You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Morning Briefing: most Help to Buy homebuyers did not need government help, watchdog finds
Most homebuyers who used government support to buy their first homes through Help to Buy did not even need help, several newspapers report today.
The findings come from a National Audit Office (NAO) report that found two-thirds of those who bought a home through the scheme could have bought a home without it.
NAO’s analysis revealed that one in every 25 participants in the scheme had incomes that exceeded £100,000 a year.
It also found that the scheme was boosting the profits of housebuilders across the country and that the government would be exposed to significant financial risk if the values of properties fell.
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “The government’s biggest challenge now is to wean the property market off the scheme with as little impact as possible on its ambition of creating 300,000 homes.”
The Independent reports today on a case that saw a single mother successfully win a legal challenge against her local council after she was forced out of her home because of a shortfall in housing benefit.
The woman, known only as Ms Samuels, won the challenge against Birmingham City Council’s decision to treat her and her children as intentionally homeless.
Ms Samuels was using benefits intended for living costs such as food and clothing to cover the £35 weekly gap between her housing benefit and her rent.
When she lost her private tenancy and approached the council for homeless assistance, the council refused her request and determined that she had made herself intentionally homeless. The Supreme Court deemed this decision unlawful.
Polly Neate, Shelter chief executive, said it was an “important judgement for the future of the welfare system”.
Sheffield is getting closer to becoming the first city in the UK to trial universal basic income (UBI), after its council formally lent support to the idea, The Guardian reports.
On Wednesday, senior members of Sheffield City Council agreed to work to implement UBI, which would do away with welfare and ensure every citizen received a fixed sum to cover basic needs such as food and heating.
Julie Dore, council leader, said she could see what a transformative effect UBI could have on residents, particularly given increasing automation.
The government has finally accepted that Universal Credit delays could have led to some recipients being forced into prostitution, according to a story in The Guardian.
Giving evidence to the work and pensions select committee yesterday, Will Quince, minister for family support, apologised for a memo his department had sent to the committee last month that dismissed the link between long waits for UC and ‘survival sex’.
Mr Quince said he had changed his views after hearing accounts from four women who gave evidence about how impoverishment related to UC had led them to take up work as escorts or in brothels.
On social media
Grenfell United and residents living in high rise blocks with unsafe cladding have teamed up to beam messages onto the sides of high-rise blocks ahead of the second anniversary of Grenfell.
Two since Grenfell and thousands of homes are still unsafe.
— Rags Martel (@RagsMartel)
Tonight messages projected onto buildings in London, Manchester and Newcastle by @GrenfellUnited to #DemandChange pic.twitter.com/9UqjSmUgpTTwo since Grenfell and thousands of homes are still unsafe.
— Rags Martel (@RagsMartel) June 12, 2019
Tonight messages projected onto buildings in London, Manchester and Newcastle by @GrenfellUnited to #DemandChange pic.twitter.com/9UqjSmUgpT
A truly humbling night thanks again for everyone’s support #EndOurCladdingScandal pic.twitter.com/OVVSJL6dzZ
— The NV Buildings - Salford Quays (@nvbuilding)A truly humbling night thanks again for everyone's support #EndOurCladdingScandal pic.twitter.com/OVVSJL6dzZ
— The NV Buildings - Salford Quays (@nvbuilding) June 12, 2019
The big issues that impact the regeneration and delivery of social housingSPONSORED ARTICLE
