1. Housing and Community Part 2

2. What you need to know Part 1 Part 2 (later on!) • The Housing Act:
• Tenancy Deposit Protection and Assured Shorthold Tenancies
Licensing
Health and Safety Rating System
• What the coalition means for student housing
Tenancy Deposit Protection
• Changes to departments
Approved Codes
• Living Together, Working Together
• Planning Legislation
Use Class Orders
• Working with your local authority
Planning development orders
• Accommodation Costs Survey 2009/10

3. The coalition Emergency Budget 2010: £11bn cuts to the welfare budget.
Eric Pickles
Secretary of State for Communities
MP for Castle Point
Emergency Budget 2010: £11bn cuts to the welfare budget.
CLG = 25% budget cuts ‘operational budgets’
HE = 25% cuts – end of capital spends?
Shapps doesn’t attend Cabinet
Housing benefit cuts of £1.8bn
Benefits linked to CPI – rents generally rise faster though
Grant Shapps,
Minister for Housing
MP for Welwyn Hatfield

4. 1. PRS
Shapps – ‘I want to create order in the sector without regulation’
17th June – out with Rugg
No written tenancy agreements
No regulation of letting agents
No national register of landlords
No tenant feedback website
Still changing TDP threshold – from 1st October

5. 1. PRS A new era? Accreditation?
Landlords can’t justify the costs of regulation for increasing rents?
Letting agencies?

6. 1/2. PRS/Community The Coalition on UCOs
Shapps – ‘My concern is to ensure that we do not have a system in place … so overarching …’
Use Class Order C3 and C4 remains
However, both are permitted development rights, i.e. no-one needs to apply for planning permission
Unless, they introduce an Article 4 direction
If they introduce it in under a year, they will have to pay compensation to landlords.
HMO Lobby: Traffic light system?
LDOs – ‘a means for the planning system to incentivise development in a way that meets a whole range of locally specific policy objectives’

7. 1/2. PRS/Community NUS response:
Shapps’ suggestion a better compromise
Vast improvement on the current situation
Does the C4 really need to start at 3 people?
How will students and students’ unions be engaged in consultations?
Still anti-student?
‘we will ensure that councils in areas such as Southampton maintain those powers. My only concern is to ensure that we do not have a system in place for homes in multiple occupation that is so overarching that it applies to areas where student HMOs are not a problem’.

8. 2. Community Living together, working together: Launched on 5th July
Good practice partnership working
Key themes to consider
Strategy
Breaking Barriers
Solution
Regeneration
Demographic changes and realistic policy making

9. 2. Community Working with local authorities: - Localism agenda
- National Citizenship Scheme / Big Society
The Executive
The Cabinet
Sustainable Community Strategies
Local Area Agreements (LAAs)
National indicators – how to tie up with objectives
Building relationships with articular departments

10. 3. Accommodation
Can rents continue to rise – early signs of resistance?
What is it that students actually want?
Value for money
Choice
Ensuite – CUBO research suggests that students do favour ensuite accommodation but also willing to share or opt for lower-spect accommodation to reduce costs
More nomination agreements?
More lower-cost alternatives?
Short-term lets
More diversity in provision? E.g. Family accommodation?

11. 3. Accommodation Costs Strategic development and planning
Accommodation should include a range of costs, specifications, types
Students should be consulted on what they want from their housing
Student support
Costs of accommodation should factor in what students are receiving
Transparency
All costs should be clear and up front
Sustainability
Students need to be able to see what they are using
EPCs should be available for all tenants

12. 3. How to use the ACS Using the accommodation costs survey
1. Build a picture of what student accommodation is, how it has changed over the years, what its purpose is
2. Look at the national averages – how does your accommodation compare
3. Meet with local council, accommodation office, student advice centre – what are the plans for student accommodation, are your students’ needs being met?

13. Now, over to you!

14. Scenarios
Student parents and disabled students have been coming to your advice centre concerned about the reduction in their housing benefit, and reductions in rent mean the SU cannot supplement this. Put together an action plan for what action you might take to support these students.
Your local authority is ‘running’ a failing accreditation scheme – it doesn‘t update lists, run and landlord training or inspect properties. What are you going to do?
Your local authority has published a paper on dealing the ‘issues’ of ‘student’ homes on local communities. It recommends an immediate ban on any houses becoming HMOs in areas where there are more than 20% in a neighbourhood, and in future removing permitted development rights to convert a C3 into a C4 dwelling. Draw up an action plan of evidence to gather, people to speak to, any potential campaigns or lobbying activity you might need to run
You Director of Housing Services has announced that to increase income they will be increasing their rental structures by 8%, cancelling the right of students to terminate their contract and selling the lower-cost, older accommodation to Freedom Living Inc. What are you going to do?

15. More information
NUS Connect – campaigns, detailed information about changes, report downloads
NUS website – tenants rights and responsibilities, house hunting guides etc
Shelter – housing rights and responsibilities, help line
Crisis –
Citizens Advice Bureaux / Student Advice Centres