Topic
/ Announcement / Date/ Source /Housing & Welfare Reform /
Million households seek one bedroom homes
Nearly a million households on housing waiting lists require one bedroom homes, according to government figures. Demand for smaller properties is likely to soar from April, as social tenants look to downsize to avoid the impact of the government’s ‘bedroom tax’ for under-occupation.However, figures published by the Communities and Local Government department last month show there is already huge pressure on the limited number of smaller homes in the social housing sector. Of the 1.85 million households on local authority waiting lists, 964,697 are after one-bedroom homes, and 504,533 require two-bedroom homes. Under the bedroom tax working-age social tenants who are receiving housing benefit and underoccupying their homes will have payments cut by 14 per cent if they have one spare room, or 25 per cent if they have two spare rooms. The local authority housing statistics data returns for 2011/12 also show that 740,628 of the households that are on waiting lists are in ‘reasonable preference’ categories for housing. These include being homeless, and living in unsanitary or overcrowded conditions. / 3 January 2013
Inside Housing
Adult Social Care / Time to deliver Dilnot says former care minister
Paul Burstow MP has urged the government to defuse the elderly care "time bomb" by concentrating the winter fuel payment on the poorest pensioners and using the money saved to pay for a cap on care costs.
In a report published by the think tank CentreForum, the former care minister calls for the "appropriate legislative levers" to be inserted into the draft care and support bill so that the Dilnot Commission's proposals on care financing can be delivered in full by the end of this parliament.
The report reveals that under the current care system elderly people who own averagely priced homes (£213,000) face losing 65 per cent of their assets to pay for care. But it is argued that if the government introduced a £50,000 limit on the cost of care, with a £100,000 extended means test, then older people would lose just 22 per cent of their assets. / 3 January 2013
Centre Forum
Topic
/ Announcement / Date/ Source /Enterprise and Growth / Greater Birmingham Pilot Planned for Economic Growth
A project that aims to stimulate economic growth in England is set to be piloted in the West Midlands.
The £49bn national scheme is based on a Lord Heseltine report that recommends power be devolved from central government to the English regions. One of the report's key aims is to help local leaders and businesses by moving billions to a regeneration fund. The Greater Birmingham Project will conduct a three-month review with Lord Heseltine ahead of any pilot. More details are expected to be revealed when the project is officially announced later. / 3 January 2013
BBC
Homelessness / Council Criticised After Failing to Suitably House Victim of Violence
Croydon Council has been criticised for failing to find suitable accommodation for a woman who was violently attacked in her own home. Local Government Ombudsman, Dr Jane Martin, found fault in the way the council dealt with Ms Andrews' (not her real name) homeless application. Ms Andrews and her partner were attacked by three men who broke in to their home wielding knives and a hammer. Ms Andrews' partner was hospitalised as a result of the assault. When Ms Andrews applied for housing for herself and three children, the council only offered her bed and breakfast accommodation. The Ombudsman said: "I am concerned at the way in which frontline staff implemented the council’s policy for the allocation of interim and temporary accommodation in this case in that I have seen no evidence that anything other than B&B accommodation was considered. / 3 January 2013
24 Dash
Housing Market, Development & Planning / Standards Overhaul to Boost House building Communities Minister Don Foster has promised an overhaul of building regulations will provide a boost for house building. Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, the minister said current standards are a ‘perplexing mish mash’ and a review due to report in the spring will simplify the system. In October Mr Foster announced an independent group of experts had been set up to ‘remove unnecessary burdens and bureaucracy imposed on developers’. A separate group has been set up to look specifically at housing standards. / 3 January 2013
Inside Housing
Community Safety/Community Cohesion / Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis Shootings: Ten Years On
The mothers of two girls killed in shootings 10 years ago have called on young people to think carefully about the choices they make and the impact gangs can have on communities. Best friends Letisha Shakespeare, 17, and Charlene Ellis, 18, were the innocent victims of a drive-by shooting in the early hours of 2 January 2003. Charlene's twin sister Sophie, their cousin Cheryl Shaw and friend Leon Harris were also injured. The teenagers died in a hail of machine gun fire as they stood outside a new year party in Aston, Birmingham. Mothers Marcia Shakespeare and Beverley Thomas have campaigned tirelessly over the past decade to try to rid the city of guns and gangs. / 2 January 2013
