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January 2021

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Social housing arrears 40% higher in areas with tighter local restrictions, survey show

Inside Housing 07.12.20

The level of rent arrears reported by social landlords operating in areas with tighter COVID-19 restrictions in October was 40% higher than in those with the lowest level of restrictions, a sector survey has revealed. 

Data obtained by HouseMark shows that the overall level of arrears within the social housing sector continued to fall marginally to the end of October, when sector-wide arrears stood at 3.48% compared with a peak of 3.69% in June.

However, the survey of 115 social housing providers also picked up on a regional variation in arrears figures, with those operating in areas with higher-tier restrictions reporting average arrears of 4.28% compared with 3.07% in areas with lower restrictions.

As of 31 October, almost 70% of social housing was under additional restrictions, which is 1.5 million more homes than at the end of September.

The data comes as the vast majority of England moves into the two toughest tiers of coronavirus restrictions following a month-long national lockdown.

HouseMark’s survey also revealed that the number of lettings being carried out by the social housing sector in October increased by 22%.

But vacancy rates were still 36% higher than they were during 2019/20, representing 11,500 empty homes across the UK.

HouseMark predicts the sector lost £31.5m in income due to the drop in lettings activity during the pandemic.

Since August, repairs have increased by over 30%, however completion rates for emergency and non-emergency jobs declined slightly in October from 84% to 83%.

This is the eight month in a row that HouseMark has published its survey looking into how landlords are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Together, the 115 housing associations, councils and ALMOs which responded to this month’s survey manage more than 1.3 million homes and employ more than 40,000 staff.

Commenting on this month’s analysis, Laurice Ponting, chief executive of HouseMark, said: “Significant challenges remain for income lines impacted by arrears, empty homes and delays to development programmes.

“Coupled with the increase in reported repairs alongside the potential for further service disruption and increased operating costs, landlords will need to move quickly to understand the impact on their business and take mitigating action.

“With some landlords set to be hit significantly harder than others, understanding performance in relation to peers will be crucial.

“The ongoing crisis response is adding to an already complex agenda being managed by boards and executives – we will continue to help our members and the UK sector understand the wider impact, as well as contextualize their own performance, in anything but ‘normal’ times.”

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Every Child in the UK Deserves a Safe and Secure Home Human Rights Watch 14 December 2020

Government Needs to Ensure Adequate Housing for Homeless Families

For children in the United Kingdom living in stable and secure homes, waking up in their own beds, this holiday season will be a welcome distraction from a bleak year. But many children across the country do not feel the same safety and stability when they wake up. The number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation in England is estimated to be a shocking 136,000, 80 percent more than in 2010.

This number represents children currently living in hostels, bed and breakfasts, temporary rented houses, and converted units. It does not include the countless homeless families forced to sofa-surf or stay with friends.

The government outlines that temporary accommodation must be “suitable” in terms of space, location, and affordability. However in reality these accommodations are often inappropriate for children, being of poor quality, too small, or even dangerous. In many hostels and bed and breakfasts, children might share bathroom and kitchen facilities with non-family adults. In other cases, families might live in poorly designed spaces such as converted office buildings where whole families are squeezed into single rooms the size of a parking space or in converted shipping containers which become freezing in the winter.

Moreover, this temporary accommodation is often not temporary at all, as shortages of social housing or affordable rents mean that families are spending longer periods living in limbo. It starts out as just a short-term solution, but families are increasingly having to watch their children grow up in these placements.

Inadequate housing affects children’s health, development, and education, and may reinforce patterns of socio-economic inequality. A recent study by the homelessness charity Shelter revealed the negative effect homelessness has on children’s education. Teachers reported children missing school, sometimes as a result of being moved far away or fatigue because their poor accommodation makes it difficult to sleep. The situation worsened during Covid-19-related school closures, with teachers reporting that homeless children often don’t have the space, privacy, or equipment to concentrate on schoolwork.

Children have a right to adequate housing and this should be enforceable in law. The government should develop better housing solutions for homeless families, ensuring sufficient quality and minimum length of stay requirements. The government should also plan to build more affordable homes. Only then will children of all economic backgrounds have a chance to wake up on Christmas feeling safe and secure in their own beds.

Children looked after in England inc adoptions Office of National Statistics 10 December 2020

Headline facts and figures – 2020

Children looked after on 31 March

At 31 March, the number of children looked after (CLA) by local authorities in England rose to 80,080, up 2%, and continuing the rise seen in recent years. This is a rate of 67 per 10,000 children - up from 65 in 2019 and 64 in 2018. 

Rates per 10,000 children - Blackpool has the highest at 223 - Wokingham has the lowest at 24.

Characteristics of children looked after

The general characteristics of CLA are similar to last year - 56% are male, 39% were aged 10-15 years and 74% were of white ethnic origin.

Reasons for being looked after

When a child is assessed by children's services their primary need is recorded. There are a range of reasons why a child is looked after, figures have remained broadly stable over the past 3 years. However, the most common reason is abuse or neglect, which has been gradually rising over a number of years. 

