WEMBLEY MATTERS News and views on local politics, the environment, climate change, culture and local history
Friday 10 March 2023
Renters score £400k victory on unsafe homes
From London Renters Union
Hackney members of the London Renters Union have won a massive £400,000 investment in housing safety, following the launch of our #SideWithRenters campaign!
1.6
million children live in damp and mouldy homes. But when renters report unsafe
housing conditions to their local authorities, many go ignored.
Everyone deserves a safe home. It is
outrageous that many renters are forced to forfeit half of our incomes for housing
that makes us sick.
That's why we launched our #SideWithRenters campaign last year to pressure
councils to stand up for renter rights and tackle unsafe housing.
Members in Hackney came together and held negotiations with the council in
April last year, and again in February this year. The message from our members
was clear. Hold landlords accountable!
Earlier this week, Hackney Council announced it will invest a further £400K in
the housing standards enforcement team to crack down on mould and damp.
Stronger enforcement means that is harder for landlords to get away with
forcing us into dangerous conditions.
This win was only possible because of the way we're
building renter power in the city. But there's so much more to
fight for...
|
Join the fight. |
|
London Renters Union is a member-led union fighting to transform
the housing system. From resisting evictions to campaigning for lower
rents, we are fighting for a housing system
that prioritises human need over profit. |
Thursday 9 March 2023
SOS NHS DEMONSTRATION – END THE CRISIS – SUPPORT THE STRIKES Saturday 11 March – 12 noon – Central London, NW1 3AA
We do not need to remind you about the unprecedented crisis in the NHS, but we do need to ensure our voice is heard. We also stand by NHS staff forced to take strike action and seek to expose the political choices this Government is making to underfund and privatise the NHS.
This is also a moment ahead of the Spring Budget to bring people together
around an issue that unites us all.
The demonstration will assemble at 12pm Midday, on Saturday 11 March, at the northernmost end of Tottenham Court Road (Euston end) opposite Warren Street Underground Station NW1 3AA and then march to Whitehall for a closing rally with speeches outside Downing Street.
ACCESIBLITY
INFORMATION-SHORT MARCH
We’re doing all we can to make
sure our event is accesible to all.
We will have short march which will assembly outside the north side of the National
Portrait Gallery, 5 Irving St, Leicester Square, London WC2H 7AT
The short march will end in Whitehall at the main stage where we will have
cordoned off area for wheelchair users and BSL users.
The short march will assemble at the National Portrait Gallery (just opposite from the Garrick Theatre) from 13:00 and we expect the main march to arrive at some time between 13:30 and 13:45.
Further information https://sosnhs.org/events/
Wednesday 8 March 2023
Kilburn Square development paused. All scheme options to be reviewed but Brent Council will still seek planning approval for the designed scheme.
The saga of the controversial Kilburn Square development continues with a letter distributed to residents today. The Council's plans have encountered much opposition,
Search 'Kilburn Square' on this blog for the previous posts.
As Life in Kilburn (highly recommended) pointed out on Twitter, this is the second site paused as Windmill Court was also paused. The two sites were allocated GLA money with a strict on-site start deadline of March 31st 2023.
Newland Court in Wembley Park is also putting up resistance to infill proposals on their estate.
The Planning Committee due to be held on March 15th, where the contested Planning Application may have been presented, has been cancelled.
Monday 6 March 2023
'Social prescribing' a plaster on the wound of social and economic inequality?
The agenda for tomorrow's Community and Wellbeibg Scrutiny Committee includes some very important and complex items and it is hard to see how in the limited time available they will receive the full scrutiny and discussion that they merit.
One item is the report of the Task Group on Social Prescription that perhaps deserves a meeting of its own.
The video above from Hillingdon, Harrow and Brent UK outlines the aims of social prescription, an approach advocated by Theresa May, that is now being widely adopted and extended. The Task Group's recommendations would systematise its implementation in Brent.
In his Forward to the Task Group Report Cllr Ketan Sheth, the Committee's Chair says:
Social prescribing has been identified as being potentially key to addressing health inequalities across Brent, as residents who live in areas of high deprivation are more likely to have worse health outcomes due to socio-economic factors. To enable social prescribing to effectively tackle Brent’s deeply entrenched health inequalities, its resources and funding must be distributed fairly, so that residents who are more likely to be impacted by health inequalities have sufficient opportunities to access the support they need.
