Transcript Reform of Social Housing & Decentralisation of housing to

Local decisions: a fairer
future for social housing
Frances Walker: Allocations Branch, DCLG
Case for reform
Waiting Lists
•
1.8 million households on waiting lists
•
There are around 50,000 households living in temporary
accommodation in England
Unemployment
•
Fewer than half of social tenants of working age are in work
Overcrowding
•
A quarter of a million social homes are overcrowded, while over 400,000
are under-occupied
Mobility
•
Fewer than 5% of social sector households move within the social sector
each year compared to almost a quarter of private renters
2
Number of households on local
authority waiting lists, England
2
1.8
Households (millions)
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
2009
2007
2006
2008(r)
Ye ar (as at 1 April)
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
0
Source: Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix (HSSA)
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Declining supply of lets
Number of local authority lettings made in the social rented
sector, England, 1988/89-2008/09
450,000
400,000
350,000
All lettings
300,000
250,000
New lettings
200,000
150,000
100,000
Existing lettings
(internal transfers)
50,000
0
1988/89 1990/91 1992/93 1994/95 1996/97 1998/99 2000/01 2002/03 2004/05 2006/07 2008/09
4
Trend in overcrowding rates by tenure, 1995-96 to 2007-08 (3 yr moving
averages) and 2008-09
7
percentage of households
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
9
8 -0
200
8
7 -0
200
7
6 -0
200
social renters
6
5 -0
200
5
4 -0
200
4
3 -0
200
ow ner occupiers
3
2 -0
200
2
1 -0
200
1
0 -0
200
0
9 -0
199
9
8 -9
199
8
7 -9
199
7
6 -9
199
6
5 -9
199
all tenures
private renters
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We need to reform
social housing to:
•
Strengthen localism – giving greater flexibility to local authorities and
landlords
•
Protect the most vulnerable in society – making sure that support
is better focused, and providing the right basic safeguards
•
Reduce dependency – enabling people to improve their situation by
working
•
Make better use of resources – allocating existing homes more
sensibly, and using funding more innovatively to provide more new
housing
•
Make the system fairer - balancing the needs of existing social
housing tenants and those who are in need of social housing
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Local Decisions
•Local Decisions consultation paper issued in November 2010
•Localism Bill introduced in December 2010
•Summary of responses to consultation and way forward published
February 2011
http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/localdecisionsresponse
• Indicative Direction on Mobility
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Social Housing Allocations
Local authorities to determine who should qualify for housing waiting lists
– a return to the pre-2003 position.
Rules on eligibility continue to be set centrally.
Existing tenants not in housing need - out of the allocation rules. They
will no longer need to compete with those on waiting list in housing need.
But no requirement to have a separate system for transfers.
Protection for the vulnerable will continue to be provided by the statutory
‘reasonable preference’ criteria. But views sought on whether to revise
the existing categories.
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Homelessness
•
New flexibility to end the main
homelessness duty with a PRS offer
•
Applicant consent not required
•
Minimum 12 month fixed term tenancy
•
Must be suitable
•
Right of review /appeal
•
Duty recurs if unintentionally homeless
within 2 years
•
LAs can still end duty with social housing
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Mobility
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Introduce a nationwide social home swap programme.
•
Legislate to give the Secretary of State a power to direct the social
housing regulator to issue a standard on mutual exchange.
•
Standard require landlords to give tenants access to a web-based
mutual exchange service
•
Enable to see full range of properties across providers without the
need to register with another site.
•
Legislate to safeguard tenants with a secure or assured tenancy who
exchange with a local authority flexible tenant and some housing
association tenants.
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Reduce overcrowding
•
Remove transferring tenants from the allocation rules to make it easier
for landlords to support under-occupiers who wish to move
•
Strengthen home swap provisions to make it easier for under-occupying
and overcrowded to help each other.
•
Reform homelessness rules to allow landlords to allocate social housing
to those that need it.
•
Introduce flexible tenancies to allow landlords to provide the right size
house for the time that they need it.
•
Retain the ‘reasonable preference’ category to ensure overcrowded
households continue to receive priority.
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Next steps
•Localism Bill – Commons Report Stage - April/May
•Royal Assent – November 2011
Consult on Direction on Mobility later in the summer
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