The way social housing is managed matters to tenants and to the wider community. Tenant panels enable tenants to get involved in making decisions…
The way social housing is managed matters to tenants and to the wider community. Tenant panels enable tenants to get involved in making decisions...
In more detail
From 2013, social landlords (housing associations and local councils) has been 'co-regulated' by landlords themselves and by tenant panels made up by tenant representatives. Housing associations and councils which have retained council housing must support tenant panels and assist them to be involved in scrutinising their performance as landlords and work with them to enable them to shape decisions about things like estate management and housing re-investment which impact on the wider neighbourhood.
Economic and Consumer Standards
Housing association tenant panels help to regulate social landlords in respect of both economic and consumer standards. Local council tenant panels regulate councils only in respect of consumer standards. Regulating the performance of landlords on economic standards means that tenant panels look at things like the governance and financial viability of housing associations as well as rent policies and value for money. Consumer standards apply to:
tenant involvement and empowerment
the standard of accomodation provided by landlords- which includes things like repairs, development and re-investment in existing housing stock
tenancy policies - which help to determine who will be housed in a given neighbourhood
neighbourhood and community matters incluidng estate and neighbourhood management.
In neighbourhoods with social housing, tenant panels and other tenant bodies may be key groups to include in community planning.
Key Facts:
Tenants play a formal role in shaping the decisions of housing associations and councils with retained council housing which can affect the wider neighbourhood. Tenant panels and other tenant bodies may be key groups to involve in neighbourhood improvement.
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BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET
This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
Crowded privately-owned accommodation with a constant turnover of tenants, some of whom behave badly and landlords who seem to see the neighbourhood as simply somewhere to take rent from without putting anything back into it…
Crowded privately-owned accommodation with a constant turnover of tenants, some of whom behave badly and landlords who seem to see the neighbourhood as simply somewhere to take rent from without putting anything back into it...
In more detail
Poorly managed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) can endanger the lives of tenants and reduce the quality of life in neighbourhoods in which they are focused. Parliament has given local councils powers to licence some types of HMO; and to ask government for approval to extend these powers more widely to cover HMOs in certain areas.
Legal Definition
An HMO is a building or part of a building (like a flat) which is occupied as a main residence by more than one household (individuals count as separate households and accommodation like Bed and Breakfasts don’t count as HMOs unless they are not the occupants main residence)in return for some form of payment (rent, fees etc) and:
In which more than one household shares an amenity (or the building lacks an amenity) such as a bathroom, toilet or cooking facilities
OR which is a converted building that is not entirely self-contained flats (whether or not there is also a sharing, or lack, of amenities as described above)
OR which is a converted building made up entirely of self- contained flats but where the standard of conversion does not meet the minimum that is required by the 1991 Building Regulations, and more than one third of the flats are occupied under short tenancies.
AND which is occupied by at least three people, none of which is the resident landlord.
Licensing of HMOs
The Housing Act 2004 introduced licensing for HMOs. Under the law there are two types of HMO licensing: mandatory and additional licensing:
Licensing is mandatory (compulsory) for all HMOs which have three or more floors and are occupied by five or more persons forming two or more households.
Councils can impose additional licencing on other sorts of HMO in its area which are not subject to mandatory licensing. A local council can do this if it considers that a significant proportion of these HMOs are being managed poorly enough to cause a problem to tenants or the wider neighbourhood.
Before designating an area to be subject to additional licensing, the local council must be sure that a significant proportion of HMOs in that area are causing problems for tenants or the neighbourhood due to poor management. The council must then apply to government to allow it to extend licencing to the area. The landlords who would be affected are consulted and government approval is needed.
Once an area has been designated, the licensing of HMOs in it becomes compulsory. HMO licensing requires landlords to apply for a licence every five years from the local council to run the property as an HMO. The council can issue a licence for a shorter period if it decides to and it can charge landlords a fee to cover the costs of licensing. Councils do not have to inspect premises to licence them, but they can. They can also require other information that will show the HMO is well- managed.