BBC
Topic
/ Announcement / Date/ Source /Housing Market / Land Registry Reports House Price Growth
House prices in England and Wales went up 0.3 per cent between October and November last year, according to Land Registry figures. The agency’s price index, released today, also shows there was an annual increase in house prices of 0.9 per cent. The average property value in England and Wales is now £161,490. This was in contrast to statistics released by estate agent Knight Frank which show the UK average house price went down by 1 per cent in the last quarter of 2012 compared to the same period the year before. / 2 January 2013
Inside Housing
Housing Development & Planning (Travellers) / Councils Set to Gain Fresh Powers on Traveller Sites
The Government have moved closer to increasing councils’ powers to stop Gypsies and Travellers setting up camp on unauthorised land. Local authorities could be able to move more quickly to stop illegal encampments and impose fines of up to £20,000, which could be increased to an unlimited amount. A seven-week consultation details proposals to give local authorities greater freedom to use ‘temporary stop notices’ on caravans breaching planning control. This would revoke the Town and Country Planning (Temporary Stop Notice) (England) Regulations 2005 (Statutory Instrument 2005/206), which currently restricts councils from using the temporary stop notices when caravans are a main residence. The consultation closes on 17 February 2013 / 2 January 2013
Inside Housing
Social Inclusion/Exclusion / Youth Index 2013: One in Ten Young People feel Unable to Cope with Life
One in ten young people (10 per cent) feel they cannot cope with day-to-day life, warns The Prince's Trust Youth Index. The Index reveals that young people not in employment, education or training (NEETs) are more than twice as likely to feel unable to cope as their peers. The report – based on interviews with 2,136 16-to-25-year-olds – also shows how more than one in five young people (22 per cent) did not have someone to talk to about their problems while they were growing up. / 2 January 2013
Prince’s Trust
Council Tax / The Communities Secretary hailed new rules for 2013 that mean taxpayers can now choose to pay their bill over 12 months rather than 10.
The move will lower average band D council tax instalments by an average of £24 per month for 10 months and helps tax payers manage their finances. Legislation passed by the government means that in 2013 council tax payers can now request to pay their bills over a longer period of time, lowering their monthly bills, and so easing the financial burden. Councils will also be able to publish online the detailed supporting information that until now they have had to supply with council tax bills in hard copies. While residents still have the legal right to request hard-copy documents, the online versions will enable authorities to cut costs, improve efficiencies and help the environment through a decrease in the use of paper. / 1 January 2013
DCLG
Topic
/ Announcement / Date/ Source /Private Rented Sector - Environmental Health & Regulation & / Registration Scheme to Target Rogue Landlords Begins
Newham Council in east London is becoming the first local authority in England to introduce a compulsory system of landlord registration. Owners of privately-rented homes now have to declare criminal convictions and meet health and safety standards - or face a fine of up to £20,000. Scotland already has compulsory landlord licences and Wales is working on its own scheme. Ministers oppose a national system for England. Instead it is up to each council to decide how best to target rogue landlords. / 1 January 2013
BBC
Adult Social Care /
Neglectful Britons Blamed for Forcing Elderly into Care Homes
Britain has become a “neglectful society” where the elderly are driven into care homes unnecessarily because they lack support from their families and communities, the care minister has claimed. Care Services Minister, Norman Lamb toldThe Daily Telegraphthat older people were being let down by their friends and neighbours who should help them to live independently at home.
Local councils needed to help rebuild “neighbourly resilience” to stop pensioners leading dismal, lonely lives, he said, which would also reduce the burden on the state by avoiding the need for as many people to be moved into residential care. Mr Lamb added that the care system would only cope with the pressures of an ageing population if individuals contributed to a “partnership between state and society”. Mr Lamb also confirmed that a government deal to cap spending on care fees will be announced in the coming weeks. The funding deal is likely to limit lifetime spending on care costs at £75,000, and ease means-testing rules.
/ 31 December 2012Telegraph
Homelessness / Practical Help for Rough Sleepers
Housing Minister Mark Prisk has urged anyone wanting to get help for someone sleeping rough to use the new StreetLink hotline and website to ensure they are put in touch with the local agencies offering it.
