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NHF publishes briefing to sector on coronavirus response
The National Housing Federation (NHF) has outlined top priorities for housing associations to consider and a number of key asks of the government in a new briefing note aimed at helping the sector through the coronavirus outbreak.
The briefing from the housing body, which represents nearly 800 associations across the country, outlines the key things organisations should be focusing on throughout the outbreak. The four main priorities are:
- Keeping residents safe: ensure critical safety functions can continue
- Protecting resident incomes and livelihoods: halt evictions for anyone with rent arrears caused by the crisis and put in place extensive support for everyone affected
- Sustaining critical services: ensure care and support schemes continue to run and protect the most vulnerable and ease pressure on the NHS
- Supporting communities and recovery: come together to address the crisis, and help suppliers and contractors to continue their important work
The NHF said that help from the government is essential to ensuring that associations could maintain these priorities.
To read the full briefing note click here
The body said that while it welcomed the steps taken so far by the government to support businesses during the coronavirus outbreak, it said it is working with the government on a number of other crucial issues.
These include ensuring the benefits system supports everyone affected by the crisis and ensuring that care and support facilities can stay open and staff have access to effective personal protective equipment.
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The organisation also said it is seeking urgent clarity that ensured certain housing association workers were deemed as key workers by the government.
The NHF urged the government to designate those in charge of critical safety functions as key workers.
It believes that waking watch staff and workers that carry out emergency repairs and fire safety work should be put on the key workers list to allow them to continue to carry out their roles.
It also called for support to make “risk-based decisions” on how to protect both residents and staff when planning statutory checks or emergency repairs when a resident is self isolating.
To protect incomes, the NHF called on the government to “make changes to the administration of Universal Credit – to help speed up the process, protect residents, and free up housing association staff time to concentrate on helping residents”.
A “large-scale publicity campaign” is also needed to make sure people claim what they are entitled to as soon as possible, the organisation said.
To sustain critical services, the NHF urged the government to provide grant funding to enable housing associations to buy new or existing market homes and convert them into social rent for homeless families living in temporary accommodation.
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