With Awaab’s Law now in effect, Inside Housing looked at the initial impact on social landlords and how they prepared.
That preparation obviously comes with a cost. Platform Housing Group reported a drop in half-year margins after its social housing maintenance bill jumped 35% as result of it tackling a backlog of Awaab’s Law cases.
Large London landlord Peabody reported a significant rise in new home completions, alongside a rise in turnover and surplus that led to an improved operating margin.
Following the admission by housing secretary Steve Reed that the government’s long-awaited homelessness strategy might not be published until after Christmas, the latest statistics showed that the number of households in England made homeless due to their social rented tenancy ending rose by over 11% last year.
This increase came as new research by membership charity Homeless Link found that more than 80% of people experiencing homelessness are dealing with multiple “debilitating” physical health issues.
Two pieces of research highlighted the value of social housebuilding. Building 20,000 new affordable homes in Wales over the next four years would deliver £3.6bn in net present value benefits for residents and communities over the next 30 years, according to a report by Community Housing Cymru and Savills. And more than £5bn a year could be added to the economy in England if the government meets its social housing targets in the next decade, according to a study commissioned by a trio of London housing associations.
In Northern Ireland, communities minister Gordon Lyons announced plans to clamp down on social housing tenancy fraud.
At the same time, a 15% drop in the nation’s new home completions over the past year has been described as a “clear red flag” by the Chartered Institute of Housing.
There was a warning from a property lawyer that the government will not be able to tell if the rent appeal tribunal system is overwhelmed with cases following the Renters’ Rights Act in May, due to a lack of any baseline data.
A late intervention by Tower Hamlets MP Rushanara Ali attempted to halt the transfer of a council-owned block to an airspace developer previously expelled from a professional body for being a “significant risk to the public”.
Finally, we revealed the winners of this year’s Inside Housing Development Awards.
Have a great weekend.
Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing
Say hello: stephen.delahunty@oceanmedia.co.uk
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