Government cost of living support ‘will fall at least £1,600 short’ in helping families

A new report concludes that the current flat-rate payments offered by the government will fall “at least £1,600 short” of making up for recent changes to living costs and benefits faced by a couple with two children. The report, written … Read more

51% of adults ‘using less gas and electricity in their home’ due to cost of living crisis

A new Office for National Statistics survey has found that around 24 million people in Great Britain were reducing energy use in their home between March and June 2022, and around 16 million cut back on food and essentials. Around … Read more

Interest rates rise by 0.5%

The Bank of England has announced that interest rates set to rise to 1.75% — the highest jump in 27 years. There is also a recession forecast in the latest update, as well as a prediction that inflation will hit 13% … Read more

Energy Bills Support Scheme details released

The government has set out further details of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. The £400 discount, administered by energy suppliers, will be paid to consumers over six months with payments starting from October 2022, to ensure households receive financial support … Read more

Tips for completing the VfM section in the financial statements

In April 2022, I presented a VfM masterclass with the RSH and the following are the key issues that were raised that would enhance the VfM report: Read section 4 of the RSH’s VfM metrics report 2021 which gives advice … Read more

Social Housing Pension Scheme deficit falls

The Social Housing Pension Scheme’s deficit has fallen by £615m, the company that manages the scheme has said. The organisation put this down as “better than expected” investment returns, with funding also improving from 77% in 2020 to 84% as … Read more

My key takeaways from Rent Compliance event

I recently presented at a HQN rent compliance event and the key takeaways were: Constantly review and sense check the quality of the rent setting data that you hold Keep an eye on RPI – which was 11.8% in June … Read more

8.2 million households could be in fuel poverty in October

National Energy Action is predicting that 8.2 million UK households will be in fuel poverty, if bills increase by 60%. That amounts to one in three households. Energy experts Cornwall Insight predicted that when the price cap rises in October, … Read more

Housing association agrees £50m funding package with Santander UK

Santander UK has provided Watford Community Housing with a £50m funding package to “support its delivery of more than a thousand new homes in Hertfordshire by 2028.” The five-year revolving credit facility will assist the housing association in “significantly growing … Read more

Housing association says customer data ‘not accessed’ in cyber attack

Clarion Housing Group has given an update on the recent cyber security incident, saying that “we are now confident that our Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which is our main store of customer data, was not accessed”. The housing association … Read more

Regulator of Social Housing sets out consumer regulation lessons from past year

The Regulator of Social Housing has published a review of its consumer regulation work between 1 April 2021 and 31 March 2022. This year the regulator received more than 650 referrals from tenants, registered providers of social housing and other sources. … Read more

Government to launch new scheme in September to allow for sale of high-rise flats

The government has announced that it will launch a new insurance scheme in September that will “enable the sale of flats in thousands of high-rise buildings.” The insurance scheme, created by The Government Actuary’s Department (GAD), will mean there is … Read more

Regulator finds Yorkshire-based housing association in breach of Rent Standard

The Regulator of Social Housing has concluded that Incommunities has breached the Rent Standard. Following a self-referral, RSH found that Incommunities had set rents incorrectly for hundreds of tenants. The housing association had wrongly classified some of its homes as supported housing. … Read more

The HQN rent compliance conference 2022

We are pleased to announce that HQN’s annual rent compliance conference takes place on Thursday, 8th September. The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Setting rents in a cost-of-living crisis’ and we are delighted to confirm that the Regulator of … Read more

Housing Quality Magazine July 2022

@housing2022 – Colette Mckune, Group Chief Executive, ForViva

Latest member question: What impact will a high RPI have on the shared ownership market?

On 22 June 2022 the office of national statistics announced that April’s 12-months epi was 9.1% and the RPI was 11.7%. the sectors rent formula for general needs and sheltered housing is based on September’s CPI plus 1%. So we … Read more

Notes from the Rent Compliance Forum (April 2022)

The notes from the first Rent Compliance Forum we held in April have now been published: shorturl.at/qvHIP Places are available for the next forum, which takes place on 19th July from 2pm to 5pm. You can book here: https://hqnetwork.co.uk/events/rent-compliance-forum-learning-lessons-and-sharing-best-practice-2/

Rent compliance forum – send us your questions

Just a reminder that the next HQN Rent Compliance Forum takes place on Tuesday, 19th July from 2pm to 5pm. For our second virtual forum, we will discuss and understand the impact of the 2022/23 rent increase on tenants and … Read more

Finance Manager – Services & Leasehold

Onward Homes is one of the largest registered providers of social housing in the North West, with 35,000 properties across the region. We believe that everyone deserves a place to call their own, which is why we’re committed to building … Read more

Worries about the rising costs of living, Great Britain: April to May 2022 – ONS

The ONS has published its latest research into the impact of the rising cost of living in Great Britain. Here are some of the main findings: Around three in four adults (77%) reported feeling very or somewhat worried about the … Read more

Johnson: Building safety fears could ‘unnecessarily undermine the confidence of the market’

Boris Johnson has batted away concerns about building safety, after being quizzed on it at yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions. Questioned by Paul Blomfield around whether he would meet his constituent regarding the cladding scandal, the Prime Minister said: “I have … Read more

Opinion: Budget breakdown

By Colin Wiles, housing consultant. It could have been worse. It could have been better. That seems to be the consensus view from UK housing about last week’s budget. There could have been a rent freeze; there could have been a cut to … Read more

£150m pledge for social home insulation and clean energy

The Welsh Government has pledged £150m in funding for insulation, clean energy, and carbon reduction in the country’s social homes. Deputy Minister for Climate Change, Lee Waters, explained how the government’s Optimised Retrofit Programme will assess what technologies work best … Read more

Government urged to set out ‘long-term funding plans to decarbonise heating beyond 2025’

A cross-party group of MPs have come together to put pressure on the government’s commitments on net zero in housing. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee is making the calls as part of a new report, which is looking … Read more

34,500 home merger plans approved by boards and shareholders

The merger between Aster Group and Central and Cecil has been approved by both boards and shareholders. The combined business, which will come together in January 2022, will own and manage 34,500 homes and will have the capacity to deliver … Read more

Budget: Sector responds to £24bn ‘multi-year housing settlement’ and universal credit taper changes

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has today outlined his Budget, unveiling a £24bn pot for housing investment and reducing the universal credit taper rate from 63% to 55%. Below are the sector responses. Responding to the Budget, Katie Schmuecker, Deputy Director of Policy & Partnerships at JRF said: “This is a tale … Read more

Budget: Sunak announces new universal credit taper rate of 55p

The Chancellor has announced that the universal credit taper rate will be reduced from 63p to 55p. Calling it a “hidden tax on work”, Rishi Sunak said the policy would be “introduced within weeks, no later than 1st December”. Hinted at … Read more

Budget: Sunak unveils £24bn ‘multi-year housing settlement’

The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has used his Autumn Statement and Budget to announce a “multi-year housing settlement” of £24bn. Part of that is the previously announced £11.5bn Affordable Homes Programme and £1.5bn brownfield land funding, revealed earlier in the week but lower … Read more

Latest Regulator statistics show rising rents and decreasing social rent homes

The Regulator of Social Housing has released its annual social housing sector stock and rents statistics, showing an increase in rents and a reduction in the number of social rented homes. Returns from all registered providers of social housing show … Read more