Will welfare reform address problems rather than creating greater ones?

This post is not about the pros and cons of welfare reform.  I think many of the ambitions behind welfare reform are to be welcomed. Rather, this post looks at the practical implementation of these measures and some unintended consequences.

Regarding the Bedroom Tax (I feel I can call it that given that on Monday a government minister at a conference organised by Crisis accepted that that is the phrase he uses) is resulting in a large proportion of tenants failing to pay the resulting shortfall in their rent.  Riverside Group has revealed that around half of its 6,000 households receiving housing benefit had not paid anything at all to cover the shortfall.  A quarter had contributed something but were not paying their rent in full.  Just one in four tenants impacted by the bedroom tax paid the full amount.

Guinness Partnership said that around 1,000 of their 3,000 tenants affected by the under occupation regulations have not met the shortfall.  Their experience is similar to a number of other housing associations around the country.  Inside Housing is covering this issue on its front page in today’s edition.

Because we tend to work almost exclusively with single homeless people, and our housing stock is largely one-bedroom flats, this is not an issue amongst our tenants. However, I would anticipate that, in due course, we will begin seeing tenants of other social landlords presenting at our advice centres in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings requiring assistance because they are facing eviction.

There have been warnings about this which have gone largely unheeded.  A more widespread risk relates to the payment of rent direct to tenants rather than to landlords.  This will undermine the confidence of private landlords to take people who are receiving housing benefit, see an increase in arrears and bad debts faced by landlords in both the private rented and social sectors, and cause a loss of confidence amongst financial institutions who lend money for the building of homes for rent.

Julian Ashby, the chair of the regulation committee at the Homes and Communities Agency has warned that housing providers face being hit by a ‘double whammy’ of increased rent collection costs and reduced income due to welfare reform.

In a report published today by Housemark, it has been estimated that social landlords face losing £1.4 billion of rental income a year as a result of welfare reform.

There is also concern amongst social housing providers regarding the move to making claims online.  In a survey taken in November 2012, Ipsos Mori showed that just 60% of local authority tenants and 64% of housing association tenants had access to the Internet.  I’m not aware of any similar research regarding tenants in the private rented sector but, given the efforts taken by social landlords to increase digital inclusion, and in the absence of a similar programme in the private rented sector, I would imagine digital inclusion is much, much lower.

BHT did its own survey around that time and we found that79% of our clients, tenants of both private and social landlords as well as some owner occupiers, and meaningful access to the Internet.  However, when you remove the provision made available to our clients by BHT itself, that number falls to 19%.

There is still time for the government to pause and think about whether it is going about these matters in a way that will address problems rather than creating greater ones.

Calling on Sussex Members of Parliament to ensure letting agents are required by law to belong to an ombudsman scheme

On Tuesday, the House of Commons is discussing an amendment to the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (ERR) Bill.  If approved, the changes would see letting agents required by law to belong to an ombudsman scheme. I have written to the six Members of Parliament in the areas in which BHT works, to encourage them to support the amendment.  The MP’s are Amber Rudd (Hastings and Rye), Stephen Lloyd (Eastbourne), Norman Baker (Lewes), Simon Kirby (Brighton Kemptown), Caroline Lucas (Brighton Pavilion), and Mike Weatherley (Hove).

Since 2008 estate agents have been required by law to be part of an approved redress scheme, but letting agents are not.

The Property Ombudsman received more than 8,000 complaints about letting agents from landlords and tenants in 2012 – an increase of 9% on the previous year.  Yet only 12 prosecutions were carried out last year by trading standards teams in 20 of the biggest councils in England, Scotland and Wales.

Baroness Hayter has said: “Legislation already requires estate agents to be part of an ombudsman scheme. What this amendment would do is extend that so that letting agents would also have to be members of an ombudsman scheme.  At the moment anybody could set up as a letting agent. They don’t have to promise to give minimum standards to the tenants or to the landlords.”

A spokesman from the Department for Communities and Local Government said: “People living in private rented homes should be treated fairly and honestly, but we want to avoid excessive red tape that would push up the cost of rents and reduce choice for tenants.  The first priority must be to make sure that landlords and tenants are well informed and empowered to exercise their rights. Agents are subject to consumer protection laws and dissatisfied customers can report bad practice to local trading standards officers.”

My concern is that with changes to Legal Aid, specifically the reduction in what we can do under legal help, as well as a reduction in the numbers we can assist, it is unlikely that tenants will have the necessary power to exercise their rights.

