London councils admit defeat on cheaper rents, moving claimants to Hull instead

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

A shortage of private accommodation in London could mean homeless people are moved as far away as Hull, where rents are cheaper, housing charities are warning.

At least one London council, Croydon, is seeking to rent private accommodation in Hull and several other Yorkshire towns. It has also rented property in St Leonards on Sea on the Sussex coast. Other councils are predicted to follow suit, according to housing experts.

The local housing allowance, money paid by local authorities to those on housing benefit in the private rented sector, has been cut.

In addition, the mortgage drought has meant many people trying to get on to the housing ladder have been forced into the rental sector, inflating rents.

The result, according to housing experts, is that the private sector is becoming increasingly unaffordable for local authorities, resulting in a ripple effect as homeless people and those on benefits are rehoused in areas where rents are cheaper.

Shelter, the housing charity, said new regulations, to be published soon, would set out councils' obligations to homeless people placed in private rented accommodation. Shelter expressed concerns that the regulations would allow councils to house homeless people outside their boroughs. It said Croydon council was considering moving some people in temporary accommodation to Hull, 230 miles away. "The fact that councils may be considering making use of these powers to offer people homes away from their local areas – potentially having to uproot families from schools, communities and jobs – is testament to the scale of our housing crisis," Campbell Robb, the chief executive of Shelter, said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/18/london-homeless-forced-move-hull

Obviously the councils know full well that the cuts in benefits will not drive down rents, the shortage is just too severe.

So they'll have no choice but to house people in cheaper areas.... Like Yorkshire.

Possibly a good thing in some ways, as a mass exodus of people from the South to the North would free up room for the expanding population down south and also increase demand in the few areas of housing surplus in the UK, which are almost all "Oop North".

So a good thing for Northern England Landlords and using up the last of the few spare houses we have, perhaps deferring the worst effects of the looming housing crisis for a year or two.

I do though question the wisdom of sending such people to areas where there are precious few jobs, and hence lower demand for housing, which is why it's cheap there to begin with.

Surely it would be better to just build more houses in the areas people want to live in, and where the employment exists to support them?

vax2002

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/18/london-homeless-forced-move-hull


Surely it would be better to just build more houses in the areas people want to live in, and where the employment exists to support them?

No it would be better to shut the ruddy door !
We are FULL !

Jimmy_31

The queue for a house around here is already very long.

I predict a pretty big kick off if people from other areas start being given a house before the local population.

ukcarper

Jimmy_31 wrote: »

The queue for a house around here is already very long.

I predict a pretty big kick off if people from other areas start being given a house before the local population.

I though you said the BTL landlords were finding it hard to get tenants.

worldtraveller

Nowt wrong with Hull, apart from the smell of the fish factories as you head down the A63! Are they still there? Honest question.

vax2002

worldtraveller wrote: »

Nowt wrong with Hull, apart from the smell of the fish factories! Are they still there? Honest question.

Only in very small scale, the local fishermen are only allowed to fish 31 days a year in the north sea , Spanish trawlers can fish it 365 days a year.

worldtraveller

vax2002 wrote: »

Only in very small scale, the local fishermen are only allowed to fish 31 days a year in the north sea , Spanish trawlers can fish it 365 days a year.

Thanks Vax. I was up there regularly in the 20 years between around 1990-2010 on business and much changed in those years, especially around the docks area. A lot of redevelopment and closure of many factories.

Jimmy_31

ukcarper wrote: »

I though you said the BTL landlords were finding it hard to get tenants.

And what i said still stands.

The BTL landlords of the new builds do not want the long term benifit people around here in their shiney new apartment.

They want people who work living in them, which was ok up until unemployment started rapidly increasing and the newly unemployed had to leave because the landlord doesnt accept benefit tenants. (Yes landlords can be a bit thick.)

Now they have a choice to make, do they keep the BTL and start accepting people on benefits or do they sell.

They might get lucky and get a decent tenant, the bad far outweigh the good around here though.

They are trying to sell them and having no luck.

ruggedtoast

A buy to let in Hull. What could go wrong?

pqrdef

I would have thought that BTL landlords renting to benefit claimants was a prime example of the Big Society in action. Much better than councils having to rent out social housing surely. Shouldn't the Big Society Bank be giving them cheap mortgages to encourage them?

ukcarper

Jimmy_31 wrote: »

And what i said still stands.

The BTL landlords of the new builds do not want the long term benifit people around here in their shiney new apartment.

They want people who work living in them, which was ok up until unemployment started rapidly increasing and the newly unemployed had to leave because the landlord doesnt accept benefit tenants. (Yes landlords can be a bit thick.)

Now they have a choice to make, do they keep the BTL and start accepting people on benefits or do they sell.

They might get lucky and get a decent tenant, the bad far outweigh the good around here though.

They are trying to sell them and having no luck.

I still don’t follow your argument are you saying people on benefits can’t find anywhere to live but there are houses sitting empty for less than £50k.