Archive - November 2000

A DECENT HOME FOR ALL
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The housing green paper advocates quality and choice for all. But can the Government deliver? Andrew Griffiths summaries the CIEH's response.

 

The first comprehensive approach to housing for more than 20 years has been given a positive welcome by the CIEH. Many of the proposals outlined in the housing green paper meet with the Chartered Institute's long-term objectives. It particularly welcomes the proposals on "sustainable homeownership" and the proposed new flexibility in the criteria for declaring renewal areas and for undertaking neighbourhood renewal assessments. The Government clearly wants to assist the expansion of the private rented sector. It recognises that a substantial portion of the country's poor housing is in that sector and that it therefore requires strong regulation. The CIEH is, however, disappointed by the way the green paper perpetuates a tenure based approach to housing strategy. It feels that the proposals will do little to achieve sustainable communities and mixed tenure.

There appears to be no real attempt to address the issues raised by Lord Rogers in the Urban Task Force report Towards an Urban Renaissance. There are increasing numbers of older people continuing to live independently in the community and the Government appears to have no defined strategy for helping them.
Much of the green paper concentrates on the future of local authority owned housing. The CIEH would have wished to have seen more about Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO) licensing and the strategic role of the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).

The CIEH supports the call for strategic and corporate action by local authorities but would also welcome a similar approach by the Government. For example, the role of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal (NSNR) in respect of the green paper is unclear; the NSNR is mentioned a number of times in the green paper but housing only receives a passing mention in the NSNR. There is plenty of scope in the green paper but many of the proposals for private rented sector reform are designed for low demand areas. The private rented sector has to expand to meet the needs of those who cannot afford owner occupation, particularly in areas of high demand. The Government should promote significant improvements in quality without reducing the supply of private rented housing.

The Government's recognition of the need to expand the private rented sector is welcome, but the CIEH remains concerned that some local authorities and MPs appear to be looking to use or expand special control powers to reduce the size of the private rented sector in pursuit of "sustainable communities". Licensing and housing benefit reforms should be expanded to high demand areas with provisions to ensure that these increased powers are not used in any way that results in any reduction of the private rented sector. The CIEH is looking to the Government to address the following issues, and it stands ready and willing to work with and offer support to the Government in developing various standards, guidance and procedures:

THE FRAMEWORK

  • reform of Private Sector Needs Index to recognise the importance of private sector housing in meeting demand not met by social housing (such as single people) and the unacceptable standards in much of the private sector;
  • controls to ensure that local authorities use planning powers to increase the provision of affordable homes;
  • recognition of the work disincentive of high private sector rent levels that particularly affects young adults in areas of high demand where few have access to social housing;
  • recognition that housing benefit restrictions to poor quality properties can remove them from the housing benefit market;
  • easier approval of compulsory purchase order powers to support empty property strategies; and
  • the abolition of VAT on house renovation for social and private landlords.

IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM

  • development of an improved Private Sector Needs Index for grant investment in the private sector to enable consistent assessments by government regional offices of local authority investment in the private sector;
  • expansion of best value performance indicators covering private housing to enable the establishment of broadly comparable data across all tenures. This is essential to the development of tenure neutral performance management;
  • identification of those factors which should be assessed by local authorities in applying resource accounting techniques to private sector housing and the development of techniques to measure them; and
  • unmet local demand for private sector rented housing should be included in calculation of the Private Sector Needs Indicator. The recognition of need factors in the indicators will reduce the likelihood of investment in unpopular housing.

FUNDING ALLOCATIONS

  • the establishment of information via Housing Investment Programme (HIP) returns to identify expenditure per unfit (private sector) property. Local authorities should be required to justify the use of renovation grants unless there is evidence of a health risk to occupants;
  • a clearer indication about future funding for housing. The CIEH is concerned that traditional housing funding may be siphoned off for other local activities;
  • allocation of housing funds in a complimentary rather than competitive way; and
  • recognition that increased funding is the only way to address the housing backlog identified in the green paper.

USE OF RENOVATION GRANTS

  • freedom to give enhanced grants in areas covered by "new deal" and "single regeneration budget" projects;
  • programmes to enhance awareness by government regional offices of the roles of private sector strategies and the need for variations in renovation grant strategies in different regions of the UK;
  • standard application forms should be established for applications for renovation grants to enable greater consistency in the assessment of grant entitlement;
  • consideration of the role of Disabled Facilities Grants (DFGs). Such funding could be used more effectively if DFGs are made discretionary within a tight framework. A further effective enhancement would be the introduction of grant aid to enable a disabled person to move to more suitable accommodation;
  • greater emphasis on links with the Department of Social Security and related agencies together with more stringent verification of income and expenditure;
  • conditions on grants to require improved properties to be let on an assured tenancy, require the landlord or managing agent to join any landlord accreditation scheme, be a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) or Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) scheme, or provide undertakings to maintain the property (the CIEH believes that some grant conditions currently being imposed may be unlawful); and
  • powers to enable a local authority to refuse to pay a grant if the only address provided by a landlord is one which would render enforcement of grant conditions unreasonably difficult.