Landlords, too, do not get a fair deal from letting agents.  The Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA), the leading trade body, has said it was disappointed by the low numbers being prosecuted and that if there was seen to be a robust procedure then that in itself would be a deterrent.

The Housing Minister has said he is not keen on new regulations, but I understand that he has said he is open to debate.  I have urged the six MP’s to support the amendment on Tuesday.

Changes to Legal Aid come in to force today

Today is a sad day. For the first time in many years our advice centres in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings may have to turn people away.

While changes to the NHS, welfare reform and the ability of Iain Duncan Smith to live off £52 per week are dominating the headlines, changes to who has access to legal advice and representation come into force.  The CAB has on its website a clear summary of the changes to legal aid

Of course, everyone has the right to access the law, but as Judge Sturgess once said, “Justice is open to everyone in the same way as the Ritz Hotel”. The reality is that many people who might need advice and representation might, as of today, not get it.

If you feel you might need advice, do find out whether you are eligible. Thanks to support from Brighton and Hove City Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, and Hastings Borough Council, we may still be able to help.

You can find contact details for our advice centres here.

Good news as BHT-led partnership is given the go-ahead to bid for £9.2 million Big Lottery funding

We have had some very good news this week which is attracting some media interest.  A consortium, being led by BHT, is in the running for funding from the Big Lottery of up to £10 million over 8 years.  The initiative is designed to improve services for men and women with complex needs (a combination of mental ill health, homelessness, offending behaviour and substance misuse problems) in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. Between now and September, a full bid and business plan needs to be prepared.  A decision will then be made by the Big Lottery and the new services will begin from April 2014.

The purpose of this funding is to bring about lasting change in how services work with people with multiple and complex needs; this funding is a vehicle to help bring about that change. The legacy of the 8 year programme will be that systems and services in all 3 geographical areas will better meet the needs of this group.

At this stage we have been awarded funding to develop the bid on behalf of our partnership which includes partners in local government and in the third / charity sectors.  Should the partnership be successful, it won’t just be BHT staff (contrary to what the Argus reported this morning) who will provide services.

My colleagues, Nikki Homewood and Jo Berry, are leading on this initiative for BHT. Nikki said: “As the lead partner for the Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne and Hastings area, BHT is thrilled to receive funding to develop our partnership bid to ensure better service provision for people with the most complex needs.

“Using the wealth of knowledge and expertise within our local Core Group, comprising seven voluntary sector organisations and five statutory partners including commissioners, along with the 60+ organisations in our Partnership Group, we will develop a programme that will truly bring about change for the clients the programme work with, and local communities.

“Our vision is to bring about long-term systemic change by putting service users at the heart of services, fully understanding what they need in order to move forward with their lives: thorough monitoring and evaluation will result in well-evidenced findings, which will then be used to influence future commissioning.”

BHT’s partners in this initiative, and who are represented on the local Core Group, include: Brighton and Hove City Council, Brighton Women’s Centre, CRI, East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Homeless Link, Sanctuary Supported Living, Southdown Housing Association, Sussex Oakleaf, Sussex Probation Service

The invaluable work of advice services, services which are now under threat

In today’s Argus there was a report on the prosecution by Hastings Borough Council of a landlord for ignoring a property improvement notice. The landlord, who is well known to BHT’s Hastings Advice Centre in Hastings, failed to deal with damp, fire safety and domestic hygiene hazards. He was fined £4,250 and ordered to pay full costs.

The Argus quotes Cllr Kim Forward, Hastings’ lead member for housing: “We are sending a clear message to the landlords in our town who do not comply with the regulations which ensure their tenants are adequately protected. We will not tolerate poor housing, and if you won’t work with us to improve your property if it is substandard, you can expect us to use the full force of the law against you.”

What did not come across in the article was the persistent and sterling efforts of BHT staff who pursued this case for over 12months. With reforms to legal aid and the squeeze on funding from local councils, our ability to take on cases like this will be severely limited.

BHT advice staff are often not recognised for their work. They deal with issues like this on a daily basis and, as a result, can receive abuse and threats from certain landlords (although most landlords are dedicated to providing a good service and are responsive to the welfare of their tenants). At the same time advice staff cope with clients who can be challenging. They then have the backdrop of the uncertainty over their future because of funding cuts.

A civil society should be judged by how it treats the weakest and most marginalised of its community. BHT Hastings Advice, with Hastings Borough Council, have shown how a civil society should respond to poor housing. It is a shame that such services are under threat.

