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Nouse News
Autumn 2019



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*This slightly revised newsletter replaces that circulated on 11.11.19 at 0800.*

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Welcome to our Autumn 2019 edition of Nouse News, the newsletter of the Nottingham Strategic Housing Network facilitated by Nottingham City Council's Housing Strategy Team.

Got an article for our next edition? [email protected] 15th January 2020.

RIBA accolade for Lenton Green

Lenton Green

The East Midlands region of the Royal Institute of British Architects has recognised the city's Lenton Green development as an exemplar scheme, delivering exceptional design and architecture.

Lenton Green, which is part-owned by Nottingham City Council and Nottingham City Homes, was designed by architects JTP and comprises 142 homes, from independent living apartments and bungalows to family homes.

The recognition is part of RIBAs commitment to identifying and promoting good design, taking into consideration durability, functionality, interiors, location, and the aesthetics of each development. Read more here [ [link removed] ]

NCH's Winwood Heights scheme has also just scooped an award - read more on this in our social housing section below.


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Trent Basin energy project wins innovation award

Trent Basin

The "Collaborate to Innovate" category of The Engineer's 2019 awards was awarded to Project SCENe (Sustainable Community Energy Networks).

Led by a team from Nottingham University, including Loughborough University, Igloo Blueprint, Urbed, Siemens, Solar Read and Confers the award honours the project's collaborative and innovative approach to energy systems used in the Trent Basin housing development. Further details here [ [link removed] ]



Energy ratings improve after selective licensing

Nottinghams private rented sector is seeing continued and dramatic improvement in energy ratings since the introduction of selective licensing in May 2018.

Latest data shows a 47.8% reduction of E, F or G rated Energy Performance Certificates since the scheme's introduction. Properties with these ratings accounted for just 14.7% in July/August 2019 compared to 25.9% in the final quarter of 2017/18. Central Government is making it much harder to rent out F or G rated homes and both Nottingham and central governments fuel poverty target is the minimisation of E rated homes.

The latest figures also shows private landlords are completing more EPCs since selective licensing was introduced - between April and August 2019 an average of 13 per day compared to just 3 per day during Jan-Mar 2018. The data below excludes new build properties.

EPCs autumn 2019________________________________________________________________________

Rents rise but sector responds to demand

Meadows police station

Approximately one-third of Nottingham households now live in private rented housing with many unable to access other options. Demand appears buoyant evidenced by rising rents; a recent Zoopla report [ [link removed] ] declared Nottingham had the highest rate of increase in England. However another affordability indicator shows a different picture; the city features in the 20 towns and cities with the lowest percentage of earnings spent on rent.

Rent increases are obviously not good news for current or prospective tenants. However it is indicative of the citys economic growth and the market is responding with the numerous PRS apartment schemes that have recently completed or are in the pipeline. Through its Enterprise subsidiary Nottingham City Homes has also entered the PRS market, mostly through buying existing properties/blocks but also building new homes to rent including on the former Meadows Police Station site (CGI above). These new developments will ensure quality new PRS homes boost the local housing offer.



Council housing tenancy agreement to change

Tenancy

Tenants of council housing in Nottingham are invited to have their say on a draft improved tenancy agreement that will help ensure the council creates homes and places where people want to live. The draft agreement has a strong emphasis on tenant safety and includes specific provision for knife crime as grounds for eviction while setting out responsibilities relating to fire safety.

Tenants are also being asked for views on an updated tenancy policy, which sets out the types of tenancies granted and the approach to managing them.

Consultation closes on 6th December read more here [ [link removed] ]

*Note: the consultation only applies to tenants of Nottingham City Council housing.*


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Home sweet home thanks to NCHA

mavis

Homelessness can affect anybody at any age, as illustrated by the situation of one elderly citizen. Thankfully Nottingham Community Housing Association quickly came to the citizen's assistance after changes in family circumstances left the 70 year old with nowhere to live.

After securing a place in temporary accommodation at their Linby Drive scheme the housing association supported the citizen in finding settled housing within one of their schemes. Read the full story here [ [link removed] ]


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Major housing associations join Housing First

HF

Following the success of the Longhurst Group helping homeless people through Housing First [ [link removed] ], other major Registered Providers including Tuntum, NCHA and NCH have submitted properties to support the schemes delivery.

