Brent Council declares a temporary moratorium on councillors' enquiries on housing needs until May 11th 2026 as unprecedented numbers of residents ask for support

The extent of the housing crisis in Brent has broken through some of the 'feel good' election publicity coming out of Brent Labour Party.

Brent Chief Executive, Kim Wright,  has written to all councillors detailing changes to the system where they pass on residents' concerns over housing to the Housing Department. Ms Wright says that the 'sheer volume' of members enquiries is taking her colleages away from giving direct resident support and that the temporary moratorium on councillors making enquiries will stabilise support and ensure urgent cases are managed safely.

The position will be reviewed post-election on May 11th.

Furthermore,  the council cannot guarantee that it will meet the current 10 working day deadline for enquiries already lodged. Enquiries will be triaged to identify any safeguarding concerns and other urgent issues so they can be dealt with quickly.

The CEO asks councillors to direct resident who need housing help to the Brent Council website.  She warns councillor not to try and work around the moratorium by contacting officers directly or contacting the lead cabinet member for housing.

Kim Wright says the service is currently experiencing 'unprecedented' numbers of residents who need help, advice and support with homelessness and housing options. The implementation of the Renters; Rights Act that is due on May 1st is increasing demand, reflecting a rise in private sector evictions.

In addition to the pressures cited I think it is like that existing councillors out on the election campaign trail, knocking on doors, are being confronted with the reality of the housing crisis as residents complain about their housing conditions, soaring rents and charges, and the behaviour of some rogue landlords.  

  

 

 

Protesters say loud and clear, 'We want truly affordable housing here!' The housing crisis comes to Quintain and Brent Council amidst Wembley Park's luxury high-rise blocks

 

Campaigners outside the Brent Civic Centre chant, 'We are the waiting list.'

Brent Renters Union held a march (which involved a bit of a teach-in using the local high rises as a visual aid) and protested outside Quintain Living and Brent Council today. Under the slogan, 'We can't afford the rent in Brent!' they drew attention to the lack of affordable public housing in Wembley Park despite the thousands of units built by Quintain, the US based developer.

They called for affordable homes, rent controls and more social housing as they stood amidst the glossy high rises. The flats were in stark contrast to the photographs some of the protesters showed me of cockroach, flies, bed bugs and vermin infested temporary homes and poorly maintainance of those managed by NottingHillGenesis.

 

 

One mother pointed to the bites on her son's arms and face and said that he was ashamed to go go school among his clear-skinned class mates. 'He is not well,' she sighed, saying that he was also suffering from asthma.

The Union had written a letter outlining their demands to Quintain Living but found the doors locked against them. They managed to slip the letter through the narrow gaps between the doors where it just lay on the floor. 

Very symbolic.

 

Miss Mohamud, of the Brent Branch of the London Renters Union, gave Wembley Matters an eloquent interview about the issues renters face.

 

The march finished with a protest outside Brent Civic Centre with the longest banner seen in any demonstration there! The demonstration was peaceful with an underlying anger about injustice and a resolute determination to bring about change. Many of the councillors were away, including several, including Council leader Muhammed Butt, at a wedding in Pakistan but one councillor came out and spoke to the demonstrators. 

A young woman from a homeless family in temporary accommodation made a passionate speech.

📢 "Landlords are profiting off of our problems!"

💥 Last week, renters in Brent took to the streets to demand affordable homes.

📈 We're sick of seeing new expensive flats that price ordinary people out. We need social homes for families and rent controls now. pic.twitter.com/AhEl3xPpv1

— London Renters Union (@LDNRentersUnion) October 29, 2024

 

 

 

Brent Renters Union can be contacted at brent@londonrentersunion.org 

07521 758 523 Twitter: @brentrenters 

LONDONRENTERSUNION.ORG/JOIN

 

Their next Brent Community Meeting is on Saturday November 2nd 12-4pm at Mencap, 379 High Road, NW10 2JR

Families Homelessness Service to be moved out of Brent Civic Centre

 

Visitors to Brent Civic Cente and Wembley Library will have become used to seeing homeless families, often accompanied by children and suitcases, waiting to be seen by council officers. It is a sobering daily reminder to councillor officers, councillors and the public of the borough's homelessness crisis.

At present the Families Homelessness Service sees an average of 61 families a week.

