Recovery JSNA: Housing
During a year where most of our time was spent in our homes, the need for a stable and safe environment to live in has never been so important. The quality and condition, stability and security, and affordability of housing can all have an impact on health and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted this. It is also known that groups that experience health inequalities are disproportionately represented in poor-quality homes.
Social impacts have been seen as a result of the pandemic, with most people spending the majority of their time in their houses during the most restricted points of the lockdown. A lack of outside space, loneliness, feeling unsafe, and safety issues (for example with repairs needed in rented properties) were all key issues.
Overcrowding in housing has been increasing over the years for private and social renters and in 2019-20, 9% of social renters and 7% of private renters lived in overcrowded accommodation. Overcrowding is less prevalent among owner occupiers, 1% of whom live in overcrowded accommodation. COVID-19 has further highlighted overcrowding as an issue, as it makes it more difficult for household members to self-isolate and can lead to an increased risk of viral transmission.
This chapter covers the following areas:
House prices and occupancy patterns
Energy efficiency and fuel poverty
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House prices and occupancy patterns
House prices
The national lockdown measures brought in during March 2020 restricted the completion of property transactions, as moving house was only permitted when “necessary” leading to house price growth falling between March and April 2020.
However house prices then rose sharply in the second half of 2020, once lockdown measures were eased, reflecting both the build up of demand during the lockdown and the temporary property transaction tax holiday introduced on 8th July 2020
The median house price in Wiltshire in 2020 was £282,000, an increase of 2.5% from the median house price in 2019.
Median house prices for the South West and England increased significantly more over the same period, at 6.7% and 5.7% respectively.
Long-term empty and second homes in Wiltshire
Long-term empty (6+ months) and second homes are identified through the Wiltshire Council tax database.
The number of long term empty homes and second homes in Wiltshire have remained fairly consistent over the last three years.
Source: Wiltshire Council, Revenues and Benefits, May 2021 .
Energy efficiency and fuel poverty
Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings in Wiltshire
The number of EPCs produced in 2020 in Wiltshire was 41% lower than in the previous year, however the proportion of ratings A-C, D and E-G remained similar to 2019.
A valid Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) is a legal requirement when a property is sold, let or constructed. The reduction in the number of EPCs carried out during 2020 may reflect fewer people moving and less construction being completed on houses as a result of the lockdown.
Fuel poverty
Fuel poverty in England is now measured using the Low Income Low Energy Efficiency calculation, and household income, household energy requirements and fuel prices are taken into consideration to determine whether a household is fuel poor.
9.8% of households in Wiltshire are estimated to be in fuel poverty, which amounts to 21,058 households, compared with 264,792 (10.6%) in South West and 3,175,979 (13.4%) in England
Warm and Safe
Warm and Safe Wiltshire supports residents across the county who are in or at risk of fuel poverty and those suffering with long term health conditions made worse by living in a cold home. It is funded by Wiltshire Council and managed by the Centre for Sustainable Energy.
In early 2020, Warm and Safe Wiltshire managed to secure a range of funds to directly support residents who were struggling financially. These included:
– Energy Redress prepayment meter voucher scheme
– Surviving Winter grant scheme
– Wiltshire Boater and Traveller fund
– Heat, Eat and Talk
Further information on Warm and Safe Wiltshire can be found here .
Housing provision in Wiltshire
New housing
Overall housing completions in Wiltshire have been in excess of the current adopted housing requirement in the three year period April 2016 – March 2019. Housing delivery in the plan period 2006-2026 is keeping pace with the planned housing requirement to date.
The Wiltshire Housing Site Allocations Plan seeks to allocate additional land to meet the housing requirement in the current plan period 2006-2026. This Plan is now well-advanced. Work to establish future housing needs up to 2036 is progressing through the Wiltshire Local Plan review programme.
Source: Wiltshire Council, Spatial Planning, 2016/17 - 2018/19 and 2006 - 2026
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is outlined as housing for sale or rent, for those whose needs are not met by the market and is defined as either:
– Affordable housing for rent (where rent is in accordance with the Government’s rent policy for Social or Affordable rent, or is at least 20% below local market rents)
– Starter homes
– Discounted market sales housing or
– Other affordable routes to home ownership (shared ownership, relevant equity loans, other low cost homes for sale and rent to buy)
Demand for affordable homes
Source: Wiltshire Council Housing Allocations Team, 2018/19 - 2020/21
All customers seeking affordable rented housing by bedroom need are able to bid through the council’s choice-based lettings scheme Homes4Wiltshire.
The demand for affordable homes in Wiltshire has continued to increase since 2018, with one and two bedroom homes making up a large proportion of the demand. As of Q4 of 2020/21, there were 4,223 customers in need of affordable housing.
Source: Wiltshire Council Housing Allocations Team, 2018/19 - 2020/21
New affordable homes completed
This shows the number of affordable homes completed on site as reported by the registered provider for the relevant quarter in Wiltshire.
A significant dip in completions can be seen in Q1 of 2020/21, coinciding with the start of the national lockdown. Q2 and Q3 show a recovery of this decrease, with the number of completed homes increasing as the year goes on.
Source: Wiltshire Council Housing Enabling Team, 018/19 - Q3 2020/21
New affordable homes started on site
This shows the number of affordable homes started on site as reported by the registered provider for the relevant quarter in Wiltshire.
The effect of the pandemic can be particularly seen in Q2 of 2020/21 where construction on just 57 affordable homes began in Wiltshire, however Q3 shows a significant increase on this number.
Source: Wiltshire Council Housing Enabling Team, 2018/19 - Q3 2020/21
Adapted homes
Home adaptations are changes that can be made to a home to make it safer and easier to move around and do everyday tasks.
