Nottingham Private Rented Assistance Scheme has been working hard to attract more private sector landlords to help accommodate households facing homelessness.? NPRAS already offers a long-standing free service to landlords including elements such as tenant matching, support with benefits and payments, deposits and rent in advance.?

In addition to this the scheme now offers a low cost tenancy management service for just ?35 per month, covering:
- regular property and gas safety inspections
- rent collection and account management (incl. statements)
- tenancy management and mediation
- check out at the end of tenancy including inspection

This new service would greatly reduce the amount of work landlords have to put into managing their properties while helping relieve the growing local and national homelessness problem. Interested landlords should enquire to [email protected] tel 0115 876 1644.? Read more here

The private rented sector has grown significantly, accounting for roughly a third of homes in Nottingham. Interest in the sector has increased, reflected in recent legislative changes; perhaps the most radical being the proposed ending of Section 21 notices that enable landlords to end tenancies at the end of their term without providing a reason.

In Nottingham loss of a PRS tenancy is a leading reason for homelessness but councils also rely upon the sector for homelessness relief.? There is a concern that S21 negatively impacts tenancy security and their proposed scrapping has therefore been broadly welcomed. However landlords often use the notices as an efficient means of ending a tenancy where there has been a tenancy breach, avoiding an alternative slow court process.

What are your views? Have your say on the government?s consultation until 12^th Oct?here

On 11^th July Nottingham City Council?s Safer Housing service facilitated a breakfast briefing for private sector landlords covering legal updates, what landlords should do in cases of modern slavery and selective licensing.? Demand was high with all places allocated incredibly quickly and not everyone wishing to attend could be accommodated.

Fortunately some footage of the event, including addresses from speakers Cllr Linda Woodings (Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing & Heritage) East Midland?s Property Owners? Giles Inman and Dave Walker, NCC's Head of Safer Housing & ASB, is now available to view here.? For a copy of the presentations from the briefing please email [email protected]

Nottingham City Council is consulting on its new draft allocations policy until 15^th September. The policy required a review to ensure it reflects the latest housing legislation and responds to current local housing demand and choice, while ensuring it remains compliant, fair and transparent in its letting practices.?

The policy is used by the Homelink partnership, which covers the vast majority of social housing in Nottingham, including all council housing.? The draft policy and consultation are available online here.

2019 sees 100 years since the introduction of the 1919 Housing Act and the advent of council housing.? To mark this author Chris Matthews? book Homes & Places ? the story of how council housing and estates have developed and changed over the years in Nottingham - has been revised and expanded.

The second edition includes new photographs and material to bring the story of council housing in Nottingham right up-to-date after first being published in 2015 by Nottingham City Homes, whose Policy and Planning Manager Dan Lucas edited the book as well as providing background research.

A historical map has also been published showing examples of where to find the different types of homes built in Nottingham over the decades. The book is available to purchase from Five Leaves Bookshop but a low-resolution version can be downloaded here.

Nottingham Community Housing Association held on to its spot in Inside Housing?s UK 50 biggest builders list.? The provider of low cost social and affordable housing is committed to developing new homes people can afford to live in.?

In the last financial year the registered provider invested ?35.8m topped up by a further ?3.6m of government grant to build almost 300 new homes, helping them secure 44^th position for the second year in a row. Read more here

In May this year changes to the procedure followed when certain foreign nationals enter the UK came into effect, which has required changes to?the government's?Right to Rent guidance.? The new guidance covers what sort of reasonable enquiries should be made and what steps are reasonable in verifying tenant ID.? All landlords are required to check new tenants have the right to rent and should familiarise themselves with the new guidance.

Landlords should also be aware that some landlord associations and other bodies have expressed concerns that one element of the guidance appears to contravene the policy?s Code of Practice and are advised to keep themselves updated in the development of this challenge.

It was all hands on deck on 22^nd July when volunteers from the public, private & voluntary sectors worked together to help a single parent at risk of homelessness move house.

Local lettings agent NGalloway helped the household, who had no personal support network or resources, find another home but they still needed assistance in moving furniture and belongings. Nottingham City Council made a plea to its Homelessness Stakeholder Forum and the offers came flooding in.

On the day it was NCC?s Community Protection Team and local charity Hope Nottingham, with the letting agent on hand, who carried out the move but special thanks must be extended to Muslim Hands, Emmanuel House and the many other individuals who offered assistance but were ultimately not needed.

More than 160 pensioners from dementia care homes across Nottinghamshire headed to Pryzm nightclub for a Boogie and Buffet event.? The nightclub opened its doors to elderly care home residents to dance away, and they shared lots of stores from the club?s heyday. Residents were invited to relive their youth for an afternoon of dancing and the event triggered many happy memories.?

The daytime event was held following the success of the nightclub?s recent birthday celebrations, which was attended by Alder House Care Home residents. ?The residents had a great time and photos from the event went viral, prompting calls for another event specifically for pensioners.? Full article here.

Nottingham City Council has developed a ?Good Practice Standards? guide to assist organisations providing non-commissioned supported housing in Nottingham.?

The guide has been devised primarily for organisations specialising in providing supported housing accommodation. It has been produced in response to a number of enquiries received about good practice standards in the sector.?

The guide aims to assist, inform and signpost to further useful resources and covers the following topics: Core Values, Citizen Focus, Support, Accommodation, Safeguarding.

Click here to access to the guidance.

The Building Skills for Construction project was launched on 4^th July by its partners Nottingham College, Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Homes, Nottingham Jobs, Nottingham Futures, Wates Construction and the Woodhead Group.?

Utilising ?1m of government grant the project will support 650 people aged 16+ by providing them the skills and training needed to work in construction, using a live training environment operated by Wates Construction, who are currently building the new Nottingham College on Canal Street. Students overlook the site from their classroom so they can see just how working in the industry is changing the city?s landscape - as it happens!

Pictured at the launch event at Nottingham Construction Hub are (L-R) James Whybrow (Nottingham College), Nick Murphy (NCH) & Chris Grocock (Futures).? Find out more here.

According to the latest UK House Price Index (May 2019) the average price of a home in Nottingham in May was ?141,124. This is an annual growth rate of 2.6%

This is also more than double the rate of growth across England (+1.0%) and is significantly higher than that of the region (+0.4%).? However it is lower than growth in the county (+3.4%) perhaps due to continued large scale development in some out-of-city districts and boroughs. Larger family style housing (semi detached & detached) continues to experience the highest levels of growth in the city and county, although this is not the case for detached properties across the wider areas of the East Midlands and England.

While annual house price growth has slowed across the UK in recent months, growth in Nottingham remains stronger than most UK cities. Latest Hometrack house price growth data places Nottingham 4th in its comparison of 20 key UK cities, and 2nd of English cities, behind only Liverpool.?

Housing intelligence specialist Hometrack?reveals median PRS rent in Nottingham have barely changed since our last bulletin, which looked at the position in Feb 2019.?

Comparison with median rents one year previously however reveals a different picture - as to be expected all rents between Jun 2018 and Jun 2019, but the rise was highest for 2 bed properties, arguably the property size for which there is most demand among renters.? Rises were as follows:
1 bed? ? ?+5.0%
2 bed? ? ?+11.6%
3 bed? ? ?+3.1%

Data from the latest ARLA Propertymark PRS report suggests that rents will continue to rise following the introduction of the Tenant Fees Act in June 2019.

Due to the limitations of the paid subscription service from which the above local information is extracted we are not able to make comparisons with other areas.

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