ROOF Blog

Housing Minister John Healey and the Local Government Association (LGA) today announced they are launching joint work to look at how councils can deliver new homes to tackle the shortage of affordable housing and help drive economic growth. A new Commission chaired by Lord Richard Best and made up of council chief executives, housing association chief executives and academics, will assess what councils are already achieving and advise on ways councils could play an even greater part helping to build the homes of all types the country needs, as well as extending their strategic housing role to better meet local needs and aspirations. The Commission will report to Government and the LGA in summer 2010.

Thousands of council tenants who make profits by illegally subletting their homes will face tough new measures to be announced by ministers this week. Subletting fraud is a civil offence punishable by a modest fine and the loss of tenancy. But John Housing Minister John Healey intends to make it a criminal offence so that the courts can recover the profits made. Those convicted could also face larger fines and prison sentences. Mr Healey estimates that up to 200,000 council tenants nationwide are illegally subletting their homes with many fraudulently claiming housing benefit at the same time, costing taxpayers tens of millions of pounds. He said that uncovering illegal subletting could free up at least 20,000 council homes if 10% of unlawful tenants were removed.

Councils will be allowed to keep their rents and the proceeds from the sale of homes under an overhaul of local authority financing that reverses reforms from the Thatcher era. Along with borrowing freedoms that were recently introduced, this could lead to up to 10,000 extra council houses being built every year and mean 10 per cent more money a year for maintaining and managing Britain’s 1.8m remaining council homes, which are occupied by 4m people, the government said yesterday. Housing minister John Healey said the move amounted to a ‘once in a generation chance of change’ that should be welcomed by councils. Under the plans, the ‘housing revenue account’ system will be dismantled in 177 local authority areas. This would end the current system, whereby income from council housing goes into a central pot, not all of which is returned to local authorities.

98% of local authorities in England are failing to deliver enough affordable homes to meet need, a new website launched by Shelter has found. Shelter’s Housing League Table, launched today, found that only 8 of 323 councils in England are providing enough or more affordable homes than are needed, meaning a 98 per cent local authority failure rate. Local authorities are responsible for identifying the housing need in their area and for ensuring enough affordable homes are provided to meet this need. However, Shelter league tables also show that in the last year a total of 90 per cent of councils (292) provided fewer than half the homes they say are needed.

John Healey has published the Government’s response to the Mayor of London’s plans for affordable housing in the capital. He warns that the housing strategy will not sufficiently address the capital’s needs, and outlines areas of particular concern, including plans to reduce the number of new social rented homes provided by councils and housing associations by an equivalent 2,755 homes a year compared to current plans.

Councils are considering plans to reduce their spending including by cutting up to 170,000 public sector jobs in anticipation of a dramatic downturn in their budgets. Dame Margaret Eaton, chair of the Local Government Association, said that local authorities were being hit by a ‘perfect storm’ in the recession with increased pressure on their services and a squeeze on their budgets. Privately, councils are looking at how to slash their budgets by 15% over the next three years, using projections on the cuts necessary to reduce the £178m public deficit drawn-up by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Local authorities should not adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach when granting planning permission for housing, and should move away from the approach to planning policy that led to large-scale construction of high-density flats on urban brownfield land, according to a report from the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU), a quango set up to advise government on housing policy. The NHPAU looked at the development of housing in a variety of densities and locations and concluded that while high-density housing was sometimes the most valuable, it often was not.

The average cost of Band D council tax bills in England for 2010/11 is set to increase by the lowest percentage since the tax was introduced in 1993. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) and local authorities predict rises of below 2%. A CIPFA survey suggests the average bill will be about £1,438.72.  CIPFA head of policy Ian Carruthers said although politicians had listened to calls to ‘avoid large increases’, financial pressures meant councils might still have to cut certain services.

The Conservative party has finally published its long awaited planning green paper which includes proposing the scrapping of centrally-set housing targets and replacing them with a system of financial incentives for local councils to build. As expected, the green paper also includes introducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development at the base of the system, whilst giving neighbours the right to force the council to review a planning application. However the Tories said they will limit the right of residents or developers to appeal planning decisions once the decision has been taken, and will replace the planned introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy with a ‘tariff’.

Councils will struggle to cope with the financial challenge posed by England’s ageing population and may miss opportunities to innovate and save, says a new report from the Audit Commission. ‘Under Pressure’ says most councils do not know enough about the costs of their ageing population. They may also miss the savings that could flow from preventive services and better work with other organisations. Michael O’Higgins, Chairman of the Audit Commission, said: ‘Most older people live at home, not in care homes. And the longer they do, the happier they are and the less they cost the taxpayer. Innovative, personalised services mean older people stay independent longer, saving public money.’