Job Centre Plus site in St Johns Road, Wembley Central
Network Home's CGI of proposal
Network Homes issued a press release yesterday on its planned development of the Job Centre Plus site in St Johns Road, off the High Road, Wembley Central:
We're really pleased to have put in a planning application for 79 new homes in Wembley High Road.
Located on the site of a former office block, the development will be
100% affordable with 49 homes for social rent, 39 for shared ownership
and the remaining eight for London Living Rent, a scheme which offers
Londoners the chance to save for a deposit to buy shares in their home.
The development would form part of the Wembley Housing Zone which is
part of the Mayor of London’s plan help unlock new development
opportunities and accelerate the delivery of affordable housing in
Brent.
Brent Council will consider the application in spring 2022 and if granted residents could be moving in from summer 2024.
Readers will not need reminding of current concerns over the viability of shared ownership. The CGIs only show the lower floors of the tallest block but a tall building on what amounts to a side road (the main building is not actually on Wembley High Road as the PR claims but along St Johns Road and the corner of Elm Road) will be a concern. It is likely that the proximity of the 'Twin Towers, the Uncle building, on Park Lane, will be cited as a precedent.
A pre-application presentation was made to Brent Planning Committee in 2017 LINK and the housing breakdown then included private housing.
Private Market Housing (68% of total): 9x studio 12x 1bed 19x 2bed 10x 3bed Affordable Housing (32% of total): 8x 1 bed (5x Affordable Rent and 3x Shared Ownership) 8x 2 bed (5x Affordable Rent and 3x Shared Ownership) 8x 3 bed (6x Affordable Rent and 2x Shared Ownership) Overall Tenure Split on Affordable Housing = 67:33 (Affordable Rent: Shared Ownership)
So the proposed mix will be seen as an improvement.
In seeking tojustify the height,the applicant points to local precedents including King Edward Court (03/3727) which forms a similar bookend at the opposite end of Elm Road.The difference with this site is that it frontsaprincipal movement corridorin the area andthe application site does not.It is recognised that the corner location of the site does helpsupport a taller buildingbut it is considered that the height as proposedis too high. The development is not considered to not reflectlower order role of St John’s Roadand existing 2 storey housingin the immediate locality. Italso noted that there has been no character and context analysis performed in line with the GLA’s SPD and London Plan Policy.
Now of course the Uncle building is part of the landscape.
The 2017 pre-application map (note the proposal then was to preserve the Boots frontage on the High Road)
Universal Credit, the controversial new integrated benefit system, is being rolled out in Brent. This is the Council' announcement:
The government's long-awaited Universal Credit is being rolled out in Brent from November 2018 on the following dates:
21 November 2018 for Harlesden Job Centre
5 December 2018 for Wembley Job Centre
This means that residents with a change in circumstances or
those moving into Brent making a claim for the first time will have to
apply for Universal Credit instead of the benefits listed below:
Housing Benefit
Job Seeker's Allowance (income based)
Employment and Support Allowance (income related)
Income Support
Working Tax Credit
Child Tax Credit
The six benefits above will be merged into one single payment -
Universal Credit. Unlike many of the existing benefits, Universal Credit
will be paid once a month, rather than weekly, fortnightly or four
weekly as housing benefit is traditionally paid, and will be paid
directly into the claimant's bank account in arrears. This is a change
for many residents who currently have their housing benefit paid direct
to their landlord.
The government wants all Universal Credit
claims to be both made and updated online. If residents do not have
access to the internet, they will be able to visit one of the above Job
Centres for assistance. Each Job Centre will have a front of house team
specifically set up to help and assist residents to make and maintain
their Universal Credit claims online.
To make an application
for Universal Credit, residents will need to apply directly to the
Department for Work and Pensions via their website https://www.gov.uk/apply-universal-credit There is also a free helpline available for those that need any extra support: 0800 328 5644.