In making a decision about whether to licence an HMO, the council must decide whether the accommodation is suitable and fit to be used for the purpose; whether the persons running it are fit to do so; whether the property is unsafely overcrowded. Landlords must for example fit smoke alarms, have gas and electrical appliances periodically tested and issue statements of rights to tenants. The council can attach conditions to the licence including stipulating how the licence holder must respond to the behaviour of tenants and the way the property is used.
Unlicensed HMOs
If the council turns down an application to licence a property for use as an HMO, there is a right of appeal to a Residential Property Tribunal. If the landlord is unsuccessful on appeal, then the property may not be used as an HMO. The offence of running an HMO that needs a licence without a licence is punishable by a fine of up to £20,000 on conviction. The council may also gain a rent repayment order for the value of up to 12 months Housing benefit paid to tenants at the property.
Planning Permission
Local councils can require new HMOs to gain planning permission by using what is known as a 'Article 4 Direction'. Some councils have adopted this across their whole council area. Others only require planning permission to convert housing to use as an HMO in certain specified neighbourhoods. In the video below, Councillor Jane Urquhart of Nottingham City Council explains how her council decided to require new HMOs to gain planning permission before conversion:
Key Facts:
Landlords of certain kinds of HMO must apply to the council for a licence. Councils can apply to require additional licensing. Operating without a licence can cost landlords in fines and rent repayments. Many urban councils have taken up additional licensing. You can find out what the rules are about licensing in your neighbourhood from your council.
Page Links from here
HMO Lobby is a network of community groups throughout England who want action on poorly managed HMOs.
OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.
BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET
This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
About 1 in 5 households lives in a property rented from the council or a housing association. In some urban areas, the proportion is much higher. Tenants and social landlords have important parts to play in shaping neighbourhoods…
About 1 in 5 households lives in a property rented from the council or a housing association. In some urban areas, the proportion is much higher. Tenants and social landlords have important parts to play in shaping neighbourhoods...
In more detail
Social housing is housing that is provided by landlords for social benefit rather than private profit. This means it is offered to tenants at rents below the market rent that would be charged by a profit-making landlord. Social housing tenants also generally enjoy greater security of tenure than private tenants.
Social housing is provided by some councils, housing associations, housing cooperatives and some companies and charities. These social landlords offer housing to people, not on the basis of who can pay most, but on the basis of an allocation scheme based on housing need (and possibly some other non-money factors).
The video below was produced by the National Housing Federation (which is the trade body for housing associations) - it presents the case for enabling housing associations to build more homes:
The 2011 Census showed that just under one in five (18%) of households in England lives in social housing and these tenancies are concentrated in urban neighbourhoods. So that the proportion of households living in social housing in the metropolitan areas and London is:
Inner London 33%
Tyne & Wear 27%
West Midlands 23%
Greater Manchester 22%
South Yorkshire 22%
Merseyside 21%
West Yorkshire 19%
Outer London 18%
In London Boroughs, including Southwark, Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets, more than 2 in 5 households live in social rented housing.
The Homes and Communities Agency list of social landlords (2016) shows that these properties are owned and managed by more than 1700 social landlords - of which just under 200 are local councils and most of the rest are housing associations. As well a general purpose housing associations, there are specialist landlords which may provide sheltered housing for older people or accommodation and support for refugees and asylum seekers etc.
Social landlords vary greatly both in the quantity of housing stock they own and manage and in its spread. Local councils generally own properties in their own areas, sometimes concentrated in housing estates and sometimes scattered throughout neighbourhoods. A relatively small number of very large housing association groups have housing in many different regions and are in effect national social housing providers. A larger number of relatively small housing associations have housing stock concentrated in one or two local authority areas, or in a single neighbourhood. Each social landlord produces its own plans for development, re-investment in and the estate management around the housing for which it is responsible. The extent to which they co-ordinate their plans varies between landlords and between neighbourhoods.