Legal status of  children looked after

There has been a noticeable change in the legal status of CLA in recent years. Both the number and proportion of CLA under a care order have increased, whilst the number and proportion looked after under a voluntary agreement (under section 20 of the Children Act 1989) have decreased. This is following a family court ruling in 2015 on the use of voluntary agreements.

Placements of children looked after

The majority of the 80,080 CLA are placed in a foster placement, where an approved carer looks after the child - 72%. 

Foster placements can be with a relative or friend, or another carer . The proportion of CLA in foster placements with a relative or friend have increased very slightly up to 14%, from 13% in each of the last two years. The proportion of CLA in foster placements with another carer (not a relative or friend) has decreased to 57%, down from 58% last year and 60% in 2018. 

The remaining CLA were placed:

· in secure units, children's homes or semi-independent living accommodation (for example hostels, lodgings or flats where staff are employed to provide support and advice) - 13% - same as last year

· with parents - 7% - same as last year

· in the community, living independently, or in residential employment -3% - down from 4% last year

· for adoption - 3% - same as last year

· in other residential settings (including care homes, schools or custody) - 2% - same as last year

Placement stability is important - most CLA (68%) had one placement in the year but 11% had three or more.

Locality of placements

Local authorities have a general duty to provide accommodation that is within the local authorities' area, that meets the need of the child and allows the child to live near their home. 

Placements inside the council boundary accounted for 58% of all CLA placements, 

The majority of CLA were placed within 20 miles of home - 73% - but 20% were not. Information for the remaining 7% was not known or not recorded - this could be because the home address is not known, the child is UASC, or for reasons of confidentiality for example children placed for adoption. As expected, location of placement varies by placement type - children placed for adoption are the most likely to be placed over 20 miles from home and children placed with parents or in a foster placement are most likely to be placed 20 miles or less from home.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC)

UASC are children, who have applied for asylum in their own right and are separated from both parents and/or any other responsible adult. Local authorities have a legal duty to provide accommodation for these children.

The number of UASC was 5,000, down 3% on the peak of 5,140 UASC last year. UASC are a distinct group of CLA and currently represent around 6% of all CLA. 

UASC are generally male - 90% - and older - 86% are aged 16 and over which is up from 85% last year and 81% in 2018. Absent parenting was the main category of need for these young people - 87%.

UASC are not distributed evenly across the country - they tend to be concentrated in local authorities that are points of entry to the country, for example Kent or Croydon.

Children starting to be looked after

The ages of children starting to be looked after are quite evenly spread across the age groups; 19% were aged under 1 year, 17% were aged 1 to 4 years, 16% were aged 5 to 9 years, 27% were aged 10 to 15 years and 20% were aged 16 years and over.

Children looked after who were missing

Missing incidents were reported for 11% of CLA (12,430 children) in 2020 and there were 81,090 missing incidents.  This is an average (mean) of 6.5 missing incidents per child who went missing. 

Children looked after who were adopted

The number of CLA who were adopted fell by 4% to 3,440 from 3,590 in 2019. Adoptions rose sharply from 2011 to a peak in 2015 at 5,360 but has since been decreasing. This is in line with the decrease in the number of looked after children with a placement order seen over recent years. This pattern follows two court rulings in 2013, which stated that adoption orders should be made only when there was no other alternative, such as placing a child with birth relatives.

Activity of former care leavers

For 17-year olds - there were 480 care leavers in 2020 -  59% were male and 41% were female. Of these young people:

· 37% were in education

· 12% in training or employment

· 27% were known to be not in education, employment or training (NEET)

· but information was not known for 24%

For 18-year olds - there were 11,220 care leavers in 2020 - 64% were male and 36% were female. Of these young people:

· 48% were in education,

· 17% in training or employment

· 31% were NEET

· information was not known for 5%

For 19- to 21- year olds - there were 31,260 care leavers in 2020 - 61% were male and 39% were female. Of these young people:

· 6% were known to be in higher education

· 20% were in other education

· 26% were in training or employment

· 39% were NEET, compared to around 13% of all young people aged 19 to 21 years

· information was not known for 9%

Accommodation of former care leavers

As former care leavers get older, they tend to transition into more independent living arrangements.

For 17-year-old care leavers 46% were living with parents, 6% were in semi-independent transitional accommodation and 9% were in custody (however, for 24% the information was not known).

For 18-year-old care leavers 30% were in semi-independent transitional accommodation, 19% were with former foster carers, 11% were in independent living and 11% were living with parents or relatives. Information was not known for 5% of young people.

For 19- to 21-year-old care leavers 35% were living independently, 15% were living in semi-independent transitional accommodation, 11% were living with parents or relatives and 8% were living with former foster carers. Information was not known for 9% of young people.

“Staying Put”

The number and proportion of 19- and 20-year-olds who ceased to be looked after on their 18th birthday and who were still living with their former foster carers (‘Staying Put’) increased slightly from 26% in 2019 to 28% in 2020. 

Children who ceased being looked after in a foster placement aged 18, who remained with their foster carers 3 months after their 18th birthday was 58% (1,970 young people) - up from 57% last year (1,970 young people) and 55% in 2018 (1,810 young people).

