Archives for January 2007
Housing conditions on the rise
Overall conditions of housing in the UK have improved over the last 11 years, according to research published today.
The English House Condition Headline Report found the number of homes deemed non-decent dropped from 9.1 million to 6 million. The figures represent a fall from 45 per cent of houses in the UK failing to meet the standards to just 27 per cent.
Differences between the private and public sectors has also decreased and are now almost equal, with 29 and 27 per cent respectively being classed as non-decent.
The report also found that housing conditions in the most deprived areas of the country have also improved since 1996, with the number of non-decent houses reducing by 680,000.
Under government regulations, a house must meet certain criteria to be considered ‘decent.’ It must be in a reasonable state of repair, have modern facilities, have adequate levels of insulation and an effective heating system.
The results are based on fieldwork carried out between April 2004 and March 2006.
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New team to tackle homelessness in London
Communities and Local Government and the Housing Corporation have announced the formation of a new action team to tackle homelessness in London.
Working alongside local authorities and housing associations in the capital, the team will be based at the London Field Office of the Housing Corporation and formed of hand-picked senior level secondees from local organisations.
Key appointments have already been made and recruitment is well underway, the government reports.
Responsible for preventing homelessness in London, the team will work with borough authorities, promoting good practice and extending the current work of Communities and Local Government.
“This joint venture between us and the Housing Corporation will cement the relationships between local authorities and housing associations and will step up the support available to help families out of temporary accommodation in the capital,” said housing minister Yvette Cooper.
“But ultimately we need to build more homes,” she added. “That is why we have changed the planning rules to make clear we need more new family homes in London and across the country.”
More than 60,000 households in the capital live in temporary accommodation, according to recent figures.
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“Excellent” Carrick Housing praised by public watchdog
Cornwall’s Carrick Housing has been adjudged by the Audit Commission to provide “excellent” housing services, with “promising prospects for improvement”.
The company responsible for a proportion of Carrick District Council’s tenants was awarded three stars out of a possible three by Britain’s independent public services watchdog.
Services provided by Carrick Housing were found to be innovative, involving and consumer-focused, with high standards of delivery.
“Since our last inspection, Carrick Housing Limited has been able to do what many organisations find difficult,” said Kieran Colgan, leading housing inspector for the south-west at the Audit Commission.
“It has continued to deliver high-quality day-to-day services to tenants while also delivering continuous improvements by being innovative and by taking opportunities to develop services for the future.
“It is this approach that others should try to copy,” he added.
Elsewhere, the Audit Commission recognised the vast improvements made by South Liverpool Housing Group since its last inspection in mid-2004 and the “good” strategic housing services proffered by Stratford-on-Avon District Council.
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Manchester ALMO to receive £47m
Northwards Housing will have access to £47 million to repair and improve its homes in Manchester, after receiving a glowing assessment from an independent watchdog.
An arms-length management organisation for the north-west of England, Northwards was found by the Audit Commission to provide ‘good’ housing services, with ‘excellent’ scope for future improvement.
The commission noted that the management is particularly strong at tackling anti-social behaviour on its estates, though there is still work to be done on its repairs performance.
“Northwards has made significant improvements since taking on the management of the housing from the council in December 2005,” said Yvonne Davies, head of housing at the Audit Commission.
“A dynamic and skilled team is in place with energy and ideas to take the service forward. We think prospects for further improvement are excellent,” she added.
The commission reports that estates under Northwards’ management are clean and well-maintained; there is good gas servicing; a customers-focussed repairs and lettings service; a city-wide approach to housing – with developed and effective schemes to involve residents.
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Residents handed new housing powers
Resident groups on council estates across England are to be given new power to prevent anti-social behaviour, according to a report published by the government today.
As well as introducing new regulations giving resident organisations the power to apply for Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), the government has also pledged to invest £485 million to regenerate run-down estates.
It is hoped that the new powers will give residents a greater say in how their estates are run and support them in ensuring that anti-social behaviour is swiftly dealt with.
Prime minister Tony Blair spoke of his belief in the new regulations: “No-one knows better how to transform a community than the people that live there. Nothing undermines a sense of community more than the kind of disruptive and aggressive actions that we associate with anti-social behaviour.
Mr Blair also went on to say that local people are increasingly playing a “bigger role” in the decisions that affect them and the areas where they live.
However, perhaps more worryingly for the government, a recent poll conducted by MTV found that nearly a third of young people asked, viewed ASBOs as a badge of honour.
Offenders face a maximum of five years imprisonment if an ABSO is breached.
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Warrington housing scheme rated “promising”
Housing support for the vulnerable residents of Warrington offers “promising” prospects for the future, but is currently only “fair”, according to the Audit Commission.
An independent report by the organisation, in cooperation with Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation and Commission for Social Care Inspection, adjudged that recent steps taken by Warrington Council were worthy of a one-star “fair” rating.
