ROOF Blog

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.

Shelter has launched new research showing how the lack of affordable homes in Britain is forcing couples who have split to remain living together. In our survey, nearly a quarter of people – the equivalent of 9.9 million adults - said they or someone they know have had to stay living with their partner because they cannot afford to live on their own. The figures come from new research undertaken by the charity to examine the way unaffordable housing is changing the way we live. Kay Boycott, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter said: ‘As a nation we have accepted the way housing costs have risen hugely over the last few years, but are we ready to accept the human cost this brings?’

Housebuilders and construction workers have begun a campaign to fight off a new tax crackdown on the building trade, which the industry claims will stifle the sector’s recovery and make it difficult to hit government housing targets.

The Home Builders Federation and the Federation of Master Builders will launch its Stop the Unfair Building Tax campaign today to try to persuade the government to rethink proposals that the industry says will push more workers into the black market.

The Government wants to stamp out false self-employed status in the building industry, which it says costs the Exchequer £350 million a year.

It proposes to collect tax and national insurance contributions from an estimated 300,000 workers who claim self-employed status.

Workers will be deemed employees unless they supply their own materials and equipment, or other people’s labour as well as their own.

Crisis, the charity for homeless people, is launching a campaign to resist unpopular plans by the government to ask housing benefit claimants to pay back up to £15 a week they are allowed to keep if they negotiate cheap housing deals.

The Department for Work and Pensions had planned to end this after calculations showed it could bring in £160m.

For some of the least well-off, the change could amount to £15 a week, reducing by a fifth the cash in hand of someone receiving jobseeker’s allowance of £69 and leave some of the poorest families across the country some £780 worse off over the year.

Leslie Morphy, Crisis chief executive, called on the government to reconsider, saying: ‘This proposal would have a grave impact on some of the poorest households.

‘It’s not even likely to make the savings the government hopes, because claimants will no longer have an incentive to seek cheaper properties and landlords may simply raise rents to meet the maximum local authority level.

‘For people who are already struggling to make ends meet, losing a huge chunk of their income will make it even harder to get by and we are worried that this could lead to an increase in debt, rent arrears and homelessness.’

The national homelessness charity Emmaus is marking the 60th anniversary of the Emmaus Movement by launching a campaign designed to allow the stories of homeless people to be heard. A newly launched website is asking people to tell their stories of significant moments in their lives and to add their voices to the stories already posted by the residents of Emmaus Communities. Contributors will receive a story in return and will play an important part in helping to make people who are often ignored to have a voice. The site has already attracted some high profile contributors such as Cherie Blair, Terry Waite and Fern Britton.