The Money Charity Statistics December 2020

Everyday in the UK

· The population of the UK grew by an estimated 990 people a day between 2018 and 2019.

· On average, a UK household spends £4.16 a day on water, electricity and gas.

· 316 people a day were declared insolvent or bankrupt in England or Wales in September to November 2020. This was equivalent to one person every 4 minutes and 34 seconds.

· 1.7 properties was repossessed every day in July to September 2020 in the UK, or one every 13 hours and 48 minutes.

The number of people unemployed in the UK grew by 2,620 per day in the three months to October 2020.

4,022 people a day reported they had become redundant in August to October 2020.

80 years ago this weekend

The Roberts Centre building was built to be St. Faith’s Church Mission hall and 80 years ago this weekend St. Faiths was destroyed and the Mission Hall (ECRC) became the Church for the next 20 years

AIR RAIDS DURING THE PORTSMOUTH BLITZ

German air raids against Britain during The Blitz followed the German Luftwaffes failure to establish air superiority in the Battle of Britain. It has been estimated that about 40,000 civilians were killed, 46,000 injured, and more than a million homes destroyed and damaged in Britain, during this period. The word Blitz is a shortening of the German word blitzkrieg, meaning "lightning war," the literal translation of the German word "Blitz" is "lightning".

The City of Portsmouth, home to the Royal Navy, with facilities such as, Portsmouth Dockyard as well as countless other military and industrial installations, was obviously a prime target for bombing raids by the German Luftwaffe.

Portsmouth officially suffered 67 air raids between July 1940 and May 1944, three of these categorised as major attacks. The three major raids took place on August 24th 1940, January 10th 1941 and March 10th 1941.

PORTSMOUTH BLITZ CASUALTIES

During the 4 year period of the Portsmouth Blitz 930 people were killed, 1,216 hospitalised and a further 1,621 suffered less severe injuries. It is estimated that almost 10 per cent of the city's 63,000 homes were destroyed approximately 6,000 were damaged and almost 69,000 houses suffered some form of minor bomb damage.

On the 24th of August 1940 The Princes Theatre in Lake Road, was bombed during an air raid whilst a matinee performance was taking place. Due to communication problems no air raid warning was given, 8 children were killed in the bombing and many more were injured.

Although locations such as the naval base, military installations and factories were undoubtedly the primary targets, aerial targeting at that time was not particularly accurate, especially during night time raids when visual methods could not be used, other methods such as dead reckoning or radio triangulation were used instead, as a result large numbers of civilian residential areas were hit as mentioned above.

The Germans also believed that heavy civilian casualties would put pressure on the British Government to find a peaceful resolution to the war. German bombers often dropped their bombs early to avoid the heavy defences close to their intended targets, but whatever the reason the result was the same, massive destruction in residential and commercial areas with all parts of the city being effected.

To the outrage, understandably, of local residents less populated areas such as Hayling Island were deliberately used as decoys for the German bombing runs. Temporary buildings were constructed and the lights were left on during raids, also fires were lit to imitate the effect of incendiary devices. Using these tactics bombers were tempted to drop their bombs onto Hayling Island instead of Portsea Island thereby saving many lives in the more densely populated Portsmouth areas.

The bombs dropped onto the city were a combination of high explosives and more commonly incendiary devices designed to cause fires. According to German records as many as 40,000 incendiary devices were dropped during the major raid on the night of the 10th - 11th January 1941. There were additional casualties in Portsmouth Dockyard and other naval or military establishments.

To some extent the city was prepared for the bombing raids, 25,000 Anderson shelters were supplied by the government, but it is difficult to establish exactly how many of these were actually erected, some 14,000 were installed by City Engineers, but many of the shelters were delivered to house holders to erect themselves. In addition to these 123 semi underground trench shelters were built as well as more substantial brick built shelters, tunnels cut into Portsdown Hill were also used as shelters. It is widely believed that the death toll would have been significantly higher, were it not for the preparation taken to provide private these shelters and the work undertaken by the Civil Defence services.

The city was also heavily defended with searchlights, anti-aircraft artillery, barrage balloons and fighter aircraft. During the worst of the bombing, many householders left their homes during the night and sought shelter in the more rural areas to the north of Portsea Island.

Many of Portsmouth's great buildings were either damaged or destroyed during this period and some would argue, along with other British cities damaged during the Blitz, that the architecture of Portsmouth never fully recovered. Portsmouth Guildhall was severely damaged by fire after it was hit by incendiary devices and many items such as paintings were lost, also severely damaged was the Royal Garrison Church in Old Portsmouth. Other damage included, 30 churches destroyed, 8 schools destroyed, 1 hospital destroyed another badly damaged, 150 pubs and licensed premises destroyed and the principal shopping areas such as Commercial Road and Palmerston Road were virtually obliterated.

The urgent need for post-war redevelopment and the urgency required to rehouse people, led to the mismatch of ancient and modern buildings that can be seen juxtaposed around the city today. Following the war time destruction in the city, many residents were permanently rehoused in new housing schemes located away from Portsea Island such as Leigh Park and Paulsgrove. In addition new residential areas were developed within the city with the building of high rise tower blocks in Buckland, Somers Town, Landport and Portsea.

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