With so many changes in the world of social housing, Sutton Housing Partnership (SHP), the organisation who manage council housing in the borough, recently held a briefing for residents, council members and local stakeholders, on what those changes may mean for tenants and Sutton Council, both locally and on a national level.
Guest speaker, Chloe Fletcher, Policy director at National Federation of ALMOS (Arm’s Length Management Organisations), highlighted the key issues of the Housing and Planning Bill that will affect council tenants and how services are delivered.
These include implementing the right to buy for housing association tenants, introducing a pay to stay policy for tenants living in London whose household income is above £40,000, and proposals to sell off of high value local authority homes when they become vacant.
The briefing also highlighted the impact that Universal Credit (UC) is having after being introduced in Sutton, and revealed that nearly 90% of social housing tenants receiving UC in the UK are now in rent arrears.
The top question on the day was how the Governments’ Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which - as from April 2016 will see council housing rents reduced by 1% a year over next four years - will affect how services are planned and housing services in Sutton.
Brendan Crossan, Executive Director (Resources) at SHP, explained that this will result in around £1million less being available for housing services, so priorities may need to be reassessed.
Councillor Jean Crossby, who attended the briefing, said: “The importance of the details in the latest Government housing policies cannot be underestimated. The speakers did a great job of presenting the ‘big picture’ to the audience and covered an extensive range of issues and concerns that are of the utmost importance when it comes to the welfare of our residents.”
SHP recently produced a publication, ‘Homefront Special Edition: New Government Policies’, which contains information about the new policies and what they mean for its residents. This can be downloaded from the Sutton Housing Partnership website and is located in the publications section.
These include implementing the right to buy for housing association tenants, introducing a pay to stay policy for tenants living in London whose household income is above £40,000, and proposals to sell off of high value local authority homes when they become vacant.
The briefing also highlighted the impact that Universal Credit (UC) is having after being introduced in Sutton, and revealed that nearly 90% of social housing tenants receiving UC in the UK are now in rent arrears.
The top question on the day was how the Governments’ Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which - as from April 2016 will see council housing rents reduced by 1% a year over next four years - will affect how services are planned and housing services in Sutton.
Brendan Crossan, Executive Director (Resources) at SHP, explained that this will result in around £1million less being available for housing services, so priorities may need to be reassessed.
Councillor Jean Crossby, who attended the briefing, said: “The importance of the details in the latest Government housing policies cannot be underestimated. The speakers did a great job of presenting the ‘big picture’ to the audience and covered an extensive range of issues and concerns that are of the utmost importance when it comes to the welfare of our residents.”
SHP recently produced a publication, ‘Homefront Special Edition: New Government Policies’, which contains information about the new policies and what they mean for its residents. This can be downloaded from the Sutton Housing Partnership website and is located in the publications section.