THE PRIVATE RENTED SECTOR

  • early implementation of manifesto commitment to HMO licensing;
  • provisions to ensure that managing agents cannot evade responsibilities by moving tenants on to another property;
  • a duty for local authorities to provide protection against tenant harassment and an appropriate amendment of Standard Spending Assessments to fund the duty;
  • increased support for tenants to prevent revenge evictions for those who complain;
  • the provision of grant support to encourage landlords, particularly HMO landlords, to join landlord accreditation schemes;
  • investigation of methods to prevent private sector landlords from using assured shorthold tenancies to let only to the best tenants, so as to avoid concentrations of anti-social tenants in social housing;
  • improved controls to ensure local planning policies support government objectives to improve the quality of the private rented sector, particularly houses in multiple occupation; and
  • greater emphasis on landlord's responsibilities, especially their duty of care.

HEALTH AND SAFETY RATING SYSTEM

  • specific provisions to tackle fuel poverty;
  • clarification of the operation of HHSRS in respect of housing renewal and associated grant legislation;
  • clarification of the role of the HHSRS in respect of owner occupied property. The CIEH is concerned that the HHSRS appears to be designed as an intervention standard for tenanted properties rather than for use across all tenures.

LICENSING OF HMOs

  • universal licensing, which would make enforcement easier and avoid licensing becoming a tax on responsible landlords. Fees could be reduced and inspections deferred for low-risk properties.

SELECTIVE LICENSING

  • the power to extend the licensing scheme beyond HMOs in areas of high demand, subject to the Secretary of State being satisfied that the scheme will not endanger the supply of private rented housing;
  • clarity concerning how selective licensing would improve anti-social behaviour; and
  • provisions to ensure that any such scheme does not further depress low demand areas. The CIEH believes that landlords may take properties off the market rather than submit to licensing.

HOUSING BENEFIT

  • recognition that the current system is in a mess due to delays in processing, frequent changes in legislation, fraud and lack of understanding about schemes;
  • removal of any link between housing benefit levels and anti-social behaviour - both of which would be likely to increase eviction and homelessness. Notwithstanding the need for this removal, the CIEH believes that it will be a considerable challenge to enforce the conditioning of benefit payments to unruly tenants;
  • expansion of powers to challenge rent officer determinations to those areas where rents are rising, so as to ensure housing benefit does not lag behind rent. Any increase in costs should be offset against consequent reduction in homelessness and the cost of resettling rough sleepers;
  • recognition that the comments on reducing housing benefit to anti-social tenants apply equally to the private rented sector; and
  • information regarding the future responsibility for housing benefit payments. If responsibility is transferred to the Benefits Agency, the CIEH believes the conditioning of payments as proposed in the green paper would be unworkable.

ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR

  • controls to ensure all local authorities have adequate strategies to correct anti-social behaviour;
  • a review of all legislative controls over anti-social behaviour, including nuisance legislation;
  • the promotion of starter tenancies for registered social landlords through the Housing Corporation; and
  • resources for the effective implementation of the Crime and Disorder Act - anti-social behaviour orders are very expensive to progress.

NEW PATTERNS OF SOCIAL OWNERSHIP

  • a national evaluation of the benefits and costs of the transfer programme to date, including the effect on area regeneration, which should inform future policy;
  • assessment criteria for large-scale voluntary transfers/arm's length housing companies to include quality of post transfer arrangements to protect tenants; and
  • common and enforceable standards of protection against conditions 'prejudicial to health' across all tenures.

AREA REGENERATION

  • recognition that the neighbourhood renewal assessment (NRA) is the only technique that provides a comprehensive assessment of an area;
  • encouragement for local authorities to make greater use of compulsory purchase orders, group repair and relocation grants;
  • a strong remit to registered social landlords to assist local authorities in urban renaissance;
  • further detail as to how resources are to be matched to private sector improvement needs;
  • recognition of the links between proposals in the green paper and the NSNR;
  • equal recognition of owner occupier resistance to equity release schemes;
  • a clear response by the Government to the recommendations of the Urban Task Force;
  • the introduction of a combined grant/low cost loan procedure to develop a middle way for home improvement;
  • acknowledgement that renewal area declarations alone, without comprehensive programmes for implementation, contribute little to the need to increase demand in an area;
  • recognition of the need for tax breaks as an incentive to undertake improvement work;
  • a streamlining of compulsory purchase/acquisition powers in areas requiring area regeneration;
  • introduction of relocation grants especially in areas with low property values; and
  • specific guidance as to how the green paper proposals are designed to interact with the neighbourhood renewal fund announced in the comprehensive spending review.

PUBLIC HEALTH

  • structured programmes to reduce excess winter deaths, especially for those ineligible for home energy efficiency grant aid. Also, local authorities need providing with incentives to bring empty properties back into use, including the use of the new starter homes initiative.

In conclusion, the green paper emphasises greater choice but is short on detail as to how this is to be realised, in particular how the perception, held by many, that they have no choice at all is to be addressed. Action needs to be taken to address the perception of the private rented sector and local authority accommodation as being "tenures of last resort".