Acting against homelessness

Grenfell Tower was a shocking tragedy that took the lives of many of the country’s poorest families in the most horrific way. For anyone driving out of London along the A40, it looms like a blackened skeleton reminding us of the horror faced not only by those who lost loved ones but also those who have lost their homes.

The scale of the Grenfell tragedy was terrible, but it has highlighted just how big a problem there is for Britain’s poorest citizens, many of whom cannot claim to be resident in the UK for lack of a permanent roof over their heads.

Those whose homes were destroyed in the Grenfell blaze have been offered support and alternative accommodation by the government. But what about those who struggle daily to find shelter? And what of those teetering on the financial brink, falling behind on rent paid to private landlords operating social housing on councils’ behalf?

The single biggest reason a person becomes homeless is the ending of an assured shorthold tenancy agreement. This is why there have been repeated calls for greater security of tenure for tenants by every political party.

This would only solve problems for some of those fighting off homelessness however. There is a bigger problem – the sore lack of and desperate need for more social housing.

We spoke to Conservative MP for Solihull, Julian Knight, who co-sponsored the recent Homelessness Reduction Act, which was based on the findings of the Communities and Local Government Committee, on which he also sat.

How big an issue is homelessness in the UK?

Homelessness is a complex subject, but here are a few illustrative statistics: in 2016 local housing authorities received over 29,000 applications for assistance, of which almost 15,000 qualified for “priority need” support. Councils also helped almost 200,000 people or families avoid losing their home who might otherwise have done so, and the Government registered record levels of rough sleeping. Behind each of these statistics is a human being who, if they end up on the streets, is at greater risk of further health problems or being victims of crime. That’s why we urgently need to address homelessness.

As a civilised and wealthy first world country, why are there so many people without basic shelter?

There are many factors which contribute towards homelessness, with family breakdown and mental health problems being common causes. These are exacerbated by the under-supply of suitable housing: brownfield sites are being developed too slowly, and too little care is being taken to ensure that the necessary rental accommodation is available.

The single biggest reason someone becomes homeless is being given notice by a private landlord who has not renewed a tenant’s Assured Shorthold Tenancy (AST), thereby leaving them with no security of tenure. The flip side of this, is landlords are running a business. How do we deal with this dynamic and the fact it seems irreconcilable?

It’s very difficult to speculate from the centre about why relations between landlord and tenant may have broken down – it may be related to a perfectly legitimate concern about non-payment, or wariness about a tenant without a reliable income.

Landlords are running a business, and many of them derive much or all of their income from their rental properties. We should be very careful about gumming up the rental sector with more regulation: making it harder for landlords to evict tenants may lead many to leave the sector, squeezing supply and pushing rents even higher.

Private landlords feel they play a crucial role in helping to house social tenants and those in receipt of Local Housing Allowance (LHA). However, the recent taper on mortgage interest tax relief combined with the roll-out of universal credit will put significant pressure on their ability to continue to rent to the most vulnerable with tight affordability. Should private landlords continue to support this part of the market or is this not their responsibility?

It is up to individual providers whether they tailor their business to a particular section of the market, but this is another example of how getting tough on landlords in one area can have negative consequences down the line. However, the tapering of mortgage relief will primarily affect small landlords – those with dozens or hundreds of properties shouldn’t find their ability to cater to this market substantially affected.

Whose responsibility is this?

In my view, the Government has a duty to create and support an environment where the private sector can cater to housing demand. That involves listening to landlords, rather than treating them as villains, as well as investing in services in areas such as mental health to ensure that as many people as possible have the support they need to stay in the normal housing market.

If private landlords are responsible in part, what regulation do you want to see put in place to protect tenants without discouraging landlords?

We have just passed the Homelessness Reduction Act, based on the findings of my colleagues and I on the Communities and Local Government Committee, and the Government is also moving forward with plans to ban landlords from charging letting fees to tenants. We must be very careful about overburdening landlords: the only lasting solution is a much wider supply of housing and a flexible, competitively-priced rental market.

The UK isn’t building a sufficient number of homes already, every government promises to up completions but builders don’t deliver. Should government step in to provide social housing on a large scale?

The Government has recently announced new measures to increase the amount of land available for development and accelerate planning approval for new developments, and I think this is the correct approach. Experience suggests that allowing the sector to create smaller, more varied, organic developments is a much better solution than large, identikit estates. It’s not just about getting houses built: it’s about creating attractive neighbourhoods which people like living in too.

What are the barriers to helping house more vulnerable people living on the streets?

The single best thing that we can do to help tackle homelessness is improve prevention: it is much easier to keep somebody off the streets than to get them back into accommodation once the worst has happened. The single biggest barrier to better prevention is identifying at-risk individuals whilst there is still time to help. Once people are on the streets, our restricted housing supply makes it difficult to find affordable ways to rehouse them.

What do you think needs to happen to break down these barriers?

The Homelessness Reduction Act, which I co-sponsored in the House of Commons, places new requirements on councils to help at-risk people before they lose their homes – this should spur them to better coordinate their services and support families and individuals before their housing situation becomes desperate. The Government is also taking the action mentioned above to increase the housing supply.

At a local level I’m very pleased to see Andy Street, the new Mayor of the West Midlands, putting greater action against homelessness at the heart of his campaign. Devolution means that there is now greater scope than ever before to find and deliver locally-tailored solutions, rather than trying to impose a one-size-fits-all strategy from Whitehall.

What work have you been involved with to support this group of people?

My colleagues and I on the Communities and Local Government Select Committee conducted an in-depth inquiry into homelessness, and I co-sponsored the Homelessness Reduction Act which was based on our extensive research. I also campaigned for Andy Street, and look forward to working with him to tackle homelessness in Solihull and across the West Midlands. I hope this will give me valuable experience which I can bring back to Westminster.