Seeking advice at the earliest possible time can save a huge amount of time, added complications and worry

We can’t pick up the newspapers these days without hearing about the struggle ordinary people have in making ends meet. Inflation is up again, fuel bills are causing huge anxiety, and many households going ow having to cope with the additional cost of Christmas.

Where households are getting into financial difficulties it is important that they get advice at the earliest possible time.

I’ve recently been told that our Eastbourne Advice Centre is seeing an increase in the number of people who are delaying seeking advice until their situation is at a critical point.

My colleague, Sue Hennell,  BHT’s Advice Services Manager  in East Sussex  told me  that it is very common for people to feel unable to face up to the growing difficulties if at all possible.  She said that it is never too late to get advice but that her advice is not to delay if at all possible.  Early advice can save a huge amount of time, added complications and worry.

Sue told me: “In over 80% of housing cases, we either prevent homelessness or achieve other positive outcomes such as sorting out disrepair and helping with finding accommodation.”

Here is an example of a client, John (not his real name) who we have helped. John was a client of our Eastbourne Advice Centre and knows first-hand how important it is to get advice as soon as possible. He said: “I came to the advice centre because I was unemployed and six months behind on my mortgage payments. I had left it and left it and eventually it got so bad that the mortgage company applied to the County Court for a Warrant of Possession.

“I thought that I would lose my home and couldn’t see a way out of it.

“I went to see an adviser at BHT Sussex and they realised I had not been receiving a state pension or pension credits. They were able to adjourn the hearing for 6 weeks and make an application for the state pension and pension credits.

“I received a backdated payment which allowed me to pay off my mortgage arrears and I was then able to pay my mortgage each month with the on-going payments.

“I had spent the last six months worrying about losing my home and wondering what I was going to do. Early advice would have prevented all of this worry and stress. I should have sought advice as soon as the problem started.”

BHT Sussex Eastbourne Advice has recently moved to share an office with Citizens Advice Bureau, Eastbourne. The co-location of the two advice agencies has resulted in a ‘one stop shop’ for advice in Eastbourne.

Click here for contact details of our advice centres in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings.

We need to put an end to rough sleeping once and for all

A 21-year-old homeless woman was killed on Saturday night when a large spruce tree fell on the tent she was living in. Police said that three other people were injured by the tree which was brought down in the severe weather that lashed parts of the country at the weekend.

Last Thursday night, in terrible weather, colleagues from BHT, CRI, local authorities and the police did the annual headcount of rough sleepers in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings.  In Brighton the new official figure was 43, up six from the previous year.    There is a general consensus that the actual number is probably nearer 60.

Why is it in this day and age, in one of the richest countries in the world, do we still have people living on the streets?

There is some brilliant work going on by many agencies, and CRI’s No Second Night Out initiative is the latest in a long line of services that help people make that transition from street homelessness into accommodation.  The worker in this particular initiative has, over the last three months, engaged with 31 individuals , 30 of whom she has got into accommodation.

As we approach Christmas, members of the public are extremely generous to organisations such as BHT.  In fact, we rely on this generosity to sustain us throughout the year.  People are more inclined to donate at this time because it is the Season of Goodwill and because of the appalling weather that we are now experiencing.

Even though we are having gales blow down trees and flooding across the country, this is not regarded in government circles as “severe weather” and homeless people remain on the streets. Successive governments have had a policy that emergency provision only comes into being if the forecast has temperatures falling to below freezing for three consecutive nights.  Two nights of freezing weather, no emergency shelters.  Gales and flooding, similarly, no emergency shelter.

It is time that the government rethinks its policy for emergency shelters at times of severe weather.  Last Saturday’s tragedy could have been avoided.

Actually, a lot more is needed. We need to put an end to rough sleeping once and for all.

 

The case for advice, and the case for investment in advice services

One of the unfortunate aspects of politics over the last 20 years has been ‘Government by Anecdote’ where a handful of extreme cases are used to justify fundamental changes to the welfare state. For example, we have heard a great deal in recent months regarding people on housing benefit claim over £100,000 per annum. In reality, this has happened on just three occasions. I would agree that this is three cases too many. Unfortunately, such anecdotes are used to justify the wholesale changes to housing benefit provision currently being introduced.

Similar stories have been told regarding ‘fat cat’ lawyers getting rich on legal aid. The reality is that most legal aid practitioners work for far less than they could earn if they were in private practice. So why do they do it?

