ROOF Blog archive

MORTGAGE REPOSSESSIONS rose by 65% last year with 17,000 losing their homes, according to new figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) this morning.

Although, it says the rate of increase slowed slightly in the second half, the CML is predicting further rises to 19,000 in 2007 and 20,000 as interest rate rises bite.

A Repossession Risk Review, also published today, shows that London has seen the biggest increase in possession actions.

THE NATIONAL HOMELESSNESS STRATEGY in Wales is helping to prevent homelessness but there is no room for complacency, a report by the Welsh auditor general said yesterday.

The strategy was launched in in November 2005 following a surge in homelessness in the previous three years and has a clear emphasis on prevention. The number of households accepted as unintentionally homeless fell sharply from 2,600 in September 2004 to 1,900 in June 2006 and the reduction in homlessness among 16- and 17-year olds was particularly marked.

However, homelessness rose again in the first half of 2006 and the reports says it is unclear why this happened. It also notes that not everyone who is homeless is applying for help: 1,215 families were evicted from social housing (mostly for rent arrears) in 2004/05 yet only 253 households were recorded as homeless in the statistics because they had lost their previous property because of rent arrears.

The report recommends a series of measures to improve the measurement of homelessness, make better use of affordable accommodation and raise awareness of the sttategy. It also notes that a series of areas such as housing benefit are outside the responsibility of the Welsh Assembly government.

Useful contacts related to articles in the latest edition of ROOF (Jan/Feb 2007).

Compulsory purchase orders

• Compulsory purchase act 2004
• Guidance to planning authorities from the DCLG
• Help for people faced with a CPO in Scotland

Supporting People

• Official government Supporting People website, including a directory of services
• Scottish Executive equivalent
• More articles on Supporting People in the ROOF archive
• An evaluation of the programme in Scotland
• Who is entitled? Advice from Shelter

Housing benefit reforms

• The government’s reform agenda
• More information about welfare reform policy
• Advice on housing benefit

Decent homes

• An overview of the English House Condition Survey
• More information and guidance on decent homes
• Research Evidence: “Monitoring the delivery of decent homes by local authorities: A scoping study”
• Best of homes, worst of homes: Details of the campaign set up by Paddy Hill to help other victims of miscarriages of justice can be found at www.mojoscotland.com

A NEW AGENCY, Communities England, will take over the work of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and many government housing functions, communities secretary Ruth Kelly announced this morning.

The widely-trailed decision follows a review launched in April 2006 by the Department of Communities and Local Government aimed at devising a delivery mechanism to make the best use of public and private investment. This was extended in July to cover the department’s own housing functions. Its work on decent homes, housing market renewal, housing PFI and housing growth areas will transfer to the new agency.

The new agency will clearly be of crucial importance across a whole range of housing issues. It is not immediately clear what the new set-up will be, although a strong pointer is that the team planning it will be led by English Partnerships chair Baroness Ford. She said:

‘My board and senior colleagues are delighted by the outcome of the housing and regeneration review. We have consistently supported the creation of a single, new agency and a streamlined supply chain and we look forward to playing our part in creating that new agency.’

Does that mean housing will play second fiddle to regneration? Not according to Housing Corporation chair Peter Dixon:

‘The new agency will bring the strengths of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and the Department together to form a single agency dedicated to creating places that people choose to live and stay in. We look forward to working with new colleagues, building on past successes to create a body which can deliver even more to communities and the country as a whole.’

The two organisations will continue as normal during the transition period. Go here and here for the press releases from the two organisations.

Separate reviews of the regulation of affordable housing by Martin Cave and of social housing by John Hills are due to report soon.

The creation of Communities England was welcomed by the Chartered Institute of Housing, which had called for a single agency in its submission to the review. and Local Government Association.

The Local Government Association took the chance to make a pointed call for more devolution. Councils, as we all know, are meant to play a strategic role, but its chairman Sandy Bruce-Lockhart said:

‘The government must make sure that Communities England operates at a genuinely national strategic level, giving council-led local partnerships the power to deliver real regeneration and growth in our communities.’

FRESH CONFIRMATION of the squeeze on first-time buyers comes in new figures from the CML today.

The average first-time buyer borrowed a record 3.29 times their income to buy a home in November and the average advance is now almost £114,000. Meanwhile, interest payments now make up 17.8% of their income, the highest proportion since 1992. The figures are especially worrying when you consider that these are the people who actually succeeded in buying, that many of them still had to rely on help from their families and that interest rates increased in November and again this month.

Last week the RICS reported that the up-front costs of buying a home – the deposit and stamp duty – now account for 82% of the annual take-home pay of the average first-time buyer household. This prompted it to brand government plans to create an inclusive society as ‘a pipe dream’.

COUNCILLORS IN CRAWLEY have voted to cancel a stock transfer ballot after opinion surveys showed overwhelming opposition among tenants.

The decision follows a row over the true costs of upgrading the council’s 8,500 homes and the defection of a Conservative councillor to the Liberal Democrats over the issue. The ballot had been due in the Spring.

PROPOSED REFORMS to legal aid came under fire from all sides of the Commons in a Westminister Hall debate yesterday.

According to Citizens Advice, the changes will deny thousands of vulnerable people access to help. Its main complaint is a new system of paying advice agencies a fixed amount for each case they handle. That could mean solicitors cherry-picking the easiest cases and leaving agencies to pick up the more complex ones, such as housing possession cases. During the debate Dominic Grieve (Con) attacked the Department for Constitutional Affairs as being ‘one of the very big losers’ in the spending round while Sally Keeble (Lab) raised housing as a particular area for concern and several Labour backbenchers and Simon Hughes (Lib Dem) raised the issue of high costs in London.

The central issue was raised by Karen Buck (Lab):

‘Our core point—certainly for those on the Labour Benches—is that the 40 per cent. of cases that do not generate more income will be disproportionately concentrated in areas where providers deal with the most vulnerable people and the most complex cases. Sadly, we have not yet heard any convincing evidence to lead us to believe otherwise.’

TODAY’s INTEREST rate rise has taken just about everyone by surprise. A 0.25% rise had been expected, but not until February, and analysts including the CML are now predicting another increase to 5.5% later this year. Each 0.25% rise adds about £15 a month to the cost of a £100,000 repayment mortgage, adding to the steady increase of consumer debt.

RHONA BRANKIN was appointed yesterday as the new communities minister in Scotland. The Midlothian MSP replaces Malcolm Chisholm, who resigned just before Christmas after voting against the replacement of Trident in the Scottish parliament.

NEW POWERS for tenant management organisations to take out anti-social behaviour orders and new funding [customary caveats about whether it really is] for arm’s length management organisations were served up alongside the tea and toast at a Downing Street breakfast summit for housing stakeholders this morning.

Go here for the No 10 briefing and here for the DCLG press release.