We have had yet another report come out of Westminster, this time from the Commons select committee. It is on homelessness.
I have not had time to read it in detail but I can see big issues with some of the main recommendations. However, I am really pleased that this issue is being addressed. For too long housing issues have been considered unimportant and have been ignored. It is good to see them being taken seriously at last.
Here are some of the issues which I can see
A shortage of suitable homes
You can’t rent out houses that don’t exist. The recent
The recent House of Lords report made it clear that we have a massive under supply of suitable housing and that insufficient housing is being built to meet the need.
Unless this issue is addressed then everything else is meaningless.
Mind you, building new homes is not the only answer. There is a lot that can be done by putting empty homes into use, and encouraging people to take in lodgers (which could go a long way towards helping young single people find a home).
Increasing the rent a room tax allowance again and getting rid of the bedroom tax would help here.
There is also the fact that the Cameron government seemed to be solely interested in increasing home ownership. However, not everyone wants to own their own their own home and for some people it is not practical or indeed desirable. For example, someone with mental health issues is far better living in a Council house where they can get support. Which leads us on to:
The destruction of social housing
Over the past 20 years and more, Government has encouraged the sale of vast swathes of social housing with few houses being built to replace them. The Housing and Planning Bill is only going to make things worse.
As the House of Lords report made clear, you cannot expect the private sector to take over the function that was performed by social housing.
For a start, private landlords are not interested in renting to ‘difficult’ tenants such as those with mental health problems or on a low income.
They are mostly ordinary people who have invested in property (generally just one or two houses or flats) as property often provides a better return than traditional investments. They cannot be expected to take the place of social housing landlords. For example, see here for a real life example of the problems that they can face.
In particular, they are understandably unwilling to take on all the problems which are associated with tenants on benefit – many of which are actually caused by Councils not the tenants.
The government urgently needs to address this and to start a major social house building program by Councils and housing associations. This is the only way that I can see that the problem will be resolved.
It takes a long time to build houses, and so the sooner they grasp this nettle and start to do something the better.
Insufficient Council help for homelessness
The report complains that Councils are not giving enough support and help to homeless people who are not in priority need.
To that I have two points to make.
1 Councils have big problems of lack of funding and staff.
Their budgets have been slashed viciously over the past few years.
If you have a department which formerly had 8 or 10 staff being slashed to two blokes, one of whom is part time, with the best will in the world, there is not a huge amount they can do. Obviously, they are going to have to prioritise their time and support for people to whom they do not owe a statutory duty is going to suffer.
As articles in the Guardian are showing, Council housing staff are cracking up over too much work. Rather than criticising councils, it would be better if something could be done about this.
2. What exactly are they supposed to do?
If there is insufficient housing for the homeless in their area, there is not a lot they can do about it. They can’t magic up hostels for the homeless.
I am sure that most council workers would love to be able to find places for people to live. But they are not magicians.
Refuges and hostels
The report quite correctly recommends that support be given to these.
I would like to mention here that over the past few years I have been reading news items about support and refuge organisations having to close down due to lack of funding.
Money for this type of organisation should be ring-fenced. Once they close it is very difficult to get them back up and running again.
Two other issues I would like to mention:
Benefit being paid direct to landlords
This is rightly cited as being something which is causing big problems. However, I would just remind landlords that with the direct payment to them comes the possibility of clawback.
In the days when benefit was regularly paid direct to landlords this was often a big issue. For example, if money was being reclaimed from a landlord due to the tenant owing money to the Council due to an overpayment in respect of another property.
Longer fixed terms
The report also says that these should be encouraged. However, I would remind the committee that it is directly against landlords interests to do this as the section 21 eviction procedure is only available after the fixed term has ended.
Until it is easier for landlords to evict anti-social tenants during the fixed term, they are not going to risk giving long tenancies new tenants.
In conclusion
I am really pleased to see this sort of report coming out. The housing situation is dire and long overdue for attention. Reports are a start – but we need more than words.
I hope that the May government will see this and will start to take some meaningful action.
sam says
The destruction of Social Landlords and in turn the possible start of the Destruction of the Private Rented Sector, in turn becoming the Build To Rent sector of course it will end in tears.
