ROOF Blog

A strategy to avoid people becoming homeless by providing earlier intervention has been unveiled by the Welsh Assembly. The 10-year homelessness plan will change the way housing services are delivered so they can respond faster to people in need – to stop them from losing their homes and for those who do find themselves homeless for access to improved accommodation and other services.

Economic gains in deprived parts of Wales in the past 10 years have been wiped out by the recession, and worse is still to come. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and New Policy Institute found that, compared with other parts of the UK, economic recovery since 1997 was slower to kick in and markedly weaker, with the danger of further deterioration as the recession continues. Unemployment stood at 6 per cent, but increased to 16 per cent among the 16- to 24-year-olds.

The ability of the Welsh assembly government to formulate housing policy has been hampered by its lack of lawmaking powers, housing expert Professor Steve Wilcox has said. He said the ‘convoluted’ nature of devolution in Wales made it harder for the assembly to bring in new housing policy as it can take years to get permission from Westminster to legislate in specific areas. He added that given the impact of the recession it was ‘extremely unlikely’ Wales would reach its target on social housing.

England is receiving a disproportionately high number of immigrants to the UK a cross party group of MPs has found. Between 1991 and 2007, 2.15 million immigrants arrived in England, compared to 105,000 in Scotland, 56,000 for Wales and 27,000 to Northern Ireland. England’s population could increase by nearly 10 million people in the next 20 years, of which seven million will be immigrants.

A council has come to the aid of people threatened with homelessness after Shelter Cymru was forced to withdraw some of its advice services because of a funding shortfall.  Caerphilly council has increased its funding for frontline services saying it believed the funding boost was a wise move that would save the council money in the longer term. Shelter Cymru helped 265 households at risk of homelessness in the area last year, of which 73 per cent were able to stay in the homes, with a further 8 per cent being helped to find alternatives.

Meanwhile, Wales has become the first part of the UK to enforce a national standard for sustainable buildings using the planning system. Housing developers will have to meet the code for sustainable homes level 3 in an attempt to cut carbon emissions and improve green standards of all new buildings.

Figures from Communities and Local Government show the annual rate of decline in house prices hit 12.3 per cent in the three months to February. The December to February quarter saw a fall of 4.8 per cent, compared with the previous quarter’s decline of 4.3 per cent. The drop was most pronounced in Northern Ireland where values tumbled 19.4 per cent over the year; Wales also saw a big drop of 12.5 per cent; England faced an average price decline of 12.4 per cent; and Scotland down by 8.6 per cent. It was the sixteenth month in a row that the annual house price rate had worsened.

A veto for the secretary of state for Wales over new housing laws may be illegal. The Welsh assembly government is seeking the right to legislate on housing, including the right to suspend the sale of council houses, through the legislative competence order. However, there is ‘constitutional doubt’ about the legality of such a veto in the Government of Wales Act.

Welsh council house tenants are subsidising social housing in England, Welsh Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Peter Black has claimed. He launched the attack on the ‘convoluted’ arrangements which sees all but one Welsh local authority which owns council houses return rental receipts to the Treasury. He argues that changes to the housing revenue subsidy system needs reforming, as £94 million of the £194 million returned to the Treasury came from Wales, including £12.7 million by Cardiff council and £11.2 million from Wrexham. Hackney in London received more than £48 million and Manchester £34 million. It is estimated that £3 billion is still needed to bring social housing stock up to the Welsh housing quality standard.

More research has calculated that the average UK homes is losing value at a rate of £:100 a day, and more than £1 trillion has been wiped off the housing market in the past year. Zoopla estimated that homes in England and losing £110, in Wales they are losing £64 a day and Scotland has the slowest rate of decline, depreciating at £42 a day.