Councillor Eleanor Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform said:
These are huge changes, particularly for residents who are already
struggling to get by. The first port of call for formal advice is the
DWP, who are implementing the changes. However, I want to remind
residents that the council is here to help and you should contact us if
you're worried that you might be falling into rent arrears or if you
need support with your council tax.
Who in the Future will be Affected by
Universal Credit (UC)?
1. To date, of the 1 million households now on UC, the vast majority (except in
local pilot areas), have been the unemployed. However that is about to change.
From now on across the country all new or updated benefit claims (with a few
exceptions) including those in work who receive Tax Credits have to be made
through UC.
2.DWP also
plans to force everyone on benefits (including those on Working and Child Tax
Credits) to claim UC even if there has been no change in their circumstances.
DWP has refused to initiate transfers of Tax Credit claims on to a UC regime.
Instead people have to initiate UC applications, a fraught and costly process.
Testing forced transfers, called ‘managed migration’ by DWP, is due to start
for some Tax Credit recipients in July 2019.
3.Nationally,
DWP’s plans mean 3 in 4 of the planned total of 7 million families on UC, would
be in work. So of the estimated 16 million people nationally in families
receiving UC, around 12 million would be in working families.
Background
4. This note outlines the Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) plans on UC as
at early November 2018. These plans have changed many times. DWP has said they
may change again if more problems with UC come to light.
5. UC has been criticised by welfare and other advice
agencies after cases of severe hardship came to light and a series of analyses
on the impact of UC especially after funding was cut. Arguably UC has become so
discredited that what its future should be and indeed whether it should have a
future is a matter for serious political debate.
Why have People found the UC Application Process so
Fraught?
6. Firstly the forms are very lengthy – running to tens of pages. Secondly DWP
want people to fill them in online. Even experienced advisers find the process;
setting up accounts, locating and scanning in all the documents which DWP
require to ‘verify’ a UC claim, often takes many hours, not counting
verification visits to DWP offices.
7. DWP’s own research found barely half could complete the
process without help. One in 4 claimants were not able to claim at all without
help. Many have found applying for UC more difficult than applying for Tax
Credits.
The UC application process is most intimidating and unsuitable for those with
poor language, writing or IT skills.
The process especially frightens those with mental health problems eg anxiety,
as DWP’s own research shows.
8. Thirdly the risks, if things go wrong, have been
largely put on to the applicant. Imposing on applicants financial penalties
arising from the complex UC application process, is unreasonable given the
widely known problems people have faced in completing UC applications to DWP’s
satisfaction. Government November 2018 changes have reduced, but not removed,
risks imposed on people when those on Tax Credits are forced to apply for UC.
9. If people do not successfully apply within 1 month of a
DWP deadline they risk losing ‘Transitional Protection’ which protects, for a
while, their money if UC pays less than they get with Tax Credits. Further DWP
only allow UC claims to be backdated by one month – less than the 3 months
allowed for backdating of some benefit claims.
Do Tax Credit Recipients lose Money?
10. First of all, UC claimants face gaps in payment imposed by DWP in two
stages. The UC system builds in a gap in payments, reduced in the 2018 Budget
to a minimum of 3 weeks, after applying for UC. On top of that gap 1 in 5
claimants have faced on average a 4 week delay by DWP (ie on top of the 3 week
gap) in receiving some or all of their money. DWP do not expect the % facing
additional delays in some UC payment to be reduced during 2018.
11. Indeed there may well a big rise in the current UC
claim processing delays by DWP under the strain of a six-fold increase in the
rate of new UC claims planned by DWP for 2020 plus the more complicated
circumstances of future UC claims with working income and child care costs,
(unlike the mainly simpler unemployed cases so far).
12. Secondly amounts paid under UC differ from what
working families get on Tax Credits. Some would get more money under UC. But
overall working families face a net loss on average of about £250 a year on UC,
after the 2018 Budget measures notably the higher work allowances. The Budget
reduced, but did not end the losses.
13. UC losses are bigger for (mainly female) single
parents, and disabled people loss of Severe Disability Premium.
UC hits women more. The combined impact of tax and benefit changes hits women 7
times as severely as men.
