Keep Learning
I had the pleasure of speaking briefly to Stephen Brown on Friday - I say briefly, because it was literally no less than a minute. He asked me a question and I replied. My response was something I gave a great deal of thought. Should I respond with a thought provoking piece of wisdom from my parents or a quote from the Greek philosophers. But I stuck to what I know, breathe and am extremely passionate about. Learning. No matter who you are, what you think you know or whether you feel a certain amount of ignorance on any given topic, there is always something new to learn, some new piece of information to discover, some detail that causes us to react with an "Ah or Oh or Ooh" ! That light-bulb moment when the penny drops and our understanding of a complex topic falls into place.
Tackling Housing Debt & Eviction - Enhancing Occupier Engagement Through Improved Communication and Advice
Financial Fairness Trust & the University of Southampton
Introduction
Every year tens of thousands of households face the threat of losing their home due to rent or mortgage arrears. The impactthis can have on the health and wellbeing of those involved, particularly children, can be significant (Nettleton and Burrows2001; MIND 2011) not least for the reason that ‘home’ is often associated with security, safety, community and wellbeing (Fox O’Mahony 2007). Despite this, little is known about the experience of occupiers of the arrears process. What we do know is that a significant number of them do not participate in the arrears and possession process or do so only when it is too late to save their home (see, for example, Bright and Whitehouse 2014; Brookes and Hunter 2016; Whitehouse, Bright and Dhami 2019).
In an effort to understand the reasons for this, this project sought to capture the views and experiences of those with lived experience of housing debt and the threat of home loss. Based on these views, this project offers evidence-based proposals designed to improve engagement in the arrears and possessions process. Given the heightening of the pre-existing ‘landscape of precariousness’ (Forrest 1999) by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the cost of living crisis, an exploration of ways to improve engagement and reduce evictions seems both important and timely.
UK - Private Rent - July 2024
Office of National Statistics - 17th July 2024
The Price Index of Private Rents (PIPR) measures private rent inflation for new and existing tenancies. The UK House Price Index measures house price inflation and given the way in which rents have increased significantly over the last 2 years, it is of paramount importance to see just how rents differ within different parts of the UK.
Average UK private rents increased by 8.6% in the 12 months to June 2024 (provisional estimate), down from 8.7% in the 12 months to May 2024.
Average rents increased to £1,310 (8.6%) in England, £743 (8.2%) in Wales, and £959 (8.4%) in Scotland, in the 12 months to June 2024.
In Northern Ireland, average rents increased by 10.3% in the 12 months to April 2024.
In England, rents inflation was highest in London (9.7%) and lowest in the North East (5.9%), in the 12 months to June 2024.
Average UK house prices increased by 2.2%, to £285,000 in the 12 months to May 2024 (provisional estimate), up from 1.3% (revised estimate) in the 12 months to April 2024.
Average house prices increased in England to £302,000 (2.2%), in Wales to £216,000 (2.4%), and in Scotland to £191,000 (2.5%), in the 12 months to May 2024.
Consultations on new Property Licensing schemes launched.
Licensing is, of course, not a new initiative within the Private Rented Sector. The Housing Act 2004 (the Act) introduced a range of measures designed to address to improve the management of HMOs. The Act introduced mandatory licensing of all HMOs which are occupied by five or more persons forming two or more households.It also introduced two types of discretionary licensing. These are additional licensing, where a council can impose a licence on other HMOs in its area which are not subject to mandatory licensing, but where the council considers that poor management of the properties is causing problems either for the occupants or the general public, and selective licensing to cover all privately rented property in areas which suffer or are likely to suffer from low housing demand and also to those that suffer from significant and persistent anti-social behaviour. Other measures include management orders and rent repayment orders.