People sometimes have complex problems and sometimes they need technical and practical assistance to give them breathing space to get on with their lives. Such technical and practical assistance often comes from legal aid practitioners. They do it because it is the right thing to do, not because of the money.

If this specialist advice was to be lost, more individuals would flounder, with consequences for their health, their mental well-being, their homes, and their families. For society, the financial costs can be enormous. The cost of legal aid is small by comparison.

I believe Parliament has been short-sighted in deciding to restrict the availability of legal aid. But we are where we are. Legal aid is being restricted, saving the Treasury just £450 million a year. This saving may well be exceeded by the fall out of not ensuring that people are properly advised and represented.

One consequence of changes to legal aid provision is to put in jeopardy independent advice centres up and down the country. Shelter, for example, has recently announced that it will be closing eight of its legal aid centres.

BHT’s own legal aid centres in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings have an uncertain future. Our legal aid funding is likely to be reduced by about 40%, thereby undermining the financial viability of these services. Already they run at a loss of over £200,000 each year.

One of the tough decisions for local councils is to decide whether to fund such services. Everyone knows that local government is having to make huge savings from their own budgets. To expect them not merely to maintain their investment in advice services but to increase it might appear, on the surface, to be unreasonable.

Yet there is a strong case for increased investment. Take BHT’s Brighton Advice Centre. It advises and represents 4,500 residents of Brighton and Hove each year and prevents 2,500 households from becoming homeless.

BHT does its part.  We bring into the City over a £1 million from the Legal Services Commission, Big Lottery funding and funding for work in the private rented sector.

So what does Brighton and Hove get from this investment? First and foremost it ensures that its residents have a first rate legal aid centre so that those who might otherwise flounder, who need breathing space, can have their complex problems dealt with through specialist advice and representation.

Using the concept of the ‘Local Multiplier’, the £1.5 million cost of our Brighton legal services is worth over £4 million to the local economy. The Local Multiplier has it that investment in jobs within the local economy sees that investment recycled within that economy to the factor of up to 3 times.

All of this leads me to say how delighted I am that the draft budget for the City Council is seeking to invest in advice services provided by BHT and others.  This is a matter above party politics and I hope that there will be all-party support for this part of the council’s budget.

Opposing the demonising of homeless men and women and applauding the actions of Hastings Borough Council

This is the text of my letter published in today’s Hastings Observer in response to very unpleasant comments about homeless households published in a recent edition of the paper (“Residents furious as homeless move in” 19 October 2012):

“I write in support of the action taken by Hastings Borough Council in securing emergency temporary accommodation for homeless households in St Leonards.

“While the concerns of neighbours should be heard, several of the statements reported in the Observer do not reflect well on the majority of residents of the town.

“The demonisation of homeless people by a resident of Eisenhower Drive is particularly unbecoming. There is no evidence from any chartered surveyor body that property prices fall merely because people in housing need are accommodated in a nearby facility. And to suggest that homeless men and women might vandalise a new car is particularly sad and reflects badly on the individual. Homeless people far more likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators.

“I was heartened, however, by the comment of another resident who said: ‘One of our friends recently had their homes repossessed and he needed emergency accommodation.’ He is right. Homelessness is happening to people from all classes and backgrounds. Hastings Borough Council should be applauded for its actions.”

Bringing services and organisations together must be the way forward

Today we had an event to mark the co-location of BHT’s Eastbourne Advice Centre with Eastbourne CAB. The purpose of this is to improve the service for clients as well as to save money. BHT Advice in Eastbourne has moved from its old offices into Highlight House, the existing home of the CAB.

This move follows closely on the heels of the setting up of the Advice and Community Hub in Hastings where three advice agencies, CAB 1066, the Hastings Advice and Representation Centre (HARC) and BHT Hastings Advice, now provide their services under one roof.

This approach, a testimony to the farsightedness of all agencies concerned, must be the way things will be done in the future. The CAB is the best known brand and will inevitably attract the greatest footfall. It should not matter to the other agencies if one agency has a higher profile than the others. What is important is that those needing general or specialist advice know where to go. And most people know the CAB.

The future for advice services looks grim. We need to do whatever it takes to make sure that those in need of advice and representation have the best possible chance of receiving it. I am very proud of that BHT Sussex is working with other agencies in this way. I hope to see more of it in the future.

Eastbourne CAB and BHT’s Eastbourne Advice Centre can be contacted at Highlight House, 8 St Leonard’s Road, Eastbourne, BN21 3UH