Now Brent Council is considering moving the  Families Homelessness Service to the New Millennium Centre in Robson Avenue (there is also an entrance on Harlesden Road), Willesden, at a cost of c£400,000 for fitting out the allocated spaces.  The aim is co-location of the service with other services that would help families in need of support.

However, the proposal comes on top of the £1.96 million being spent on reshaping the Civic Centre to improve Customer Services which involves moving the library and the main entrance. Brent Liberal Democrats strongly criticised that proposal, arguing that the money could be better spent in the borough LINK.

At the same time there are at least 2 office floors at the Civic Centre that are empty and Brent Council has appointed Avison Young to market them to high status clients. LINK

 

As you view the marketing video you cannot but think that families surrounded by suitcases with children running around do not fit in with the glossy image Brent Council is promoting for the Civic Centre. The New Millennium Centre appears shabby by comparison.

 

The marketing video stresses the accessibility of the Brent Civic Centre to public transport including the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines. The paper going to Cabinet states that the New Millenium Centre is accessible by the 206 and 226 bus routes. Both are usually single deckers and not as frequent as other routes. The 206 is promoted as giving access from the Civic Centre. It is crowded at school start and finish times and is regularly curtailed at Bridge Park on Wembley Event Days. Taking your suitcases and children on the bus to Robson Avenue could be quite a headache.

Clearly there are advantages in co-location of services and the Council's proposal is set out below for fairness so that readers can make up their own minds. Will it be a case of 'out of sight, out of mind'?

Proposal

 

It is proposed the Families Homelessness Service relocates from the Brent Civic Centre to the New Millennium Centre, Roundwood. The proposed relocation offers several opportunities. The site is located in the south of the borough, with high levels of homelessness demand and is walking distance from the Single Homelessness Service at the Turning Point, The Design Works, Park Parade, Harlesden, NW10 4HT (10 minutes). It is also conveniently located a walking distance to the Crisis Skylight building (15 minutes) and Job Centre Plus Harlesden (15 minutes), both key partners in tackling the homelessness emergency.

 

The service would also benefit from co-location with other complementary services based at the New Millennium Centre. The site will be host to services designed to support vulnerable adults and families. This includes the Community Wellbeing Service which is targeted at families and as part of which a free, evening Community Kitchen meal service will be available to all (including non-members). Families accessing the families homelessness service may access elements of the food support, as well as potential be eligible to join the wider scheme. Brent Hubs will also be based on site, as well as Debt and Immigration advisors on a timetable basis.

 

The Brent Hubs already work directly with and alongside volunteer and charity organisations, such as Citizens Advice, Age UK, Brent Mind, and many others, enabling much clearer referral pathways and knowledge sharing.

 

Building works to prepare the site ahead of the service launch offer an opportunity to expand the scope of the works to include an area in the site for delivery of the Family Homeless Service, which would provide purpose-built facilities for the service.

 

The primary goal of the proposals in this report is to empower residents to become more independent, yet during times of unprecedented crisis support will be available to help with immediate responses to issues such as homelessness risk. Co-location with wider services including Brent Hubs, debt and food support is expected to help vulnerable families with wider challenges they may be facing. Proposals aim to prevent future rough sleeping, and to prevent future homelessness main duty acceptances through the intervention of support services.

 

The service is currently based in the Brent Civic Centre and is responsible for assessing homelessness applications from families with dependent children and pregnant women. The service has been experiencing high demand for the past 2 years, due to the national housing crisis and sees an average of 61 families per week. There has also been a recent influx of larger families, many of whom come directly to the Civic Centre at the point they become homeless.

 

The approved model includes a ‘Community Wellbeing Service’ – an expanded version of the Community Wellbeing Project piloted at Bridge Park Leisure Centre which supported up to 400 families per year with access to food and household essentials, as well as providing wraparound support to improve their situations in the longer-term. The Community Wellbeing Service will operate five days per week at the New Millennium Centre, where it will be co-located with wider support provision such as Brent Hubs and specialist debt and immigration advice and will have capacity to support up to 1,000 families and residents per year. The New Millenium Centre site provides the space and core facilities required to deliver the expanded Kitchen, Café and Shop offer of the new Community Wellbeing Service, as well as make use of other on-site facilities including the garden.

