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Morning Briefing: poor housing ‘harming school pupils’
Concerns grow about the impact of insecure housing on education and Amber Rudd admits to the link between increased food banks use and Universal Credit
In the news
Tes (formerly known as the Times Educational Supplement) has an exclusive report about concerns from teaching experts that poor housing is damaging school pupils’ prospects.
The report quotes Emma Bradshaw, head of The Limes College pupil referral unit in Sutton, who says that more than half of her pupils have housing problems. It also quotes Paul Noblet, of homelessness charity Centrepoint, who believes there is “a correlation of people struggling with mental health because of what’s happening at home and the lowering of educational attainment”.
The HuffPost last night reported that the London Fire Brigade is calling for sprinklers to be installed in all new housing blocks after finding that only two out of 15 new blocks completed since 2016 have had them installed. Inside Housing covered the same story yesterday.
Our Never Again campaign calls for the retrofitting of sprinklers in all tower blocks across the UK.
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Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd has admitted that increased use of food banks is partly down to problems with Universal Credit.
In what food bank operator the Trussell Trust has described as a “promising acknowledgement”, Ms Rudd said the main issue leading to increased food bank use “could have been the fact that people had difficulty accessing their money early enough”. The story has been covered by several media outlets, including the BBC.
Also on Universal Credit, the HuffPost has obtained data using Freedom of Information Act laws showing that nearly half a million people needed help to apply for their benefits online under the new system.
The government has rejected calls from MPs to ease sanctions under the scheme, The Independent has reported.
The UK Human Rights Blog, which is run by a barristers’ chambers, has covered the case of a High Court ruling involving Jewish BME association Agudas Israel Housing Association. The blog headline says that the ruling means “housing associations can discriminate on religious grounds”. You can read our news story about the case here, as well as legal comment on the ramifications for the social housing sector.
In other housing news, the Belfast Telegraph reports on a £40m deal between Queens Cross Housing Association and Legal & General Investments, which will enable plans to build 600 homes.
Specialist housing association Women’s Pioneer Housing has selected Hub and Bridges Fund Management for an £80m site redevelopment, reports trade title Construction News.
“Leaky” new build homes are putting £200 per year on households’ energy bills, reports website Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit.
The amount of rent paid by people in Great Britain last year fell £1.9bn year-on-year, according to research by Hamptons. The estate agency says the drop was due to fewer people renting.
On social media
Mark Pearson, interim chief executive at Leeds & Yorkshire Housing Association, responds to Amber Rudd’s comments on food banks:
I have no words really other than to say this has to be unacceptable. #UniversalCredit #ukhousing t.co/xG4WGz7r6V
— Mark Pearson (@lyha_MarkP)I have no words really other than to say this has to be unacceptable. #UniversalCredit #ukhousing https://t.co/xG4WGz7r6V
— Mark Pearson (@lyha_MarkP) February 11, 2019
What’s on
- The National Housing Federation is hosting a webinar for board members on place-based leadership between 3pm and 4pm
