Lewes Labour - A strong voice for Lewes in tough times » Housing

There is no place like home

Lewes Labour - Campaign team — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:00:19 +0000

You may have heard the news that under this Tory-led Government, there has been a 17% increase in the number of families losing their homes.

These aren’t just dry statistics – they are real families facing homelessness.

The Government must change course, stop cutting too far and too fast and come up with a Plan B for the economy – before more people lose their homes.

Help us send that message by signing the petition

Liberal Democrats Show their true colours

Louis Blair — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 11:57:55 +0000

It would seem that this was the week that the Lib Dems revealed their true nature as "liberal" cover for right wing Tory policies.

Firstly, the Government announced an huge extension of the Right to Buy which would allegedly allow Councils to replace the homes sold. However, they glossed over how homes could be replaced when 50% of the value was lost in the discount and the fact that any new homes that were provided would be close to private rents way above existing Council rents. This policy could lead to Lewes District losing homes which will never be replaced at huge cost to families in our community.

Lewes Labour supports making affordable home ownership available to more tenants but not at the cost of decimating our limited social housing stock.

Next, poor old Vince Cable proposed that companies with under ten employees should be able to hire and fire at will without employees having any employment protection or recourse to employment tribunals. At a time of great job insecurity and low confidence how can spreading fear be an answer to the problems of our stagnant economy.

I don’t know if these Lib Dem stooges and their Tory masters are just taking us back to Thatcherism, its starting to look more like the 1930′s.

Rent Rises Rocket

Lewes Labour - Campaign team — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 08:37:46 +0000

RENT RISES ROCKET

http://hbhelp.co.uk/theangryclaimant/

On the housing waiting list?

Hoping for a transfer or exchange?

Trying to move vulnerable people on to permanent housing?

A rude shock could await you after this April.

For ages governments have tried to stop councils building new housing. They think housing associations should build all the housing at affordable rents.

Now the government has told associations that, if they want to build new homes they should let them at “up to” 80% of the open market rent in the private sector. This will apply to existing homes that they re-let as well. If they want to let at lower than this figure they will have to have a very good story indeed.

This is despite that fact that scarcity and the lack of rent regulation has meant that private sector rents are so sky-high that even the government is worried and that almost no one rents in the private sector for longer than they have to.

In the last newsletter I showed you what the market rent for one bedroomed flats in the area was:

Rents of one bedroomed flats at 80% of the market rent would be

Lewes and Ringmer- £120-134

Newhaven £102-110

Seaford £102-106

Peacehaven £103-118

Brighton £120-£140

And that’s just for one bedroomed flats. For larger places the rents will be higher.

Most affordable rented housing in Lewes and Brighton is still owned by councils. That’s largely thanks to the Lib Dem council in Lewes and the Defend Council Housing in Brighton.

Many housing associations, especially smaller ones, are saying no to the government. They are saying that they will give up building new homes instead.

But a number of bigger ones are still thinking about it.

Here are the bigger associations operating in Lewes District according to the Tenant Services Agency- with their web site addresses.

A2Dominion www.a2dominion.co.uk
Affinity Sutton http://www.affinitysutton.com/
Guinness http://www.guinnesspartnership.com/living
Hastoe http://www.hastoe.com/
Home http://www.homegroup.org.uk/
Hyde http://www.hyde-housing.co.uk/
Orbit http://www.orbitsouth.org.uk
Places for People http://www.placesforpeople.co.uk/
Southern http://www.southernhousinggroup.co.uk

Here is the list for Brighton

A2Dominion www.a2dominion.co.uk
Affinity Sutton http://www.affinitysutton.com/
Guinness http://www.guinnesspartnership.com/living
Home http://www.homegroup.org.uk/
Hyde http://www.hyde-housing.co.uk/
Moat http://www.moat.co.uk/
Orbit http://www.orbitsouth.org.uk
Places for People http://www.placesforpeople.co.uk/
Raglan http://www.raglan.org/main.cfm
Southern http://www.southernhousinggroup.co.uk

You might want to contact them to ask them what sort of rents they intend to charge and to give them your views. Southern and Guinness are the two biggest landlords.

