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Morning Briefing: homelessness among older people soars by 39%, official figures reveal
The number of people over 60 approaching public services for housing help has rocketed over the past five years, and other news from across the housing sector
In the news
The number of older people falling into homelessness has surged in recent years as cuts to benefit payments have left them struggling to make ends meet.
The Independent has the story about new figures from the Office for National Statistics, which show that there has been a 39% rise in people over 60 approaching the authorities because they are in need of housing by local councils over the past five years, with the figure increasing from 1,800 in 2012/13 to 2,500 in 2017/18.
Meanwhile, thinktank New Economics Foundation claims that Britons are £128 a year worse off on average than they were in 2008. The organisation said figures used to calculate GDP, which is adjusted to take account of rising prices, failed to include essential items that affected the cost of living over the past 10 years and therefore give a skewed picture of the effects of the financial crash. The Guardian has the full report.
England and Wales now has its first domestic abuse commissioner, who has told the BBC that she expects to see the Domestic Abuse Bill included in the new Queen’s Speech when parliament returns.
Nicole Jacobs, who has worked for domestic abuse charities for two decades, will be responsible for championing victims of domestic abuse and recommending improvements to the government.
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House builder Persimmon has found itself in more hot water after refusing to hand over the freeholds to leasehold owners of its properties in Plymouth. The residents have claimed that they were mis-sold their homes. Plymouth Live has more.
Elsewhere, MPs have attacked the government’s £12bn Help to Buy scheme, claiming that the policy has supported homebuyers who could already afford to buy a property and has failed to boost the provision of affordable housing or reduce homelessness. The Times has the report from the Commons’ Public Accounts Committee.
City councillors in Oxford have given the go-ahead to a £500m regeneration scheme, despite previous concerns about affordable housing on the site, the Oxford Mail reports.
Monmouthshire County Council is to trial a new technology which helps identify where people are most at risk of feeling lonely and isolated.
The system will help the council match residents’ interests to activities nearby and work out a way of getting them there. If successful, it could be rolled out to the rest of the UK, the BBC reports.
CityMetric has this fascinating read on Singapore’s housing market – and what the UK can learn from a system that counts housing as a social asset.
On social media
On the same day as the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Scotland calls for housing to be considered a human right, US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez urged for the same in the US:
‘Housing is a human right.’ — Watch @AOC explain why the U.S. can’t call itself an advanced society until housing is fixed pic.twitter.com/Sm9GrNNXUn
— NowThis (@nowthisnews)‘Housing is a human right.’ — Watch @AOC explain why the U.S. can’t call itself an advanced society until housing is fixed pic.twitter.com/Sm9GrNNXUn
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) September 18, 2019
There has been some follow-up on the CIH’s report on allocations, which was published earlier this week, from Jon Sparkes, chief executive of Crisis:
Thanks @FayeGreavesCIH & @CIHhousing - great work! What are we doing as a society if our housing system turns people away as too risky? Where are they expected to go? Surely we all want a society where people are supported when they need support and housed when they need housing? t.co/1o7ObaMpsy
— Jon Sparkes (@jon_sparkes)Thanks @FayeGreavesCIH & @CIHhousing - great work! What are we doing as a society if our housing system turns people away as too risky? Where are they expected to go? Surely we all want a society where people are supported when they need support and housed when they need housing? https://t.co/1o7ObaMpsy
— Jon Sparkes (@jon_sparkes) September 18, 2019
What’s on
- It’s Scottish Housing Day – here’s everything that Inside Housing is doing to cover the event, you can also follow all the day’s activities via the Twitter hashtag #ScottishHousingDay
Inside Housing on #ScottishHousingDay
Inside Housing is hosting Q&As with key figures for Scottish Housing Day.
To get involved, tweet your questions using the hashtags #IHchat and #ScottishHousingDay at the following times:
9.30am: Jim Strang, president, Chartered Institute of Housing
10.30am: Lisa Borthwick, senior campaigns and policy manager, Shelter Scotland
2pm: Kevin Stewart, minister for local government, housing and planning, Scottish government
More articles on Scottish Housing Day:
Making the case for housing as a human right on Scottish Housing Day – Callum Chomczuk stresses the importance of resources and a clear vision to incorporate the right to housing into domestic legislation
Mixing the traditional with the new to improve engagement – Lesley Baird argues that social landlords can no longer rely on traditional methods when looking at tenant engagement
Scottish sector calls for housing to be recognised as a human right – Details of the report by several Scottish housing bodies
Associations must support the Scottish government in seeking to improve housing rights – Housing has for too long been considered secondary to health and education, and it is time for it to be recognised as a human right, argues Gordon Brown