 

Management responsibility for the New Millennium Centre will transfer from Adult Social Care (ASC) to Partnerships, Housing and Resident Services in-line with the 1st November 2024 phased launch of the new service. ASC client groups that currently access a day support offer from the site will continue to do so on a sessional basis under new arrangements. This client group will also be able to access and benefit from the new wider suite of services delivered from the site, with support where required.

 

The New Millennium Centre is accessible for residents including through 206 and 226 Bus Routes and is located in a deprived area with low food accessibility (based on e-food desert index EFDI) and high levels of RSF applications and Council Tax Arrears. It is also within walking distance of the Willesden Centre for Health and Care (2 minutes) and both Harlesden and Willesden High Roads (15 minutes).

 

The report will be presented at Cabinet on Monday by Muhammed Butt, lead member for housing as well as council leader.

 

 

Brent launches its campaign to encourage homeless families to move out of the borough: 'little prospect that temporary accommodation will lead to social housing'

 

Brent - Housing Crisis

 

On the 1st July Wembley Matters ran a story LINK  revealing that Brent Council were to run a campaign to urge people on the Council housing waiting list to 'up sticks and move somewhere else where private rents are lower'. 

That campaign was launched today with a video and website. At one level it can be seen as admitting that Brent housing policy has failed, along with government housing policy. Not enough council or social rent homes are being built to match the demand.

At another level it may be claimed that this is a form of social cleansing: poorer people with local connections are being forced to move out of London to find somewhere decent to live, but will also have to find jobs and school places. Brent Council has offered to help them with the move but will only make a ' one time' offer in the private sector to end homelessness.

A worry for some, perhaps underlined by the recent 'race' riots, is that families from ethnic minority backgrounds, will not feel welcome, or worse, in the towns that they move.

If the offer is taken up by the hundreds of families on the housing waiting list it will have implications for school rolls and therefore school finances. A school places review is already in progress with forms of entry reduced in some schools.

The 'child yield' of new developments (the number of children expected to move in or be born into the new developments) is expected to be low.

Another long term repercussion will be on the number of potential workers available to work in the borough, including those in the NHS and school, due to the unavailability of low cost housing.

Moving people out of Brent is not new. Back in 2017 research found that Brent was one of the worst councils for forcing people out of London. LINK

This is the Brent Council press release on the scheme:

Homeless people trapped in temporary accommodation for months on end are being urged to ‘find a place you can afford’ by Brent Council.

 

Brent has experienced a 23 percent increase in the number of homelessness applications – up from 6,000 to more than 7,300 – over the past three years. Each week, an average of 140 households are becoming homeless in Brent. Of all homeless households, around half are trapped in very basic and costly ‘temporary’ accommodation.

 

Government data shows that London accounts for 57% of England’s total number of homeless households living in temporary accommodation. Around 175,000 Londoners – equivalent to one in 50 residents of the capital – are currently homeless and living in temporary accommodation arranged by their local borough. This figure includes one in 23 children, meaning on average there is at least one homeless child in every London classroom. The homeless emergency is being driven by a perfect storm of rising rents, which have soared by nearly 34% in Brent over the past year, a backlog of people being evicted since the pandemic, reduced supply of private rented housing and cost of living pressures.

 

“The number of homeless families we have in so called ‘temporary’ accommodation has now reached critical levels,” says Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council. “Sadly the reality is children are growing up in temporary accommodation, coming home from school to do their homework on the floor of a shared bathroom of a hostel and eating dinner perched on the side of their bed. This is a human tragedy but it’s not a situation of Brent’s making.

 

“Despite building more new homes than almost any other borough in the capital over the past decade, Brent is one of the places worst affected by London’s homelessness emergency. We just can’t build quickly enough to meet the tsunami of demand.”

 

Unfortunately, the vast majority of residents in temporary accommodation will eventually end up in the private rented sector outside of London due to the sky-high rents in London and lack of affordable housing in the capital. However, some homeless people believe that staying in temporary accommodation increases their chances of securing a council home.

 

“Some people think that becoming homeless increases their chance of a council home, it does not,” continues Cllr Butt. “Right now, there are more than 34,000 families or individuals on our social housing waiting list. Some have been waiting since the last century and they are still waiting. An average of just 650 council homes become available each year, with 40% of them being 1 bed properties, so this queue is moving very slowly and waiting times are getting longer. It is important that the council is honest with people and that homeless households don’t have unrealistic expectations.”