All customers requiring a home with one or more adaptations by bedroom need are able to bid through the council’s choice-based lettings scheme Homes4Wiltshire. Adaptations can be one or more of the following: own adjacent parking space, level access or ramp at entrances, rails at entrances or on stairs, bathroom with walk-in shower, wet room, automated WC, adapted kitchen for wheelchair user, stairlift, through floor lift or fully wheelchair accessible home.
Demand for adapted homes
Demand for adapted homes in Wiltshire has been increasing since 2018.
In Q2 of 2020/21 there were 383 residents in need of an adapted home, which was 20% higher than the previous quarter. The demand then remained at a similar level for the rest of the financial year.
Source: Wiltshire Council Housing Allocations Team, 2018/19 - 2020/21
Adaptations made to homes
The council has a statutory duty to provide means-tested Disabled Facilities Grants to adapt the homes of disabled occupiers to make them more suitable for their needs. Residents are assessed by an Occupational Therapist who makes recommendations. DFG Priority 1 adaptations are high priority major adaptations, and DFG 2 refer to other or standard adaptations. Wessex Loans are for essential repair and maintenance work to properties or to pay for adaptation where the cost is above the Disabled Facilities Grant, or the person doesn't qualify for a grant. Adaptations made to council owned properties are funded through the Housing Revenue Account.
Adaptations made to households in Wiltshire saw a decrease in 2020/21, where the impact of the pandemic had a negative impact on timescales and number of completions. Planned works had to be delayed due to restrictions and shielding requirements, and the need to introduce new health and safety measures.
Source: Wiltshire Council Private Sector Housing and Strategic Asset Teams, 2019/20 - 2020/21 .
Homelessness
The definition of homelessness means not having a home. You are homeless if you have nowhere to stay and are living on the streets, and you can also be homeless if you have a roof over your head.
You can be homeless if you are:
– staying with friends or family
– staying in a hostel, night shelter or B&B
– squatting (because you have no legal right to stay
– at risk of violence or abuse in your home
– living in poor conditions that affect your health
– living apart from your family because you don't have a place to live together
Statutory homelessness
Statutory homelessness covers those people who are assessed by local authorities, and can be initially assessed as:
Owed a prevention duty: Where local authorities work with people who are threatened with homelessness within 56 days to help to prevent them from becoming homeless
Owed a relief duty: Where the household is already homeless on approaching the local authority, and so requires help to secure settled accommodation
In 2019, 1,662 households in Wiltshire were assessed as owed a duty by the council to prevent or relieve homelessness, compared with 1,373 in 2020. The introduction of the Coronavirus Act 2020, which provided protection to social and private tenants by delaying when landlords can evict tenants, could be reflected in the smaller number of households owed a duty in 2020. Whilst there were fewer households assessed as owed a duty in 2020, the proportion of those owed a relief duty increased for the middle part of the year (April – September), in comparison to the previous year.
Households owed a prevention or relief duty
Wiltshire has seen the rate of households owed a prevention or relief duty gradually decline since the start of 2019.
Whilst the rate of households owed a duty in the county is lower than the South West and England, the county did not see the decrease that the South West and England saw in October – December 2020.
Evictions
The Coronavirus Act 2020 provided protection to social and private tenants by delaying when landlords can evict tenants. This meant that between 29 August 2020 and 31 May 2021, with the exception of the most serious cases, landlords needed to give their tenants 6 months’ notice before starting possession proceedings.
From 1st June 2021 notice periods must be at least 4 months in most cases, including where the tenant has less than 4 months’ rent arrears. Notice periods for the most serious cases are lower with most requiring 2 or 4 weeks’ notice.
Source: Guidance for landlords and tenants, MHCLG, extracted 22/06/2021
A decrease was seen “End of private rented tenancy - assured shorthold” and “End of social rented tenancy” reasons for loss of last settled home for households owed a duty after March 2020, coinciding with the introduction of lockdown measures. This could reflect the changes in eviction legislation issued by the government.
Rough sleeping
On 26 March 2020, the Minister for Local Government and Homelessness asked Local Authorities to urgently accommodate all rough sleepers and focus on the provision of adequate facilities to enable people to adhere to the guidance on hygiene and isolation, including for those who are at risk of sleeping rough. This became known as the ‘Everyone In campaign’.
The ‘Protect Programme’ was then launched in November 2020, which allocated £15 million to support the ongoing efforts to accommodate those sleeping rough during the pandemic, with the aim of helping areas that needed support the most during the restrictions and the winter months. This ran alongside the ‘Everyone in’ campaign.
Source: Letter to Local Authorities from Minister for Local Government and Homelessness, 26/03/2020 and shelter.org.uk, extracted on 22/06/2021
Rough sleeper counts and rough sleepers accommodated
The number of people sleeping rough is based on one particular night in Wiltshire across each quarter, known as the “rough sleeper count”. Evidence is collected by the local outreach team, informed by intelligence from the public and the police. A much higher number of rough sleepers is dealt with and this figure is just based on one night across Wiltshire.
The number of people sleeping rough accommodated represents those rough sleepers placed into supported, private, social and hostel accommodation. The peak in 2020 is due to the Government’s COVID-19 ‘Everyone In’ Campaign, where a significant amount of money was received to support all rough sleepers into accommodation.
Whilst the number of people sleeping rough, as identified through the rough sleeper counts, has been slowly decreasing over the past few years, the increase in the numbers of rough sleepers accommodated, particularly during the “Everyone in” campaign, shows the potentially high number of rough sleepers in Wiltshire who are not usually represented in the rough sleeper count.
Source: Wiltshire Council Rough Sleepers team, Q3 2018/19 - Q3 2020/21