14. UC’s Minimum Income Floor has adverse impacts for many
self-employed people eg taxi drivers, often BME.
15. Tax and benefit measures in the 2018 Budget only
partially offset the overall losses since Summer 2015 from for instance the
benefit freeze. Overall tax and benefit changes reduce income just for the
lower income groups.
Does UC Contribute to a More Hostile Environment for
Workers?
16. As well as financial losses, UC can intrude into peoples’ lives. Under the
UC regime, workers can be pressed by DWP to job search to increase hours or
earnings. This is worse for some eg single parents with child care duties.
17. For the first time workers are now at risk of
‘sanctions’ – loss of benefit. UK has the 2nd most demanding set of
‘benefit conditionality’ terms out of 39 countries. Under UC sanctions are 4
times more frequent than pre-UC.
18. Insisting everyone has to apply for UC online is not
user friendly, especially for those nervous of computers.
Is Universal Credit Actually Simpler?
19. One advantage claimed for UC is ‘simplification’ with 6 benefits rolled up
into 1. The comparison is misleading: no one person ever receives all 6
benefits simultaneously. It is also partial: UC does not include some benefits.
The difficulty of making UC claims shows that any ‘simplification’ is not
usually to the advantage of applicants.
20. Other aspects of ‘simplification’ may not help people.
Paying UC as one payment may be convenient for DWP, but it means women will
lose out when all money goes to one person, the higher earner, usually male. At
the moment Child Tax Credit and the childcare element of Working Tax Credit
typically go to the woman in a family.
Women with no direct access to money find it more difficult to leave when
facing domestic abuse or violence.
Are there Other Benefits of UC?
21. DWP has claimed UC increases work incentives. That is so, but to a very
limited extent. For the (1 in 3) people in work facing the highest effective
tax rates they are cut from slightly over 90% to 85% with UC. The evidence is
such incentives have little effect. Using sanctions implicitly admits that the
work incentives are not effective.
22. DWP has argued that benefit take-up will rise under
UC. But the user–unfriendly nature of UC, its toxic reputation and what an
official report calls DWP’s ‘culture of indifference’, reduce the chances of
higher take-up.
23. The DWP says that UC will reduce fraud and error. The
NAO report refers to ‘a lack of evidence’ on this claim.
Conclusions
24. Government UC plans will increasingly affect people in work. Recent changes
to UC have reduced the delays and the financial costs for workers, but not
eliminated them. Reducing delays and more funding are not enough to make UC
suitable. It is very user-unfriendly and intrudes oppressively into peoples’
lives. A harsh UC regime drives people into taking unsatisfactory work, putting
downward pressure on work T&Cs – a core union concern.
25. There is a very strong case for Trade Unions to call
on political parties to back ‘Stop and Scrap UC’ and, so long as UC continues,
urging councils to minimise the impacts. Some Boroughs have set up information,
advice and advocacy services eg Tower Hamlets, and others have committed to not
evict tenants in arrears as a result of UC.
26. Pushing more people on to UC should be immediately
halted, whilst a fundamental review considers the options.
Wednesday's Planning Committee will have a pre-application presentation on a development on Wembley High Road/St Johns Road/Elm Road.
It is on the site of the present Job Centre on St Johns Road with the Boots store front on 500 High Road retained.
The plan would replace the above building with a 10 and 12 storey block .
The site
The following 74 flat residential mix is
proposed (remembering that 'affordable' is up to 80% market rent):
Private Market Housing (68% of total): 9x studio 12x 1bed 19x 2bed 10x 3bed Affordable Housing (32% of total): 8x 1 bed (5x Affordable Rent and 3x Shared Ownership) 8x 2 bed (5x Affordable Rent and 3x Shared Ownership) 8x 3 bed (6x Affordable Rent and 2x Shared Ownership) Overall Tenure Split on Affordable Housing = 67:33 (Affordable Rent: Shared Ownership)
The officers' report considers issues such as the height of the proposed building and the quality of the build and recommends revision before it is submitted as a full planning application. LINK
