• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • LATIF
  • Conferences
  • Dashboard
  • Edit My Profile
  • Log In
  • Logout
  • Register
  • Edit this post

Room 151

  • 151 BRIEF

    What's New?

  • Inflation ‘biggest concern for LGPS professionals’

    May 20, 2022

  • LGA calls for government support as regulators face staffing issues

    May 19, 2022

  • WMCA signs £4bn investment agreement with L&G

    May 18, 2022

  • Bill will give UK Infrastructure Bank power to lend directly to councils

    May 18, 2022

  • £400bn pension group collaborates on climate transition initiative

    May 17, 2022

  • CIPFA rejects proposal for vote on publication of fraud hub report

    May 17, 2022

  • Treasury
  • Technical
  • Funding
  • Resources
  • LGPS
  • Development
  • 151 News
  • Blogs
    • David Green
    • Agent 151
    • Dan Bates
    • Richard Harbord
    • Stephen Sheen
    • James Bevan
    • Steve Bishop
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • David Crum
    • Graham Liddell
    • Ian O’Donnell
    • Jackie Shute
  • Interviews
  • Briefs

Agent151: Homelessness and the economic solution

0
  • by Agent 151
  • in Agent 151
  • — 22 Aug, 2016

The DCLG local government select committee’s report on homelessness disappoints on a gargantuan scale, as it misses, or perhaps more accurately dodges, the fundamental point that the housing crisis has been greatly stoked by government policy over many years.

It is of no help whatsoever to recommend that local authorities must treat the homeless more kindly. Many local authorities are at their wit’s end.

Having no local solution for the problem, they are able only to triage; using expensive and unsuitable accommodation simply to ensure that the homeless have a roof over their heads.

Councils expand the supply of temporary accommodation and it fills up faster than it can be emptied. They cannot build fast enough to meet the demand. Consequently, they have to apply criteria strictly in order to prioritise those cases that are in greatest need.

I can only admire the council staff who, day after day, face the wrath and, even worse, despair, of those who do not meet the criteria. They are not choosing to treat people badly. They are in an impossible situation.

Right to buy

The position has been considerably worsened by government policy on right to buy (RTB), which has significantly reduced the supply of public sector rented accommodation.

Much of the former RTB stock is now in the private sector rental market at much higher rent levels, with much higher overcrowding and lower maintenance standards. The reinvigoration of RTB has also undermined the business case for estate regeneration schemes, slowing the process of increasing the density of existing estates.

It has also been worsened by welfare reform policies. There was a time when some councils made a tidy surplus on homelessness, because they were able to set the temporary accommodation rent levels high — knowing they would be fully covered by tenant housing benefits — but were leasing properties at a much lower cost.

Those days are long gone. The opposite now applies: benefits do not cover the cost. In short, in many areas council tax payers are subsidising temporary accommodation. At a time when austerity-bitten councils are wondering how to make ends meet, it is small wonder that they are stewarding their homelessness resources as tightly as all their other budgets.

We should be grateful that the committee did spot one obvious flaw in the welfare reform agenda: the fact that universal credit as a direct payment can only have a disastrous impact upon rent arrears levels in public sector housing. Their recommendation on this issue, at least, is helpful.

Supply and demand

So, if the government’s policies are rowing in the wrong direction, what might it do that would actually help?

Well, if you ask a housing expert, they will tell you that the answer lies in housing supply. This is a tenet that the committee seems to have swallowed hook, line and sinker.

But the fact is that in many urban areas this is not a credible option. The opportunities are limited because land is in short supply, and building cannot keep pace with demand. Providing accommodation in another area where the housing is affordable is being tried, but the courts are working against this and few councils feel comfortable with what is effectively forced relocation of the poor. Supply solutions are only part of the picture.

Many councils have reached the conclusion that the answer to the problem lies in managing the demand for temporary accommodation. However, the local levers that they can pull in order to achieve this are limited in number.

Paying additional rent subsidies to those in the spiralling private sector rental market who are at risk of losing their home is one option. Providing access to employment so that benefit caps do not bite is another. But in many cases these tactics only serve to put off the evil day and are not real solutions.

There is plenty of cheap and available public sector housing in areas of the country where there is little economic activity, but of course, no-one wants to live there. Most people want to live in a thriving, vibrant community.

This is hardly degree-level science. The areas that are most under pressure from homelessness are victims of their own success.

The only true solution is an economic one: creating employment and opportunity in the neglected parts of the country where housing can currently be had for £1.

People will willingly migrate to where the economic opportunity is good. Until such time as this can be achieved, the crisis will continue and councils will continue to triage the impact, and the arguments about who should pick up the bill will occupy the space that should be filled by people working on the economic solution.

When will the government admit this, and stop pretending that councils have the ability to solve the problem locally? You know the answer to that.