Tuntums Head of Housing & Sales, Jo Page said: The crucial difference with Housing First, is that people arent expected to be tenancy-ready unlike traditional models where people would first be expected to reduce any problematic behaviour. Housing First says here is your own home, now we will put the support in to help you. Its a very simple idea, that a safe home is a fundamental need and should be a basic right, which Tuntum are proud to support

NCHAs Head of Housing Gillian Sladen, also commented: NCHA is committed to ending homelessness and are delighted to have offered our first Housing First tenancy in Nottingham. Our tenant moved into their new home in October, supported by Opportunity Nottingham.

It is envisaged that the continued success of the scheme will encourage even more registered providers to join the scheme.


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Winwood Heights extra care opens its doors

Winwood Heights

A brand new Nottingham City Homes extra care housing scheme opened this September. Winwood Court, built in between Winchester and Woodthorpe Court tower blocks, is in the beautiful grounds of Woodthorpe Grange Park in Sherwood.

The development consists of 44 one-bed fully accessible flats, with 24-hour care on site for those who require it allowing older and more vulnerable residents to remain living in their homes independently for longer.

The development sits alongside the extended refurbishment works Nottingham City Homes have been making to the existing Winchester and Woodthorpe Court tower blocks. It was recently awarded Best Regeneration & Refurbishment & Overall Design [ [link removed] ] by fbe East Midlands. Another great recognition for NCH!


Nouse News Specialist Housing
Interest in community-led housing sought

Nottingham City Council has established a new post to explore, enable and facilitate the development of community led housing (CLH) in Nottingham.

Margaret Coward, Community-led Housing Development Officer, would like to hear from any local groups or organisations interested or active in this field. You may be at a formative stage or currently progressing a development where there is a desire for the community to retain control over the scheme in the long term. Margaret is keen to hear from you - get in touch [email protected] 0115 8764458

A CLH toolkit is available here [ [link removed] ]

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Grants for employment support projects

Community grants

Grants of up to 20,000 are available for small voluntary and community organisations to deliver projects helping hard to reach individuals take positive steps towards gaining employment.

Jointly funded by the Education & Skills Funding Agency and European Social Fund, and coordinated by Futures, the round 2 bidding window for Community Grants opens on 15th November, closing one month later.

Homelessness statistics reveal that in Nottingham less than 20% of applicants owed a homelessness duty in 2018/19 were full or part time employment. Over half of applicants also have support needs that could limit their chances of obtaining work. The support that this fund benefits therefore does more than just helping people prepare for work, it actively helps to prevent homelessness.

Community Grants further information [ [link removed] ]


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Homelessness assessments can now be made online

Households seeking assistance with homelessness in Nottingham can now complete homelessness assessments online [ [link removed] ].

Until now households have been assessed with an advisor at Housing Aid's city centre offices. While this service remains, households are encouraged to complete assessments online wherever possible. There are multiple benefits to making assessments online:


* customers do not have to make a physical visit, saving transport costs and time
* customers can upload key documents which they may not have to hand at face-to-face assessments - the absence of these documents can delay progress
* Housing Aid officers have more time to work on homelessness prevention

Housing Aid review all assessments to determine the tailored support they can offer.

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Extra support for rough sleepers in cold weather

Sleeping on the streets is dangerous at any time of year, but rough sleepers become even more vulnerable to health problems during winter. The council & its partners have been busy planning support as temperatures drop:


* A further system 2 navigators have just been recruited to work with homeless clients who have been in/are in hospital
* A boost in short-term and emergency accommodation spaces including supported accommodation bedspaces formultiple and complex needs clients, emergency "crash pad" spaces and extra bedspaces at Framework's London Road project. These are supported by the national Cold Weather Fund following a successful bid which will also support street outreach resource.
* The city's Cold Weather Plan 2019/20 outlining support available over winter, including the continuation of Nottingham Night Shelter and emergency sit-up services, will be published later this month
* The council is partnering with Nottingham Business Improvement District to raise awareness of how citizens can best help rough sleepers through it's Help Out Nottingham website

If you see a rough sleeper in Nottingham please call the Street Outreach Team on their 24-hour helpline 0800 066 5356

strategy and policy banner
Local Housing Allowance set to rise in April

After a four year freeze local housing allowance (LHA) is set to rise from by CPI April 2019. Although already planned, the government's recent confirmation that the freeze will not be extended will come as a relief to the housing sector with many fearing an extension.