The socoiologist Basil Bernstein wrote regarding the pressures on schools to address society's ills that 'Education cannot compensate for society'. One could argue now that 'GPs cannot compensate for society', even with the aid of social prescription.
Advocates of social prescription will point to the fact tht many visits to GPs are about issues that affect health, such as poverty, poor housing, loneliness, Referral to voluntary agencies to address these are of benefit to the person concerned and frees up the GP's time to address medical issues.
The Task Group outline the context:
Rebecca Brown in 'The Ethics of Social Prescribing: An Overview' in a paragraph entitled 'A band aid on a bullet wound?' wrote:
Social prescribing emerges from a recognition that, often, health problems arise in the context of challenging personal and social circumstances. Serious efforts to combat NCDs may necessitate significant structural changes to current social practices and structures. Work on the social determinants of health has established the links between social deprivation and poor health outcomes, and suggests that the pervasive effects of social inequality on health, beginning at birth and persisting throughout someone’s life, are unlikely to be addressed simply through social prescribing. It should be noted that social prescribing requires a vibrant voluntary and community sector to flourish; more disadvantaged areas may have fewer community assets, thereby potentially contributing to Tudor Hart’s inverse care law.
The worry is that key social determinants of health are not tackled through broader social reform; instead, social prescribing is used as a smoke screen for change without addressing some of the more fundamental issues contributing to health inequalities within society. This might be an ungenerous interpretation of the motivation behind social prescribing, but it places an onus on those tasked with implementing social prescribing services to ensure such interventions are properly evaluated and not used to deflect attention from remaining problems, and from undertaking other (potentially politically unpopular) solutions. More optimistically, it is plausible that social prescribing could form a basis for political willingness to begin to tackle the engrained problems of social deprivation and health inequality.
Much social prescribing is aimed at older people but a recent article in the Nursing Times looks at younger people's mental health where the 'prescription' is often outdoor social and physical activities.
This approach to mental health is currently endemic in the Western world, reflecting the neoliberalism within the wider systems of society (Timimi, 2021). The idea behind it is that you as an individual are responsible for your own actions, feelings, wellbeing etc. So if you’re not feeling better after engaging with the interventions offered, the fault lies with you, rather than the breakdown of society around you.
The increase in social prescribing also correlates with cuts in the public sector, with things previously readily available, such as food vouchers, now only obtainable with a prescription from your GP.
My fear is that the current move towards social prescribing is just another plaster on the gaping wound that is the current state of children’s mental health. The social prescribing academy in the UK concedes that the sparse evidence base for this type of intervention makes it difficult to know where best to focus resources.
The danger of people feeling worse if the 'prescription' does not work for them is cited in other reviews and it is clear that more systematic research is needed to evaluate the approach.
The Task Group report gives an example of a social prescription with a positive outcome:
A GP Surgery makes the connection with the cost of living crisis:
Social prescribing perhaps has some parallels with foodbanks in that it performs a useful and necessary function in an unequal society but at the same time addresses the symptoms rather than the causes of inequality. Political action is required to address the causes.
Sunday 5 March 2023
Brent Council's housing companies report increased delay in re-letting their properties and below target rent collection
Brent Council has two wholly-owned housing companies i4B and FWH both of which have a large number of voids (unlet homes waiting to be re-let) and lower than expected rent collection levels.
The poor re-letting performance comes at a time of great housing need with evictions from private rented housing at a high. The Council has recently relaunched a scheme focusing on empty homes in the borough and the need to bring them back into use LINK and it appears that quite a lot of such homes might be its own.
i4B
FWH
A task group has been set up to address these issues.
The problems facing the i4B, leading to a suspension of acquisition of new properties, are outlined in a report to Cabinet LINK:
1. The 2022/23 Business Plan outlined that i4B’s primary aim is to improve the Council’s affordable housing offer through the acquisition and letting of properties in Brent and neighbouring boroughs. A Development Strategy was agreed alongside the 2022/23 Business Plan with the aim of utilising remaining and potential future funding to develop a portfolio of affordable new build accommodation which:
· Supports the Council’s Housing Strategy and relieves housing need;
· Supports the financial viability of the Companies; and
· Is feasible and realistic.
