ROOF Blog

Local authorities should not adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach when granting planning permission for housing, and should move away from the approach to planning policy that led to large-scale construction of high-density flats on urban brownfield land, according to a report from the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU), a quango set up to advise government on housing policy. The NHPAU looked at the development of housing in a variety of densities and locations and concluded that while high-density housing was sometimes the most valuable, it often was not.

John Healey has extended the government’s campaign to help struggling homeowners get a grip on their finances and avoid repossession. Over 330,000 households have had help and advice with their mortgages over the past year. But with the pressure on families likely to remain high throughout 2010, starting this week the government is working with CAB to run a string of local help events in 56 repossession ‘hotspots’, so that struggling homeowners can get impartial face-to-face help and advice to keep their home. New radio and local press advertising in all 56 areas will also promote the free telephone advice line and special website to help homeowners struggling with their mortgage payments.

Mortgage lenders are failing to follow rules designed to help people avoid repossession, according to a damning report published today.

The joint report by AdviceUK, Citizens Advice and Shelter found that in a third of recorded cases mortgage lenders had failed to comply with new rules – known as the ‘pre-action protocol’ – requiring them to take court action as a last resort only.

Before starting legal action, lenders should offer borrowers other options for dealing with their arrears – however, judges only verified they had done so in a handful of cases.

Published on the same day as new repossession figures are expected from the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the ‘Turning the Tide?’ report is based on research into hundreds of cases seen by advisers who give last-minute advice to people at court on the day of their repossession hearings.

Charities are urging the government to do more to help tenants, claiming 1.3 million low income households are struggling with their finances.

Shelter and the Money Advice Trust said 90 per cent of households earning under £20,000 (£25,000 in London) are in financial trouble, compared to 56 per cent in 2006.

They want the government to address affordability in the private rented sector and offer advice and support. Nearly 50 per cent of those in trouble had not received advice in the last year.

According to the survey carried out by the two charities, four out of 10 people on low incomes said their debts were impacting on their health – rising to 50 per cent among households with children.

It also found 60 per cent of households in receipt of housing benefits or local housing allowance received less than the cost of their rent.

Shelter director of policy and campaigns, Kay Boycott, said many tenants at the lower end of the private rented sector faced a ‘daily battle’ to ‘keep their heads above water’.

‘The government must recognise the significant role the private rented sector is playing in bearing the brunt of this recession by increasing funding for advice and support services, and setting out a long-term vision for the sector,’ she said.

More help was offered to struggling homeowners as the government officially named 34 repossession ‘hotspots’ across the country – including Sedgefield, Tony Blair’s old constituency, and four areas of London.

John Healey, the housing minister, warned that the risk of repossession would ‘stay high throughout next year’, prompting his department to announce it was stepping up support for homeowners in financial difficulty by extending a campaign offering impartial free advice, and tightening rules to make sure repossession is always the ‘last resort’.

More than 300,000 families have already benefited from the advice and support the government has put in place during the recession, the communities and local government department said.

Healey said he was extending the local drive to encourage people to seek mortgage help and advice into 34 areas considered at greater risk due to high levels of unemployment and numbers of court orders for repossessions.