Housing

Amendment of council tax rules in England for those opening up their homes under the Homes for Ukraine scheme

New regulations in force from today

Offsetting reductions in council tax support in England as a result of sponsoring people under the Homes for Ukraine scheme

New directions issued by Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Expanded data sharing exercise between government and local authorities is enabling greater recovery rate of council tax debt

DWP says latest pilot is 'strengthening the application of attachment-of-earning orders' where deemed appropriate for debtors

Government launches four week consultation on repeal of the Vagrancy Act as part of its plans to ‘end rough sleeping for good’

Housing Minister says that 'no-one should be criminalised simply for having nowhere to live'

European Court of Human Rights asked to consider whether discrimination under the ‘right to rent’ policy is justified

Leigh Day solictors confirm that it is continuing a legal challenge against the policy following the Supreme Court’s refusal to grant permission to appeal an earlier ruling

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors consults on inclusion of social housing tenants of long leasehold flats in revised service charge residential management code

Draft code also includes measures designed to ensure greater transparency in relation to service charges and associated expenditure

Court of Appeal considers sufficiency of enquiries required to establish suitability of accommodation offered to a homeless person with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment

Biden v Waverley Borough Council [2022] EWCA Civ 442

Homes for Ukraine guidance issued to local authorities across England, Scotland and Wales

Publication of guidance follows launch of scheme on 14 March 2022 to support those fleeing the war in Ukraine

DLUHC sets out steps it is taking to prevent the Homes for Ukraine scheme from affecting a sponsor’s council tax status in England

Department confirms that it is laying new legislation to ensure that all discounts and exemptions will be protected

Number of people who died while homeless last year showed an 80 per cent increase on the number for 2019

New research records more than 1,200 homelessness deaths across the UK in 2021, with only seven due to Covid-19

Round-up of recent Upper Tribunal housing case law

Almost 40 per cent of social housing tenancies in Wales were in rent arrears at the end of March 2021

New official statistics highlight 17 per cent increase in tenancies in arrears compared to 2019, with more than 7,000 having been in arrears for at least 13 weeks

Amendment of council tax discount and council tax reduction rules in Scotland for those opening up their homes under the Homes for Ukraine scheme

New regulations in force from today

Housing Ombudsman makes finding of severe maladministration after council’s ‘significant and avoidable’ delays in dealing with a resident’s repairs

Tendring Borough Council ordered to pay resident more than £2,000 compensation and to carry out a further inspection of the property to ensure repairs that were reported more than two years earlier are now completed

Government outlines how it is building on the measures set out in the Social Housing White Paper to improve social housing and help meet its pledge to halve the number of non-decent homes by 2030

New measures include the launch of a Resident Panel, publication of draft legislation, and the ‘naming and shaming’ of failing social landlords on social media channels

Government issues new Disabled Facilities Grants guidance in England

While not introducing any changes to policy, government says guidance brings together policy frameworks, legislative duties and powers, and recommended best practice

Short and Holiday-Let Accommodation (Registration) Bill receives its first reading in House of Commons

Bill seeks to establish a national register of short and holiday-let accommodation, and to give local authorities powers to require information in association with that register