He argued that while people want to offer help to those facing homelessness, they often don’t know where to turn. But StreetLink, run by charities Homeless Link and Broadway with support from Government, offers a “valuable alternative” to a cash handout for people sleeping rough. Those looking to offer help can call 0300 500 0914 or go to www.streetlink.org.ukto put those facing sleeping rough in touch with local charities and councils who can them get them long-term support and safe accommodation. / 31 December 2012
DCLG
Housing Market, Development & Planning / Councils Use Planning Changes to Cut House Building
Councils have reduced their house building targets by 272,720 homes since the coalition government scrapped regional planning goals, research has found. A report produced by planning consultancy Tetlow King for Think Tank Policy Exchange shows house building could fall to the lowest level since the 1920s without more action to boost the market.
The government announced the abolition of regional house building targets contained in regional spatial strategies in 2010. Local authorities have been given responsibility for setting their own targets to meet local need, but the report shows this has resulted in a sharp drop in the number of homes planned. The report calls for more of the money developers pay in return for planning to be handed to local communities, and for more brownfield sites to be converted into housing. / 28 December
Inside Housing
Community Safety / New Support to Tackle Gang and Youth Violence
An additional £500,000 to help communities confront the problem of youth violence was announced by the Home Office today. The support is targeted at young people at risk of becoming violent offenders and those already involved in gang and knife crime, to encourage them onto a different path. The Home Office also announced today it will expand its Ending Gang and Youth Violence frontline team to cover four more priority areas. The Home Office has already committed £18 million of funding until 2013 to support the police, local agencies and voluntary sector to tackle knife, gun and gang-related violence and prevent youth crime. The funding supports enforcement and prevention, alongside positive activities for young people to bring about long-term changes in attitudes and behaviour. / 27 December 2012
Home Office
Housing Market, Development & Planning / Streamlining Information Requirements for Planning Applications (Consultation Outcome)
The Government has issued its response to the consultation on proposals to reduce information requirements for planning applications. In July 2012 the Government published a consultation paper, Streamlining information requirements for planning applications, which sought views on a number of proposals to encourage a more proportionate approach to the information that applicants are asked to provide with planning applications. This document provides a summary of the responses which were received to each of the broad proposals. / 27 December 2012
DCLG
Homelessness/ Welfare Reform / Hitting Home: Access Schemes and Changes to Local Housing Allowance
New research shows access schemes' ability to help homeless and vulnerably housed people find and sustain tenancies in the private rented sector is being seriously undermined by far-reaching reforms and cuts to Local Housing Allowance (LHA).
/ 24 December
Crisis
Safeguarding / Home Office: Free Portable Criminal Records Checks Announced for Volunteers
A free service will be launched early next year which allows volunteers to re-use criminal records checks. It means that employees and volunteers will no longer have to apply for a new criminal records check each time they apply for a job. Instead they will only have to apply once to the Disclosure and Barring Service (created from the merger of the Criminal Records Bureau and the Independent Safeguarding Authority) for a certificate. They can then go online for an instant check to find out whether their existing certificate is still up to date. This will avoid the need for individuals to apply for multiple checks to work with different organisations and volunteers will be able to use the service for free when they apply for different volunteering opportunities. / 21 December
Home Office
Welfare Reform / Benefit Cap Implementation
The Department for Work and Pensions today confirmed the four London local authorities where the Benefit Cap roll out will start in April. It will be introduced in Bromley, Croydon, Enfield and Haringey and rolled out across the country throughout the summer. The cap will be in place across the whole country by summer 2013. The Benefit Cap will see the amount people can receive in benefits capped at the average earned income after tax and National Insurance for working households of £500 a week for couple and single parent households – the equivalent of £26,000 per year. It will apply to the combined income from JSA, Income Support, Employment and Support Allowance, Child Benefit, Child Tax Credits and other benefits. / 20 December 2012
DWP
Housing Market, Development & Planning / Birmingham Library to be Demolished after Paradise Circus Plan Approved
The £450 million transformation of Birmingham’s Paradise Circus site will create a ‘new beating heart’ for the city centre it has been claimed. Proposals to demolish the 1974 built Birmingham Central Library remove the subterranean roundabout underneath and build new offices, shops and public squares were unanimously backed by the council’s planning committee. It also rejected a last ditch plea to save the Central Library, designed by architect John Madin, and adapt it for modern use. / 20 December
Birmingham Post
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