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Morning Briefing: charities urge changes to Universal Credit

News09.10.189.21 AM by Carl Brown

A dozen charities call for changes to the government’s welfare reforms, and a row breaks out in Bristol

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Picture: Getty
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Morning Briefing: a dozen charities call for changes to the government’s welfare reforms, and a row breaks out in Bristol #ukhousing

In the news

The heads of a dozen charities and organisations, including umbrella group Homeless Link, have called for changes to the government’s Universal Credit welfare payment scheme before it is rolled out on a wider scale.

In a letter published on The Guardian website last night, they warn: “Before thousands more families move on to Universal Credit, the government must ensure that ongoing problems with the system are addressed and that households can be moved over without a gap in their income.”

You can read our in-depth piece from June looking at ways the policy can be fixed here. Meanwhile, Stephen Bush has written an article for the New Statesman looking at whether problems with Universal Credit have the potential to destabilise Theresa May’s premiership.

Website The Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) has reported that 449 people died on the streets last year, this is part of its Dying Homeless project which is aimed in part at improving data on the deaths of people who are homelessness. On the same theme, another website, The Detail, working with BIJ, has used Freedom of Information Act requests to find out that 148 people in Northern Ireland registered as homeless died in an 11-month period.

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The Grenfell Inquiry sessions have been hearing more testimony from survivors, including tales of their terrifying escape from the burning building. You can read Inside Housing’s daily round-up, including evidence about housing association Notting Hill Housing, here.

Chris Blythe, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Builders, has given his thoughts on proposals for a New Homes Ombudsman in a piece for Politics Home. The appointment of a new ombudsman was announced by housing secretary James Brokenshire last week.

A row has broken out in Bristol, where the leader of the Liberal Democrat group has reportedly accused the ruling Labour council of building affordable housing for their own political ends as a “vanity project”. Labour Mayor Marvin Rees has hit back at the claims. You can read the Bristol Live report on the row here.

Is nimbyism losing its grip on the population? Website Property Wire is reporting research findings which suggest more people are now in favour of homes built locally to where they live.

The Wiltshire and Gloucestershire Standard has reported research showing that over 55s are accepting a lower standard of living in order to help their children on to the housing ladder.

Finally, the Cambridgeshire Live has a report about the potential impact of a planned 5,000-home project.

On social media

Housing’s Twitterati are beginning to gear up for Housing Day tomorrow, and Inside Housing has announced its line-up for #IHchat Q&As throughout the day:

Both Inside Housing and the Housing Day website will be publishing blogs on the Housing Day theme of “The Tenant Voice”.

Campaigner and former housing association chief executive Tom Murtha has written the first of the blogs for the official site:

What’s on

  • The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is hosting a session on the Social Housing Green Paper and what it means in Yorkshire and the Humber. This takes place in Leeds this morning.
  • CIH East Midlands is running a ‘masterclass’ on how to tackle domestic abuse in housing this afternoon, in Corby, Northamptonshire.
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