The freeze in LHA has increased hardship for those renting in the PRS, with many households simply unable to afford housing in the sector as the gap between the benefit and rising rents widened. Recent analysis by the council's Housing Strategy team found less than 5% of 3 bedroomed homes in Nottingham advertised on Rightmove were affordable to households relying solely on LHA to cover their rental costs. While the rise in April is welcome news, after falling behind rents for a sustained period the impact upon affordability is unlikely to lessen.

Other currently frozen benefits will also increase by the same level - more here [ [link removed] ]

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Universal Credit in Nottingham - one year on

uc

It's been a year since Universal Credit (UC) full service commenced in Nottingham. The impact of the benefit, which rolls 6 common income-based benefits into one credit, paid monthly, was recently examined for Nottingham City Council's Overview and Scrutiny Panel. Some of the headlines were:


* 13,394 were on UC in August 2019 of which9,853 were out of work (hence fully reliant upon benefits)
* On average NCH tenants on UC have rent arrears of 561 and NCH have made 76% more food bank referrals
* Almost 1/4 of NCH tenants on UC requested Alternative Payment Arrangements

Concerns include the repayment of advance payments, uncertainty over Help to Claim funding beyond March and the increasing level of rent arrears.

A further 28,000 benefit claims (approx) are expected to move onto the benefit by 2023.


Nouse news housing market headlines
City house price growth stronger than most

prices autumn 2019

According to the latest UK House Price Index [ [link removed] ] the average price of a home in Nottingham in August was 145,497. This is an annual growth rate of 2.9%

Once again, this is significantly more than the rate of growth across England (+1.1%), higher than the region (2.6%) but lower than the county (3.3%) which is almost certainly impacted by new build sales as some large housing developments continue. In terms of specific property types Nottingham had the highest annual growth rate for terraced properties (when compared with county, regional and country) and maintained comparatively strong growth for all other property types, the highest being for semi detached houses.

Compared to the position 12 months ago annual house price growth has slowed significantly, halving from 5.8% in Nottingham. However this trend is similar to that of the country.


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Cost of PRS rents soars for 2 bed homes

median rents oct 2019

Data from housing intelligence specialist Hometrack [ [link removed] ]reveals median PRS rents in Nottingham have risen slightly for 2 & 3 bed properties since our last bulletin, which looked at the position in July 2019. Most notably there was a change of +1.9% for 2 bed homes.

Over the year (Oct 2018 to Oct 2019) the change was much more dramatic, particularly in respect of 2 bed homes, which are in high demand:
1 bed +4.1%
2 bed +18.8%
3 bed +6.0%

As can be seen from the image above the median weekly rent of a property with 2 bedrooms is now only 3 cheaper than for a 3 bed home.


Nouse News Coming UP

Your round-up of notable events, consultations and policy changes for the coming weeks:

*November*
11East Midlands Property & Business Expo [ [link removed] ]
12Want to help the affordable homes crisis? [ [link removed] ] CPRE East Midlands event
13 Social Housing Networking event [ [link removed] ], Anchor Hanover
14 The Criminal Justice System and Multiple Disadvantage [ [link removed] ], Opportunity Nottingham
23 Framework's Big Sleep Out [ [link removed] ] fundraiser
26& 27 Women In Construction Taster workshops [ [link removed] ], Nottingham City Homes

*December*
10 Women in Construction Taster workshop [ [link removed] ], Nottingham City Homes
05Community grants [ [link removed] ] bid deadlines for employment support projects
06 Council housing tenancy management agreement [ [link removed] ] consultation deadline
12 UK Housing Awards2020 [ [link removed] ]submission deadline

*January 2020*
26 Beat the Streets [ [link removed] ] homelessness fundraising events

Got a diary date in February or March 2020 you'd like us to include in our next edition? Let us know at [email protected] <[email protected]>

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This newsletter was sent to our network of over 2,500 stakeholders. If your organisation has a news article or event you'd like us to promote in a future edition of Nouse News please email [email protected] <[email protected]>or tel tel0115 876 3472.

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