 

Brent overspent it’s budget by over £13m last year and is forecast to overspend by more than £10m this year mainly due to the cost of temporary accommodation such as hostels and bed and breakfasts. Meanwhile London’s councils are spending more than £90million a month on temporary accommodation.

 

Cllr Butt concludes: “As well as the terrible human cost, this homelessness emergency is completely unaffordable for taxpayers. This is why we are launching our ‘Find a place you can afford’ campaign. If you find yourself homelessness, for most people your housing options will be in the private rented sector. Rather than being stuck in temporary accommodation for months on end and still end up in the private rented sector somewhere outside of London, we are advising homeless families to take control of their housing situation and find a place they can afford.

 

“We will be able to help families secure a home financially, ensuring that the rental property is safe and checking that it is affordable in the long-term. We are here to help.”#

Brent launched its Find a place you can afford campaign with a video (above), booklet and webpage with more housing advice.

This is a transcript of the video:

 Did you know Brent is one of the worst affected places in the UK by the housing crisis? One part of the problem is we've got private landlords selling up and leaving the rental market because of rising mortgage costs.

There's been a 41% decline in private rental listings since 2017, combined with a 50% decline in 4 bed properties.

At the same time, there has been a rapid rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness.

In the last three years, we've had a 23% increase in the number of applications from homeless households. And today, it's more than 7,300. That's 140 households becoming homeless, every single week.

This has resulted in over 2,000 households living in temporary accommodation, more than 900 of whom are in emergency B&B accommodation.

This can mean families living in a single room, in cramped accommodation, sharing kitchens and bathrooms with other families for months on end. And because the housing emergency leaves many families competing for the same pool of homes, it often means that we're forced to use accommodation that's outside the capital.

Cramped conditions in temporary accommodation can create, and worsen, health problems and affect the health and well-being of children in particular.

That's how we know that living in temporary accommodation isn't a good long term solution.

Sadly, there's also no guarantee that you'll receive permanent housing in Brent. There are currently 34,000 households on our social housing waiting list. That's nearly 1 in 10 of all Brent residents.

Some families have been on the list since the last century, and only an average of 650 social homes become available each year with 40% of them being one 1 properties.

Even though Brent has been leading the way in building new homes with the second highest number of new builds completed out of all the London boroughs over the past ten years, put simply, supply cannot cope with this surge in demand.

The average wait time for a 2 bed home is more than a decade. For 4 bed properties, the wait is over twenty years.

If you're homeless, your best option is to find a place you can afford in the private rental sector as quickly as possible. Regrettably, most private rental properties in London are becoming unaffordable.

Rather than wait for years in temporary accommodation, we can work with you to find a more cost effective property outside of London where rents remain more affordable. We can help you to secure a rental property in a place that's affordable to you.

If needed, we can financially help you to secure a rental home.

We can talk to your landlord for you and we can support you to move into your new neighborhood.

We know that relocating to a new area may seem daunting. There are school and work moves to think about as well as changes to your commute, but we'll help you to find a place you can afford to end your homelessness.

We'll support you and your family with the option to change location and help to make your move into your new home as easy as possible. We can only make you a one time offer of a home in the private rental sector to end your homelessness.

Sadly, there is a high probability that it will be outside of London due to the lack of affordable housing. With only a small supply of council homes, most routes lead to the private rental sector. So, take control of your housing situation today and work with us to find a home you can afford. 

Brent Council advises its homeless residents to up sticks and move somewhere else where private rents are lower

 Cllr Rita Begum (Kilburn ward) asked a question LINK of Brent Council leader, Muhammed Butt, for the July 8th Brent Full Council Meeting on the plight of the homeless in the borough.

In his response Butt outlines the increasing cost of placements of the homeless in temporary private rented accommodation as well as the rise in the number of people and families presenting as homeless at the Civic Centre.

He cites the limited action that the council has been able to take and goes on to introduce a new campaign that the council will undertake called 'Find a Place You Can Afford':

 

In addition, the council is set to launch a new communications campaign which aims to raise awareness of the deepening homelessness emergency in Brent and the practical realities and life changing consequences this has for homeless  households. 

 

The Find a place you can afford campaign will seek to break the perceived link between homelessness and social housing. For the overwhelming majority of people, becoming homeless does not mean they have a better chance of securing a council home.