The groups were focusing on the delivery of the local Supporting People scheme, which is expected to cost £7.7 million.
“Warrington is making fair progress in its delivery of the Supporting People programme,” said Paul Clarke, lead housing inspector at the Audit Commission.
“The council has completed an effective review of services, identifying improvements to raise the standard of services. It has also implemented a framework to scrutinise costs and eligibility, resulting in savings which have been reinvested in additional services to extend the capacity of the programme,” he continued.
In order to make further progress, leaders of the scheme will need to assess the outcomes of the programme, upgrade IT services, make arrangements to include more carers and encourage each of its stakeholders to attend governance meetings, commissioners concluded.
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DCLG: Average home value nears £200,000
The average home in Britain was worth £199,467 at the end of November last year, according to official statistics.
In the 12 months preceding November, home values in the UK had accelerated in value by 8.9 per cent, up from 8.6 per cent in October, the latest figures from the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) reveal.
In the capital, homes had accelerated in value by 10.1 per cent by the end of November, compared to the corresponding month in 2006.
The largest rises were experienced in Northern Ireland, where the average property accelerated in value by 36.6 per cent in the 12 months to November.
Annually, properties bought by previous homeowners continued to increase in value faster than those sought by first-time buyers. Nevertheless, prospective property owners face worse affordability conditions than ever before.
Figures from Halifax published today also indicate that the total housing stock in the UK is now worth £3.8 trillion, having increased by more than £400 billion in 2006.
Yet despite housing market accessibility concerns and the recent shock interest rise from the Bank of England, the ratio of housing stock value to mortgage balances is considerably more favourable than ten years ago.
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English Partnerships and Housing Corporation to merge
English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation will merge to form a new agency set with the task of delivering affordable new homes in sustainable communities, the government has announced.
Communities England will also encompass some of the roles currently undertaken by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), including housing standards regulation, housing market renewal, urban regeneration and housing growth.
The decision to form the new agency is a response to the Housing and Regeneration Review launched in April last year, which concluded that English Partnerships and the Housing Corporation would work more efficiency if their functions were combined.
“With the expectation of over £4 billion of public spending at its disposal, Communities England will pioneer innovative and more efficient ways of working with our key partners in the public, private and voluntary sector to get better outcomes from public investment in places,” said communities secretary Ruth Kelly.
“Central to meeting its challenge the agency will not only ensure greater value for money but also guarantee the very highest standards of quality, design, energy efficiency and sustainability.”
This would allow the DCLG to focus on “strategic policy making”, she added.
Commenting on the decision, Housing Corporation chair Peter Dixon said: “The new agency will bring the strengths of the Housing Corporation, English Partnerships and the DCLG together to form a single agency dedicated to creating places that people choose to live and stay in.”
Mark Thomas, head of policy at homelessness charity Shelter, expressed his hope that Communities England would persevere in the work of the Housing Corporation by focusing on “the delivery of social rented housing”.
“We want to see an additional 20,000 social rented homes per year on top of the existing level of commitment for 2008,” from the Comprehensive Spending Review, he said.
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Homeless dog owners neglected by housing policies
Animal charity Dogs Trust has highlighted the plight of homeless dog owners unable to receive emergency accommodation because of their devotion to their canine friends.
Three in four day centres, outreach projects and hostels in the UK turn away those with dogs, the welfare group has found, leaving destitute dog owners with little choice but to continue walking the streets.
Dogs Trust points out that pets help the homeless overcome their hardships, providing them with comfort and companionship. By prohibiting animals, many charitable organisations are simply leaving dog owners with a terrible choice, according to Dogs Trust veterinary director Chris Laurence.
“The reality is that many of these dog owners will choose the love and companionship of their dog over their own needs,” he said.
And the organisation is now trying to convince housing providers to change their pet policies, with a new booklet entitled Welcoming Dogs.
Should more organisations and shelters do so, then more homeless people will have access to help and guidance, campaigners believe.
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Tories outline affordable housing plan
The Conservative Party is planning to create a network of community land trusts in a bid to supply more affordable housing.
Under the system, land would be acquired from either private landowners or local authorities – with their permission – for use by designated trusts for the benefit of the whole community.
And measures could be introduced to make trust acquisition more appealing, according to solicitor Catherine Hand, who told BBC Radio Four’s ‘The World at One’ that interest in the scheme was growing.
“The idea is to ensure that as land values rise, the trust benefits from that and it can access that land value in various ways for the benefit of the local community rather than for individual,” she explained.
“It’s still a very unusual idea in this country; interest in it has been growing,” she continued.
The Tory proposal, purportedly borrowed in part from the ideas of Martin Luther King and 17th century radicals the Levellers, has been received with consternation by the House Builders Federation.
Speaking on behalf of the federation, John Slaughter said: “If it doesn’t actually enable more land to come forward, then it could just increase competition for an already scarce resource.”
He went on to query both the management of the process, questioning the way in which acquisition prices would be decided.
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