ROOF Blog

Crisis has warned of a surge in homelessness in the new year, as people struggle to keep up rent or mortgage payments. Of those questioned in a survey, 32.4 per cent said they would lose their home within three months of losing their main income. The YouGov poll found that 28 per cent of people in the lower income groups said they were worried they could lose their home, compared with 21 per cent of people in higher income groups.

The government’s spending watchdog the Audit Commission warned that the recession and rising unemployment will cause a wave of social problems in the coming year. The commission found the recession is already causing more homelessness in one-third of local authorities, while two-thirds predict the problem to worsen next year. The report said that the slowdown in house building, due to a cut in local authorities’ funding, had reduced the amount of new social housing and therefore the number of social properties available to let. Two-thirds of councils have reported an increase in applications for housing and other benefits.

Rents have fallen even faster than house prices in central London since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, an estate agent survey has found. Rents are down, on average, 10.6 per cent since September, compared with 8.9 per cent for sales. In ‘cold-spots’ such as Kensington and Chelsea they are down by as much as 15 to 20 per cent, as thousands of sellers, unable to find buyers, are becoming ‘forced landlords’. Last month, the estate agent, Douglas & Gordon, saw a 22 per cent increase in the number of homes offered to let.

Twice as many people are losing their homes due to evictions by social landlords than mortgage repossessions, Shelter Scotland has warned. It found that 13.1 out of every thousand social housing tenants had an evictions decree granted against them, mostly for rent arrears. The rate for homeowners was 6.8 per thousand. The body representing councils, Cosla, disputed the figures, arguing that the number of tenants taken to court and the numbers of tenants councils had evicted was only half the level Shelter Scotland found. Shelter Scotland called on the Scottish government to offer protection to tenants comparable to that developed for homeowners.

Home ownership, or the belief that it is the only ‘done thing’ to own your own home, ignores the reality that many people can’t afford to buy a home and has pushed millions into unnecessary debt according to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA). The housing market would be better served by increasing the number of properties for rent, and the housing market and construction industry would be better served by the government encouraging private sector landlords, instead of making life ‘so difficult for them’, RLA argues.

The government has announced it is to commission a major study into housing need to determine whether people want to rent, buy or are interested in shared ownership. The findings will play a major part on the government’s affordable housing goals, according to the housing minister who was giving evidence at a Communities and Local Government select committee into housing and the credit crunch. She said her impression was that there was strong demand for home ownership, including shared equity schemes, and added that she expects housing associations to build the majority of affordable homes, despite moves to encourage council building.

Disposable income has dropped ‘abruptly’ for more than two-thirds of British households, while the number of people struggling to pay their rent or mortgage is at the highest level for 13 years. A report published by the Bank of England shows that an increase in the cost of food, energy and home loans meant that one in three households saw a decrease in their disposable income of £100 or more each month, while 13 per cent of households, up from 9 per cent in 2007, had difficulty in meeting their household costs. And around 16 per cent of households, up from 12 per cent in 2007, said they had cut back on spending because of concerns about accessing credit.

London’s most run down housing estates are set to receive more than £100 million of funding. Around £77 million in funding has been promised to kick start a programme of estate and area regeneration that’s currently ‘stalled’ by the credit crisis, while a further £55 million will be invested to reduce homelessness, provide larger family homes and to maintain and improve social rented homes. The funding is part of the London mayor’s housing strategy but comes from the Homes and Communities Agency’s affordable housing budget.

A housing association has shocked residents by sending a Christmas card which read: ‘Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way, please make sure your pay your rent, so in your home you’ll stay’. The cards have been sent to around 650 homes in the South West, and a resident said that while they may look like Christmas cards, most people see it more as a veiled threat. The manager of the housing association said it was simply to remind people that rent is an important payment.

Nearly three-quarters of landlords are bracing themselves for an increase in the number of tenants falling behind in their rent according to the National Landlords’ Association (NLA). Most landlords thought that rent arrears will increase next year as the economic situation worsens and unemployment rises, and just over a third said they were already experiencing payment difficulties with tenants.