Homelessness Policy Watch
A review of government policies which impact on
homelessness by Crisis and NPI
WIDER POLICIES
Housing Policy
Overview
This section provides a review of housing policies which are relevant to homeless people, in England, Scotland and Wales.
Homelessness and Housing
In broad terms, there are three types of housing tenure: owner-occupation (either with or without a mortgage), social housing (rented accommodation provided by either local authorities or registered social landlords) and private rented accommodation.
Clearly, homeless people need somewhere to live and they usually cannot afford to buy, so the solution must lie with rented accommodation, either social housing or private rented.
But the total amount of social housing continues to decline, with 600,000 fewer social homes for rent in 2005 than in 1997, whilst there has been no offsetting increase in private rented accommodation for people on low incomes (the private sector has 'only' increased by 200,000 homes since 1997)[1].
The net result is that there is an increasing shortage of affordable housing for rent. For example, the recent Barker review of Housing Supply estimated that the number of new social homes in England needs to increase substantially, from around 30,000 a year to 50,000 a year, and even this increase would only meet newly arising need rather than past shortages.
Any shortage will be particularly acute for single people, given that it is families who usually get priority for the social housing that is available. As the pool of available accommodation decreases, single homeless people have an ever decreasing chance of finding a place to live. Many are therefore forced to stay with friends and family, or remain in hostel/specialist provision for long periods of time.[2] All of this is happening alongside a government policy that, at least in England, is centred on the promotion of home ownership rather than rented accommodation.
Relevant Policies
Housing policy is fully devolved to Scotland and partly devolved to Wales.
England, Scotland and Wales all have housing strategies which state that they recognise the shortage of affordable housing for rent and are committed to addressing it. This will, however, require a major change to current trends and major investment.
English Housing Policy
- Sustainable Communities: Homes For All: This 2005 strategy document states that the government is committed to tackling existing shortages by increasing the annual supply of new social homes by 50% and by bringing empty homes back into use. On new social homes, it plans to deliver an extra 10,000 social rented homes per year by 2008. Note that this figure is still lower than the minimum of 18,000 which Barker estimated was required to keep up with new need, let alone tackle the backlog. On bringing empty homes back into use, it estimates that Empty Dwellings Management Orders introduced as part of the 2004 Housing Act - see below - will enable local authorities to bring about a quarter of the usable homes (i.e. around 25,000 homes) back into use by 2010.
- 2004 Housing Act: One of the stated aims of the 2004 Act is to improve access to the private rented sector. It aims to achieve this through the mandatory licensing of 'houses of multiple occupation' and private licensing of private landlords, on the grounds that such licensing will make letting a more attractive option for potential landlords. The Act also aims to increase the supply of affordable housing by extending the right to build affordable homes to companies that are not registered social landlords, and makes a provision for Empty Dwellings Management Orders, which will allow the local authority to act as owners if a property has been empty for a long period of time and if its owners have turned down voluntary offers of help to make it useful again.
The two commitments above notwithstanding, overall government housing policy is still very much centred on the view that home ownership is preferred. For example, the 2003 strategy document, Sustainable Communities: Building For The Future, explicitly stated that "a return to social housing is inappropriate, since home ownership is the tenure of choice". For many homeless and potentially homeless people, whilst ownership may be an aspiration, it is simply not a viable option due to its cost.
Scottish Housing Policy
- Local Housing Strategy: Each local authority's housing strategy must explicitly consider the needs of homeless people. The main tool for this is the local housing needs assessment, whereby, for example, local authorities are obliged to consider affordable accommodation for young people seeking accommodation for the first time.
A variety of schemes are in place to improve access to the private rented sector. These include:
- The Empty Homes Initiative.
- Lead tenancy schemes
- A requirement that all local authorities provide access to rent guarantee schemes
Welsh Housing Policy
Wales is affected by primary legislation passed in Westminster. So, for example, the possibility of Empty Dwellings Management Orders applies in Wales as well as in England. It can also pass secondary legislation. The most important is:
- National Housing Strategy for Wales: Unlike its English equivalent, the Welsh housing strategy portrays the need for a balance between home ownership and rented accommodation. In practice, however, it is unclear whether this is resulting in materially different outcomes to those in England.
Commentary on Housing Policy
In Scotland, each local authority's housing strategy must explicitly consider the needs of homeless people. In England and Wales, however, this link is much less obvious. The conclusion is that the UK Government and Welsh Assembly should review its existing suite of housing policies from the specific perspective of homelessness, either to demonstrate how they will be sufficient to address the problems of the shortage of suitable housing for homeless people or to introduce additional initiatives required to achieve this. Such a review would complement the recent Barker review of Housing Supply by focussing on the particular needs of one group of the population, namely homeless people.
A major barrier to increasing the availability of private accommodation for rent is often the necessity for a cash deposit and rent in advance. Other barriers, though less visible, are landlords' reluctance to accept Housing Benefit and many people's lack of understanding of their responsibilities as a tenant. Rent deposit guarantee schemes, such as the Crisis SmartMove scheme, are one method for tackling such barriers. In Scotland, all local authorities have to provide access to such rent deposit guarantee schemes but this is not the case in England or Wales. The UK Government and Welsh Assembly should therefore consider the introduction of a national rent deposit scheme.
Other similar suggestions that have been made include reform of capital gains tax, subsidies to encourage institutional investment in the sector, mechanisms to guarantee sub-market rent where there is a need for affordable housing, and encouraging Registered Social Landlords to invest in the private rented sector.
End notes
[1] ODPM live table 101. Back to text
[2] Centrepoint Agenda, 2001 and Response to the Barker Review, Shelter 2003. Back to text
Page last modified on 22/06/2006 at 11:39