Month: June 2018

The Regulator of Social Housing reports that Knowsley Housing Trust has been placed on its Grading under review list.

The Regulator is currently investigating a matter regarding Knowsley’s compliance with the governance element of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. The regulator has also published a regulatory notice for Knowsley HT.

The GUR list is available on the website.

Further information

1. The GUR list includes providers being investigated for an issue that may result in non-compliant grades for the Governance and/or Financial Viability Standard.
2. The regulatory framework can also be found on the website.
3. Inclusion does not currently have a regulatory judgement as it previously held less than 1,000 homes. The regulatory judgement to be published at the end of the investigation will be its first regulatory judgement.

The regulation of social housing is the responsibility of the Regulation Committee, a statutory committee of the Homes and Communities Agency. The organisation refers to itself as the Regulator of Social Housing in undertaking the functions of the Regulation Committee. Homes England is the trading name of the HCA’s non-regulation functions.

The regulator’s purpose is to promote a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants.

For more information visit the RSH website.

Our About the Regulator of Social Housing page has contact details for media enquiries.

For general queries to RSH, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

New guidance for landlords to further protect tenants from poor living conditions has been published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government today (20 June 2018).

Following legislation introduced last month, from 1 October 2018 any landlord who lets a property to 5 or more people – from 2 or more separate households – must be licensed by their local housing authority.

The move, affecting around 160,000 houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), will mean councils can take further action to crack down on the small minority of landlords renting out sub-standard and overcrowded homes.

New rules will also come into force setting minimum size requirements for bedrooms in HMOs to prevent overcrowding. Landlords will also be required to adhere to council refuse schemes, to reduce problems with rubbish.

The guidance document includes further details on extending mandatory licensing to smaller HMOs and introducing minimum bedroom sizes as government continues to rebalance the relationship between tenants and landlords.

Housing Minister Heather Wheeler MP said:

Everyone deserves a decent and safe place to live.

Today’s new guidance for landlords will further protect private renters against bad and overcrowded conditions and poor management practice.

Selective licensing

Government is also today announcing a review to look at how selective licensing is used and find out how well it is working.

In areas where selective licensing applies, landlords must apply for a licence if they want to rent out a property. This means the council can check whether they are a “fit or proper person” to be a landlord, as well as making other stipulations concerning management of the property and appropriate safety measures.

The review will see independent commissioners gather evidence from local authorities and bodies representing landlords, tenants and housing professionals.

The review’s findings will be reported in spring 2019. There will be an update on progress in autumn this year.

Further information

Selective licensing allows local housing authorities to make it compulsory for all private rented accommodation in a specified area to have a licence.

The schemes are intended to deliver improved standards and safety in the private rented sector for areas suffering serious problems.

Young people are encouraged to make sure they have had both doses of the MMR vaccine before going on holiday to Europe where there are large outbreaks of measles.

Cases of measles also continue to rise across England in unvaccinated people of this age.

The vaccine is available free to anyone who has not received both doses as a child. It protects against measles, mumps and rubella, all of which can be very serious diseases and are highly infectious.

While vaccine uptake levels in the UK in young children are currently very high, coverage levels dipped to a low of 80% in 2003. This means that there are significant numbers of unprotected teenagers and young adults who could catch measles both in England, particularly in environments of close mixing such as summer festivals and when they travel abroad for the summer holidays.

Measles is a highly infectious viral illness that can sometimes lead to serious complications and can be fatal in very rare cases so getting protected by taking up the offer of vaccination is crucial.

Between 1 January 2018 and 18 June 2018 there have been 643 laboratory confirmed measles cases in England. Cases were reported in most areas with London (225), the South-East (137), West Midlands (82), South-West (79), and Yorkshire and Humberside (74) reporting the most cases (based on provisional figures).

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that to prevent outbreaks of disease, 95% of people need to have received the MMR vaccine.

Dr Mary Ramsay, Head of Immunisation at Public Health England (PHE), said:

In the early 2000s there was a fall in MMR vaccination coverage in children and as a consequence, we are now seeing measles cases in young adults. Measles can be more serious in adults with a higher likelihood of hospitalisation and complications arising.

Measles is circulating in England and the rest of Europe. We often think about what travel-related vaccines we might need before going on holiday, but it’s also important to check that we are up to date with routine vaccinations like MMR.

If you are unsure if you have had 2 doses of MMR call your GP practice to check and catch up if needed.

Parents are also urged to take up the offer of MMR vaccination for their children at 1 year old and as a pre-school booster at 3 years and 4 months old.