 3% of care home beds are now provided by local councils, which were once the main providers of residential care for vulnerable older people.
According to the research, 91% of councils have increased their use of private sector care home beds since 2015, with Kensington and Chelsea Council seeing the biggest increase in private use in that time, rising by 50.9%.
A housing association in Liverpool has said it will evict anyone living in its properties who is convicted of a knife crime-related offence, the Liverpool Echo reports.
South Liverpool Homes, which manages more than 3,700 homes, has amended its tenancy agreement to say that it will enforce legal action if a tenant or member of the household is found guilty of carrying a knife or committing an offence with a knife.
The Shropshire Star has reported that Shropshire Council has set up its own housing company to build and sell about 2,000 homes across the county.
The new company will be asking the council for a multimillion pound loan to build homes both for sale and rent through social housing landlords.
Finally, The Guardian runs a story about a “pioneering” contactless donation system which aims to prevent people from becoming homeless in Bristol.
People will be able to tap their cards at paypoints, the first of which has been set up close to Bristol City Hall, to donate £3 at a time to charities which will use the money to address the homeless crisis in the city.
On social media
We celebrated Scottish Housing Day yesterday with a series of Twitter chats. Scottish housing minister Kevin Stewart weighed in on the debate over for-profit social housing providers:
There is a place for build to rent providers in Scotland, but they are operating in the mid-market & market sector. Social Housing here is being delivered well by local authorities & housing associations. t.co/4zyIy9vgIk
— Kevin Stewart MSP (@KevinStewartSNP)There is a place for build to rent providers in Scotland, but they are operating in the mid-market & market sector. Social Housing here is being delivered well by local authorities & housing associations. https://t.co/4zyIy9vgIk
— Kevin Stewart MSP (@KevinStewartSNP) September 18, 2019
Shelter Scotland’s Lisa Borthwick called on the government to build more social homes post 2021:
Maintain high levels of social house building into the next parliamentary term! 🏠🏘️🏡🏙️👷♀️🧱 t.co/Qy2vNaSUOy
— Lisa Borthwick (Glass) (@lis19Maintain high levels of social house building into the next parliamentary term! \uD83C\uDFE0\uD83C\uDFD8️\uD83C\uDFE1\uD83C\uDFD9️\uD83D\uDC77♀️\uD83E\uDDF1 https://t.co/Qy2vNaSUOy
— Lisa Borthwick (Glass) (@lisa_gl) September 18, 2019
What’s on
- The Chartered Institute of Housing’s residential leadership course continues in Ilfracombe, North Devon today.