They may tell you that the new high rents are necessary in order to build new homes, but if they do, ask them where they will be. Many of these associations operate all over the country, and there is no obligation to build homes in Lewes and Brighton, where it is expensive to build.

You could also ask your local council members what they think of all this. Councils have the right to nominate people on the waiting list to take up tenancies with these associations. Sometimes the council will have an agreement with associations about what rents can be charged which limits the rent. Ask your council member if they have an agreement like this and if they will enforce it.

Find Lewes District Council members here

Find Brighton Council Members here

HELP AND ADVICE

Regrettably the angry claimant doesn’t have the resources to give advice about individual cases. But you can get advice here:

Lewes Citizens Advice, 3 North Court, Lewes East SussexBN7 2AR phone 01273 473082 web www.lewesadvice.org.uk

Newhaven Advice Hub, Summerhayes Centre, Newhaven, 01273 612360

East Sussex Disability Association (ESDA) – advice for people with disabilities- web http://www.esda.org.uk/benefitsadvice/71 phone 01323 514500

Age UK, benefits advice for older people, Lewes and Wealden 01273 476704 Ext 235

For a list of advice centres in Brighton see http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/downloads/bhcc/socialjustice/Where_To_Get_Advice.pdf

Always phone before visiting if you can to check opening hours and if they can help you.

Private solicitors may be able to offer advice under the legal advice scheme, but the government plans to close this.

If you have a disability or illness the organisation set up to cater for the condition may offer help with benefits.

There are a number of written guides to benefits. The Disability Rights Handbook is good if you have a disability. The Child Poverty Action Group sells a wide range of guides.

WHAT’S THIS ABOUT?

I’ve been involved in social security for over 40 years and I’ve been constantly amazed at how little people know about it. We are nearly all claimants, contributing to the national insurance system and claiming child benefit, retirement pension and other benefits. But most people understand very little about what they are paying for, how much they are paying, and what they are paying for.

This was brought home to me when I was engaging in debate with a an experienced Lewes district councillor, who didn’t appear to know that the council was about to be made completely responsible for devising a new system of council tax benefits, with 10% less money than the government currently spends on the benefit!

It seems to me that there is a real danger of the government getting away with its cuts in benefit because people do not understand what is going on and how it will affect our neck of the woods. So I’ve started this newsletter. It doesn’t aim to give benefits advice. There are lots of sources of that. (See below). It does try to explain what the system is and how the government’s changes will affect Lewes and Brighton. Its aim is to improve knowledge, so you are welcome to forward it on to other people and to use the material in the newsletter, providing that you give me a credit and run any changes past me

This article reproduced courtesy of :

Chris Smith.

Chris Smith, HBHelp

email chris.smith@hbhelp.co.uk

web http://www.hbhelp.co.uk

Where is the affordable housing in Lewes?

Lewes Labour - Campaign team — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 09:02:00 +0000

At a time when other parties are more concerned with plastic bags and allowing turbines to be built, the Labour Party here in Lewes has been quietly bringing forward the idea of basic needs, fthe most immediate example being a roof over your head.

Prices have rocketed in Lewes in the last 15 years. A house that cost £ 59, 000 in 1991 is now worth near £300,000. The children of local residents are finding it harder to get a house or flat in Lewes, keyworkers like nurses also have difficulty.

Labour is asking why are there not MORE affordable houses built. Housing and development is a growth industry in the area, where is the encouragement from our local councils to ensure housing is available for everyone.

The Labour Government is providing more money for affordable housing, and it has been a commitment for Gordon Browns new administration.

A recent National Housing Federation report shows “that continuing house price rises and the resulting housing crisis are set to stay with us for a long time,” (NHF chief executive David Orr.)

And while homeowners may view the surge in prices as good news, David Orr did warn they carried a “sting in the tail”.,

“A growing number of parents will find themselves subsidising their sons’ and daughters’ mortgages,” he said.

“And, across the country, more and more people are going to find themselves priced out of the property market – and struggling to find a decent home.”

In order to tackle the problem the government must press ahead as soon as possible with its plans to build more homes – and make sure an additional 70,000 social homes are built each year. (Source BBC News and the National Housing Federation)

What is our council doing say local campaigners Sam Hasan and Jonathan Spencer, this is a serious issue for everyone.