2. The strategy was implemented during 2022/23. However, this has been impacted by the current economic environment, principally higher global inflation rates driven by COVID supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine. In the UK, skills shortages and a tight labour market are adding to these pressures.
3. The Company’s ongoing street property purchase programme has been significantly impacted by increased interest rates, which reduce the amount i4B can spend on new acquisitions. As of January 2023, i4B has purchased 21 properties in the financial year against an initial target of 48. The Board has agreed to a pause on committing any new loan funding and to therefore suspend the acquisition programme until May.
4. During 2022/23, i4B also carried out a pilot of purchasing adaptable properties to meet high demand from homeless families requiring adapted accommodation. Additional funding of up to £100,000 per property was allocated to the pilot, but i4B’s price caps have proven restrictive, especially as i4B primarily operates in the south of Brent where the majority of properties are flats and terraced houses and therefore not typically suitable for adaptation. Therefore, a large amount of additional funding would be required in order to make this a viable purchasing stream for i4B. Due to the significant amount of funding required, the Council is now exploring alternative options for housing this Cohort; options involving i4B are being considered as part of this.
i4B’s primary aim is to improve the Council’s affordable housing offer through the acquisition and letting of properties in Brent and neighbouring boroughs. i4B has available finance and aims to ensure this is spent in a way that adds maximum value to the Council, whilst also being feasible and supporting the Company’s financial viability. i4B has currently suspended new offers on street properties to focus on acquiring a new build scheme during 2023/24. During 2023/24, i4B will work with partners to appraise schemes, and will look to re- enter the market later in the year.
The financial position of the company has been hit by the cost of the Granville New Homes refurbishment:
The cash position of i4B is initially positive but reduces over two years due to the cost of the refurbishment works to the Granville blocks. The cash balance then remains broadly stable for five years to 2030/31 as rental growth offsets the cost of decarbonisation works through the stock. From 2031/32 onwards cash balances start to increase as rental growth continues and capital costs associated with the decarbonisation works end.
i4B is forecasting positive cash balances of around £0.5m for the five years up unto 2030/31. These balances are relatively small in terms of the size of the organisations. As a result all the stress test scenarios modelled in the business plan put the organisation into deficit. The business plan sets out that further work will be required on contingency plans to ensure the organisation can maintain its financial viability.
Regarding Granville New Homes the FWH report notes:
On the 4th April 2022, the transfer of 110 properties at Granville New Homes was completed – 84 social housing units, 1 leasehold unit, and the freehold for the site (including the Tabot Centre) were transferred to the Council’s HRA, and 25 intermediate units were transferred to i4B Holdings Ltd (i4B).
Decarbonisation of housing stock to reduce heating costs and meet climate targets is an issue for both companies:
i4B
The decarbonisation of i4B’s stock is set to be a major capital expense for the Company. During 2022/23, i4B commissioned a programme of stock condition and energy surveys, which outlined the requirements and estimated costs for bringing i4B properties up to an Energy Performance Certificate rating of B. The results of this work have been received, and i4B now have EPC data for all of its properties. A decarbonisation strategy for the Company will be developed during 2023/24, which will outline works that will be undertaken to improve performance. This may include stock rationalisation in some cases.
The company has also applied for the Green Homes Grant, and the managing agent of the grant is working to book in surveys with tenants with the view to completing a programme of energy efficiency works at properties by the end of 2022/23, in order to improve the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of properties to at least a C.
FWH
The decarbonisation of FWH’s stock is set to be a major capital expense for the Company. During 2022/23, FWH commissioned a programme of stock condition and energy surveys, which outlined the requirements and estimated costs for bringing FWH properties up to an Energy Performance Certificate rating of B. The results of this work have been received, and FWH now have EPC data for all of its properties. A decarbonisation strategy for the Company will be developed during 2023/24, which will outline works that will be undertaken to improve performance. This may include stock rationalisation in some cases.
The two companies and Brent Housing Management will all be affected as landlords by the Building Safety Act 2022 which includes the introduction a Building Safety Regulator and a new regulatory regime that applies to the planning, construction and occupation of higher risk buildings, government powers to regulate construction products, new regulations for the safety of construction products, and protection of leaseholders in respect of the costs of remediating building safety defects in their properties.
There is plenty of material here that merits further examination by the Scrutiny Committee.
ACCOUNTS
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