Affordable Housing
‘Affordable housing’ is a phrase which is frequently used in the context of local plans and the obligations housing developers may take on when building new housing for sale in a neighbourhood. It means any housing which is provided to people below market cost and is allocated on the basis of need (at least in part). It includes affordable housing for sale (for example to key workers) as well as social housing for rent.
The video above is by Cambridge Centre for Housing Research and is about Affordable Housing and the shortage of housing.
Social Housing and Planning
Social housing matters in community and neighbourhood planning for a numbers of reasons, including:
Tenants – a large proportion of people live in social housing and they are concentrated in urban neighbourhoods. Social landlords and their tenants are both significant investors and stakeholders in urban neighbourhoods and making them better places to live.
Affordable housing – it is an important government policy to create more affordable housing and the planning system plays a key part in this.
Re-investment – as well as developing affordable housing, social landlords re-invest revenues in improvements inside, and to the outside of, their tenants’ properties.
Estate and neighbourhood management - social landlords have an interest in and some responsibility for the overall management of housing estates (where their property is concentrated) and wider neighbourhood management (where it is spread throughout a neighbourhood) and can be allies in lobbying for and working with others to provide better local services.
Tenant Panels – tenants are involved as the co-regulators of their landlords through a system of landlord-specific Tenants Panels. These bodies, other tenant groups and the social network around them are potentially significant community groups to involve in neighbourhood and community planning.
Key Facts:
Social housing matters when doing neighbourhood and community planning because tenants make up a large proportion of householders particularly in urban neighbourhoods; and affordable housing, in particular can be a key area of policy. Social landlords play an important part in shaping neighbourhoods and may take on the role of neighbourhood managers. Tenant panels are important groups to involve in the local community network.
OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.
BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET
This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.
Houses and flats that could be providing homes for people instead left empty, can attract squatters and antisocial behaviour…
Houses and flats that could be providing homes for people instead left empty, can attract squatters and antisocial behaviour...
In more detail
There are more than 200,000 homes that have been empty for more than 6 months in England and although that figure has been declining, it still represents a massive underused asset.
Local Council Action
If you supply the following details to your local council, they should take action to investigate an empty property:
Full address of the property
Type of property, for example, bungalow, flat, semi-detached house
A description of the external condition of the property
Length of time it’s been empty
Any additional information about the property, for example about the owner or any known occurrences of nuisance
Your contact details.
There are limits, however, on what your council can do to tackle the problem. Councils normally try to contact property owners to see if there ware ways of bringing their property back into use. If property-owners are reluctant, councils have some legal powers they can use, including:
Compulsory Purchase Orders - the council needs to show they have taken steps to encourage the owner to bring the property into acceptable use before considering compulsory purchase. Councils may not have the resources available to do this.
Charges and Enforced Sales- councils can issue and enforce charges against a property. If the owner fails to meet the terms of a statutory notice or where someone owes Council Tax or other debts to the council, they can enforce the sale of the property to pay for them.
Unsecured properties - councils can issue orders to owners to make their property secure.
Empty dwelling management orders - councils can issue an empty dwelling management order (EDMO) to make sure that an empty property is used for housing. The property must have been empty for two or more years and not be on the market to let or sell. An EDMO allows the LA to ‘step into the shoes’ of the owner and make sure that empty properties are occupied and managed properly. The local authority can then bring the property back into use, but ownership does not change hands.
The video above features the work of Empty Homes Doctors - a local social enterprise, in Leeds.
Community action
It is hard to take action on empty homes because, of course, the property in question belongs to an owner with rights over how it is used. However, community organisations can 'name and shame' social housing and private landlords who leave properties empty for long periods of time without any good reason.
Key Facts:
Two hundered thousand homes that could house half a million people are left empty for more than sixth months - and the neighbourhoods in which they stand empty can suffer as a result. Communities can ask the local council to look into why property has been left empty and to attempt to get the landlord to look at alternative uses. Communities can also name and shame social and private landlords who leave homes empty without good reason.
Empty Homes is an independent charity which used to be called the Empty Homes Agency. It provides advice and runs campaigns including Empty Homes Week.
OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.
BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET
This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.