Regarding the cuts of Councils in my personal experience when I had some work experience there (in 2013) my experience was that hardly any ‘work’ got done and I was not the only one as most of the staff (scores of them) just laid about doing next to nothing. Given this particular council droans about cuts, i am somewhat cynical. That being said If I had to bet the game being played is the tories (or labour councils are choosing to, to blame the tories) are cutting what people do notice/appreciate and deliberate waste continues. For example most of the benefit cuts could have been cancelled out by scrapping international aid but do they touch that one bit? No it has in point of fact gone up the last 5 years.Again people say it helps poor people overseas given benefit sanctions and benefit cuts the last 6 years (poorest people effected) I doubt very much the same people responsible care about the poor overseas)
Ian says
Personally I would keep the “bedroom tax” and maybe even put it up (after all “benefit tenants” in the private sector do not get housing benefit for unneeded bedrooms), but would make all income from taking 1 or 2 lodgers not count towards any means tested benefits. Also require all social landlords to write to their tenants about the benefits of taking in a lodger.
The law needs looking at with issues that make it hard for private landlords to allow tenants to have lodgers, for example insurance and mortgage, along with the risk the property will be beamed a HMO if a tenant takes in a lodger. (Right to rent checks don’t help!)
Then I would like to see tax breaks for landlords that buy property “off plan”, as developers need to sell “off plan” so as to fund home building.
Ben Reeve-Lewis says
Sam I get sick of people stereotyping council workers as layabouts.
In homelessness units the pressure is astonishing as are the threats and assaults on staff. I have been doing some project work in a local authority homelessness unit for a few months and in the past 32 weeks had three people threaten suicide and two of them actually having a go because of decisions I had to make.
One colleague of mine was traumatised to have one of his clients walking around outside of the town hall wearing a placard reading “(his name) Doesnt care if my baby dies in my womb” – how would you feel if you went home at the end of the day with that in your head?
And then there is the incident I witnessed when a violent ex boyfriend rocked up in the reception and poured petrol over his ex and set fire to her in front of everybody, or the guy that beat his wife up in reception in front of his kids, ran out of the front door so he wouldnt get caught and went straight under a bus.
Or how would you like to preside over social services having to physically drag screaming kids off of their dad’s leg because their mum had just died and he was too mentally ill to look after them.
Do you fancy that for a job Sam? coz its all pretty much common place stuff in the homelessness units I’ve always been based in as the desperate and downtrodden lose it because there is hardly anywhere to place them anymore because of astronomical rents v. the benefit cap and an understandable reluctance by landlords to get involved with the sinking ship that is local authorities.
Every week I get phone calls from temporary employment agencies asking me if I know anyone looking for a job because they are finding it harder and harder to fill posts as more and more committed people stick two fingers up to the thankless task of dealing with ceaseless tide of homeless people coming through the front door while government blame councils for the homelessness crisis ably support by a clueless media and lazy, stereotyping like yours.
Please wake up and point the finger of blame where homelessness is created…government policy and by that I also include previous Labour policy as well.
……………………and relax!
sam says
Ben: I am not saying all Council workers are layabouts, far from it. Given my limited experience I just wonder if either by hook or crook the actual waste is being continued or increased while real services such as libraries are cut to the bone. For example where I currently live Roadworks have happened on the same patch of road no less than 4 times now (and looked fine after the first time) in the last year. Yet a senior Councillor blames ‘limited funds why they cant do road works with many many pot holes very near by and yet when a friend made the same point the answer they gave? ‘Next Question’ .. Then the same council wanted to close a swimming pool ‘reluctantly and ps blame the tories’ yet when a ‘tory’ Councillor challenged them on this they realized they didn’t need to after all with ‘no’ negative consequences elsewhere to my knowledge.
Given taxes (with the exception of Corporation Tax) are higher or same as other countries (which admittedly are not perfect) I just wonder how is it this country is going down the pan? The ‘left’ would have you believe its because taxes are not high enough, but that surely cant be it. I think its deliberate incompetence and waste (like International aid) and all the foreign wars which incidentally most countries do not go in for.on the latter and not much of the former. My old man about 10 years ago met the then local Mayor and why the council kept hiking council tax and I kid you not he got ‘a laugh and a ‘might as well’ As you said its Goverment Policy thats the problem so obviously the solution is not to spend a tiny fortune on a ‘fact finding mission.
Although the housing situation is not going to get better when todays reports about ‘private landlords’ raking in housing benefit, I mean if private landlords don’t take benefit claimants their ‘bad’ but if they do their still ‘bad’ and the claims if they were in social it would have saved £1-2 billion no mention social landlords do not pay tax on the rent they receive which if they did would come to more than that.