Housing

Government confirms it will not take forward previous government’s proposals for reform of the social housing allocation system in England

Consultation response concludes that plans would not have delivered any meaningful improvements and were either unnecessary, unfeasible, risked harming communities, or too costly

Registered social landlords in Scotland generally outperformed local authorities across most areas of service delivery in 2023/2024

Scottish Housing Regulator's National Report on standards shows that councils were outperformed on issues including average re-let times, levels of rent arrears and almost all tenant satisfaction indicators

Round-up of recent Ombudsman decisions and reports

Local authorities in England spent a record £2.29 billion on providing emergency temporary accommodation to homeless households in 2023/2024

Crisis says Westminster Government has to address the financial pressures caused by increased use of temporary accommodation by ensuring that the Autumn Budget includes more funding for councils

Amendments to the short-term lets licensing scheme in Scotland

New statutory instrument

Shelter calls on government to establish a cross-department homelessness strategy as number of children in temporary accommodation hits ‘shameful’ new record of more than 150,000

Responding to new official statistics revealing the 'rapidly escalating housing emergency', charity warns that this government must succeed where previous ones have failed

850,000 families in England live in overcrowded homes

Resolution Foundation calls for more large homes to be built in social rented sector, and LHA rates to be increased so that private renters can afford homes that meet their needs

New First Minister of Wales appoints Jayne Bryant to her new cabinet as Housing and Local Government Secretary

Other cabinet appointments include Mark Drakeford as the new Minister for Health and Social Care and the reappointment of Jane Hutt as Minister for Social Justice

Government says it has no intention of enacting previous government’s policy proposals to reform the social housing allocation system in England

Housing Minister confirms that a formal response to the consultation on the plans, that included a new ten-year UK connection test and new anti-social behaviour exclusions, will be issued in due course

Housing Ombudsman seeks views on how to improve tenants’ trust in social landlords’ housing maintenance services in preparation for new repairing obligations under the Social Housing (Regulation) Act

Investigation will also examine the relationships between landlords, contractors and residents, with a particular focus on accountability, roles and responsibilities

Round-up of recent Ombudsman decisions and reports

Ombudsman ‘appalled’ after damp and mould in temporary accommodation led to child being hospitalised

London Borough of Lewisham ordered to pay £14,140 in compensation for the unsuitable accommodation and the distress caused

Government’s efforts to tackle homelessness have not delivered value for money, says NAO

Situation has worsened despite the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, with homelessness numbers at a record level and expected to increase

Almost one in ten private renters getting housing support were refused a tenancy in the past 12 months because they were in receipt of benefits

New English Housing Survey 2022/2023 data also shows that, while 4 per cent of private renters had experienced homelessness in the last few years, this figure rose to 8 per cent among social renters

Senedd passes Bill to reform council tax system in Wales

Local Government Finance (Wales) Bill will ensure the continuation of a single national Council Tax Reduction Scheme and provide for greater flexibility in council tax bands, discounts and disregards

Government confirms introduction of a Renters’ Rights Bill that will include provision to abolish ‘no-fault’ section 21 evictions in England

King’s Speech outlines details of plans to give renters much greater security and stability, but also to ensure that private landlords have 'robust' possession grounds to reclaim their properties when they need to

Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill to ‘end feudal system of leasehold’ promised in King’s Speech

Government commits to publishing draft legislation that will also reinvigorate commonhold, restrict sales of new leaseholds and tackle existing ground rents