Agent 151 is a senior local authority finance director and S151 officer. The agent writes exclusively for Room151 and is licensed to speak candidly.

Get the Room151 Newsletter

 

Share

You may also like...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Register to become a Room151 user

  • Latest tweets

    Room151 3 hours ago

    2022 LGPS valuations: difficult discussions in uncertain times: Michelle Doman looks at the impact of inflationary pressures, the war in Ukraine, climate risk and Covid-19 on employer contributions. At the start of 2022, for Local Government Pension… dlvr.it/SQlvy9 pic.twitter.com/Dd0lrHjWNb

    Room151 6 hours ago

    Investing today: nowhere to hide: Partner Content: Alex Stanley from Ardea Investment Management suggests that investors have few places to hide amid a synchronised sell-off in both bonds and equities. However, there are catalysts that[...] dlvr.it/SQlNVC pic.twitter.com/KkGGnduzPL

    Room151 1 day ago

    Treasury to restrict PWLB loans to councils at risk of non-repayment: The Treasury has released new guidance that restricts local authorities’ access to Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) advances if there is a “more than negligible risk” of a council’s… dlvr.it/SQhLTV pic.twitter.com/vBsS7xMJdb

    Room151 1 day ago

    Mixed reaction to proposed government intervention powers: There has been a mixed reaction to the government’s legislative plans to strengthen its intervention powers over local authority finances. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has proposed… dlvr.it/SQhLMB pic.twitter.com/50foWxpPGs

    Room151 1 day ago

    Post-Brexit struggles for national and local government regulators. @LGAcomms @NAOorguk Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/lga-call… #Brexit #government pic.twitter.com/s3c8ySGy5G

    Room151 1 day ago

    CIPFA: a question of transparency: Roman Haluszczak’s campaign for publication of the independent report into the collapse of CIPFA’s London Counter Fraud Hub has been rejected again by the institute. He is now calling for[...] dlvr.it/SQgC5V pic.twitter.com/08fWsHFF4g

    Room151 2 days ago

    Back to the future for the PWLB: The Public Works Loan Board is tightening its lending criteria to ensure that loans will be repaid by local government borrowers. But, asks Peter Findlay, shouldn’t they have been doing[...] dlvr.it/SQcmmm pic.twitter.com/bVv4fe0Xlv

    Room151 2 days ago

    Great piece from Peter Findlay on the PWLB’s tightening of its lending criteria. He raises some pointed questions for the Treasury and explains why the ‘casino council’ characterisation was simplistic and inaccurate. #PWLB #localgov room151.co.uk/treasury/back-…

    Room151 2 days ago

    The Queen's speech highlighted the need for accelerating UK infrastructure investment into levelling up projects and cutting emissions. @UKInfraBank #QueensSpeech #ClimateAction #emissions Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/bill-wil… pic.twitter.com/hFmF2veVIa

    Room151 2 days ago

    Huge funding heading to the @WestMids_CA from @landg. @andy4wm #LevellingUp #netzero #regeneration Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/wmca-sig… pic.twitter.com/ajhZhia6mx

    Room151 2 days ago

    LGPS governance, Cagney and Lacey style: What regulatory response can be expected following the publication of the Good Governance project’s Phase 3 report and the closure of the Single Code of Practice consultation? Susan Black offers[...] dlvr.it/SQbfXf pic.twitter.com/xwqHOEu2AP

    Room151 3 days ago

    More evidence of the importance of emerging markets in the journey to net-zero. @BordertoCoast @BrunelPP @northernlgps @EAPensionFund @WYPF_LGPS Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 #LGPS #NetZero #NetZeroCarbon #EmergingMarkets room151.co.uk/brief/400bn-pe… pic.twitter.com/qCm0EGxzLn

  • Categories

    • 151 News
    • Agent 151
    • Audit
    • Blogs
    • Business rates
    • Chris Buss
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • Council tax
    • Dan Bates
    • David Crum
    • David Green
    • Development
    • Education
    • Forum
    • Funding
    • Governance
    • Graham Liddell
    • Housing
    • Ian O'Donnell
    • Infrastructure
    • Interviews
    • Jackie Shute
    • James Bevan
    • Jobs
    • Levelling up
    • LGPS
    • Mark Finnegan
    • Net Zero
    • Private markets
    • Recent Posts
    • Regulation
    • Resources
    • Responsible investing
    • Richard Harbord
    • Risk management
    • Social care
    • Stephen Fitzgerald
    • Stephen Sheen
    • Steve Bishop
    • Technical
    • Transport
    • Treasury
    • Uncategorized
    • William Bourne
  • Archives

    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
  • Previous story Draft letter casts doubt on savings claim for LGPS pools
  • Next story James Bevan: Prospects for global bond markets

© Copyright 2022 Room 151. Typegrid Theme by WPBandit.

0 shares