 

For most homeless households the most likely sustainable solution to their homelessness will be to find a place they can afford in the private rented sector in a more affordable part of the UK. The council’s communications will seek to encourage the growing number of homeless households to realise more quickly that, for the vast majority, their future housing options are all in the private rented sector in an area they can afford.

 

Amid all the rising tower blocks of high spec flats  in Wembley, Alperton and elsewhere in the borough, the council is admitting that it cannot help those waiting for accommodation on the housing list. Their advice could be seen as ruthlessly honest in refusing to give homeless families any hope of staying near extended family, social netweeks and local schools in Brent.

 

It is rather similar to Norman Tebbit's advice to the workless to 'get on your bike' to find work elsewhere.

Others may see it as another step on the gentrification road.

Cllr Tatler on the 'perfect storm' facing Brent Council finances

 Cllr Tatler made no bones about it at Brent Scrutiny last night: Brent Council is facing a 'perfect storm' regarding its finances:

 

 

As already reported by Wembley Matters the combination of increased homelessness (150 families a week seeking help from Brent Council), inflation, rising interest rates, rising private sector rents and reduced private sector rental properties as a result of landlords exiting the market; combined has led to a £13m overspend by the Council.

The Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee delved deeper into the repercussions and possible mitigations last night.  

One focus was the 600 plus empty properties that could easily house the 500 families and single people (858 people in all) currently in expensive bed and breakfast accommodation.  The challenge was how to contact the owners so that the Council could lease the property.  Some councillors there were more than 600 empty properties and asked how the  Council collected the figures. A councillor asked if this coudl be checked against the most recent census. In response Cllr Tatler said that the Council could reactivate the campaign to ask residents to report empty properties.

Contact Empty Property Team

Opening hours: Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm

Phone: 020 8937 2384 option 1 then option 4

Email: empty.property@brent.gov.uk

 

There are also 600 empty council properties on the South Kilburn estate in blocks that are due to be knocked down. However, officers said many are not habitable and were needed for decanting.

There was a need to look at buying new properties and building on existing council land.  There was a corporate exercise across the Council to ensure it is not missing out on potential subsidies but subsidies were also reducing:

Extract from Officers' Report

The loss of subsidy cost is forecast to rise to £8.6m in 2023/24 (from £3.7m in 2022/23) as rents increase but the Local Housing Allowance  remains unchanged at its current level. Benefits paid to those living in Temporary Accomodation  is limited to 90% of the 2011 LHA rates which, particularly since the pandemic, is significantly less than rents being charged by most private sector landlords today. A percentage of the Housing Benefits subsidy received from DWP when compared to the total amount paid to residents is forecast to reduce by 14% when compared to the average over the last three years (67% versus a 81% average). 

Councillors also asked about loss of Business Rates with commercial properties left empty. Could the Council charge double if left empty for more than 2 years as with empty homes? They were told that was not currently within the Council's powers. Cllr Tatler said that 90% of Brent businesses are SMEs (small and medium enterprises) who had been badly hit and thus no longer viable. Chair Cllr Conneely agreed with Cllr Malloy that she would rather be asking profit-making businesses to pay more than hard-pressed residents.

Cllr Malloy said that he knew of a commercial property in South Kilburn where the big property company owner had smashed all the toilets so they they could claim the property was unusable and therefore not pay business rates. This resulted in an interesting exchange with Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt:

 

 

 Questioned about the possible use of reserves to help meet the deficit the Head of Finance said that Brent's reserves around the mid-way point for London Councils. Much was earmarked for projects and it was prudent to have reserves available for unexpected events such as a pandemic. However, there was a case for a review of use of reserves that were not earmarked. Cllr Tatler pointed out that if reserves were spent they would have to be rebuilt in subsequent years. More information on the status of reserves will be included in the Budget report in February.

 

The Head of Finance noted the cross-party  'Eastbourne letter' to the government published on Wembley Matters LINK from 119 council leaders about temporary accommodation costs. It was signed byu Muhammed Butt.

 

Recommendations:

 

1. Council to lobby government on business rates.

2. Council to have a clearer plan on effective collection of business rates.

3. Council to investigate use of census data to help identify empty properties.

4. Council to work on ways of turning empty properties into usable properties.

Information requests:

Detailed information of subsidy loss.

Data on voids.

List of empty properties if data legislation allows.