Swifter justice for victims of 'neighbours from hell'

Grant Schapps MP

NEIGHBOURS FROM HELL will be evicted much more quickly than at present if new proposals from the Government's Housing Minister Grant Schapps are accepted.

Grant Schapps MP is proposing to introduce a new mandatory power for possession, which will speed up the possession process by allowing previous convictions for serious anti-social behaviour to trigger eviction proceedings and short-cut the often long and expensive process which often requires landlords to prove again the 'yobbish' actions of their nightmare tenants.

"I am clear the eviction should only be pulled out of that toolkit as a last resort. But where other remedies have been tried and failed and serious antisocial behaviour has already been proven, I am determined that seeking and obtaining possession of the property should not be the start of another long process." Grant Schapps, Housing Minister

Under current regulations, it takes on average seven months from applying for a possession order to being granted one. And with some defendants deciding to not turn up or cases being adjourned several times, it can sometimes take much longer.

The Government is consulting on these proposals. You can find the consultation document at: www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/antisocialbehaviourconsult

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"Bleakest week for a generation" for Housing Services claims magazine

Voluntary Sector Cuts map - Yorkshire & Humberside

INSIDE HOUSING has written a stark assessment of Housing Services this week in light of the impact of spending cuts with the onset of the new financial year. Scores of housing providers across the country face funding cuts of up to 45%. It said:

"Housing professionals have experienced the bleakest week for a generation as hundreds of projects closed or had their funding slashed as the new financial year started."

The weekly magazine for Housing Professionals cites cases in Hull where 20 elderly residents are having to move out of their sheltered housing scheme after Sanctuary Housing’s funding was reduced by £23,000 by Hull Council. Also the homeless charity Doorstep has made 10 members of staff redundant after the council cut its funding by £240,000.

The National Council for Voluntary Organisations published a list of charities facing cuts. Of the 454 cuts it listed - worth £74 million - "149 were housing related" says Inside Housing.

Read the Inside Housing article: Dark Day for Housing Services.

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Look out for Housing Survey 2011

A MAJOR HOUSING SURVEY is being undertaken by East Riding of Yorkshire Council, aimed at providing accurate and detailed information about housing in the East Riding. 

The survey is going out to around 85,000 households, including all households in rural areas and a sample in urban areas. Councillor Jane Evison, cabinet portfolio holder for cultural services, housing and public protection, said: “The council urges people to complete the survey as the information is most important in helping to develop policies for planning, affordable housing and the housing needs of particular groups such as the elderly.” 

The council stresses that the information provided will be treated in the strictest confidence and no published reports will allow identification of individuals. 

The return date for the survey is 7 February 2011. A report will be prepared for the general public in summer 2011 and information about the results will also be posted on the East Riding Council website.

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Rightmove Places - Househunters can share and discover the HU12 area!

Rightmove.co.uk is one of the most well known property websites and is free to use. Although not an estate agent Rightmove has created one of the most comprehensive property information databases in the country.

Rightmove is currently testing a version of its new web service Rightmoveplaces at www.rightmoveplaces.co.uk which will allow house-hunters to find out more about the place in which their property - or proposed property - is located. The new website acts like a cross between a review website and a social network. Users can post information and photos about a place, and write about their opinions of services in an area i.e. character and personality, neighbourliness, restaurants and eating, etc.

There are Rightmove Places pages already set up for Hedon, Preston, Paull and Saltend. It is currently available only in Beta which means it is being tested and subject to change until a version based on user experience is determined. However, it already seems a very useful service.

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New home is like 'winning the lottery'

RESIDENTS MOVING into new homes built by the council tomorrow, 10 November, have described the move as "winning the lottery".

Affordable homes in Cliffe Road, Market Weighton, are the first to be finished under an ambitious programme to build 331 similar properties throughout the East Riding. Local contractors are working on the £46.5m programme funded by East Riding of Yorkshire Council and the Homes and Communities Agency, which has contributed £20.16m.

In a press statement issued by the East Riding Council, Terry and Karen Meanwell, 49 and 48 respectively, have been identified as the first residents to move in under the scheme and are moving from larger, unsuitable council property in Brough. Mrs Karen Meanwall said:

"I couldn’t have expected a property like this in a million years, I feel as though I’ve won the lottery."

Councillor Stephen Parnaby, OBE, leader of East Riding of Yorkshire Council, will meet the Meanwells outside their new home to give them their keys. He said:

“I am delighted to be able to hand over the first keys to some of the residents who are directly benefitting from this house-building project. The Meanwells are exactly the sort of people that we set out to help when we decided to start this programme. Local contractors have been boosted by the work to build these houses, but from today it is the turn of local residents to benefit as the first of these high-quality homes is ready. Because of the high standard these homes have been built to and their credentials when it comes to energy efficiency, they will be good for the environment and save the residents money.”

Rob Pearson, area manager for the Homes and Communities Agency said:

“This new bungalow is closer to their family and hope it is ideal for their needs. By enabling East Riding to build over 300 new homes we are helping to make sure that people can stay in the same communities as their families and in homes that they can afford.”

Residents like the Meanwells who are living in homes which are too large for them are being given the chance to trade them in for a more manageable property in a location which is right for them. This will free up their former homes for families which could benefit from larger properties.

Once the Meanwells move out of their home in Brough it will be refurbished and offered to a family which needs a property of this size.

Each of the new houses is being designed as a "life-time home" meaning it can be easily converted for people if they become less mobile as their lifestyle changes. Features which help with this include a good standards of ramps, corridors wide enough for wheelchairs, downstairs showers or the ability to install these easily and removable panels to allow floor platform lifts to be installed.

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Housing Services Roadshow 2010

HOUSING SERVICES staff and tenant representatives will be touring East Yorkshire villages next week on their special Roadshow Bus.

The East Riding of Yorkshire Council Housing Services department are inviting council tenants to climb aboard the Roadshow Bus to find out more about the services on offer and receive advice and information on housing repairs.

The bus stops in Helms Avenue, Preston between 10am and 10:30am on Tuesday 7th September and then moves on to Back Road, Paull from 10:45am until 11:15am.

If you want further information then ring 01482 396151.

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Residential Property Prices Update

HOUSING PRICES have slipped for the second consecutive month for the first time since December, according to Rightmove’s latest house price index, providing evidence that supply is outstripping demand.

However, while property in the North saw the largest increase in prices, according to Rightmove’s survey, in Yorkshire and Humberside on an annual basis, property prices fell by 0.4%.

The average asking price for August 2010 in this region is £158,084 which compares with £161,263 in July and £158,700 this time last year. The average price nationally is £232,241.

However, local Estate Agent John Dennis of John P. Dennis, Chartered Surveyors and Estate Agents does not give much credence to the price trends and warns that at the best they are 'Regional' and not local. He summarises the local property scene:

As far as Hedon and the South Holderness villages are concerned - in my opinion prices seemed to stop falling in mid 2009, and have bumped along at or about that level ever since. There have been no signs of further falls, nor has there been any signs of significant rises. Market transactions are up but the increased number of sales has now been offset by an increased number of homes coming on the market since the end of Home Information Packs. When banks feel confident enough to start lending at reasonable levels again (in particular without asking 1st time buyers for 15% to 20% deposits,) the situation may change for the better. In the meantime we keep on being positive.

In other property news, The Daily Telegraph, reports that a sea-view generally adds value to a property. Of the five best value seaside towns, three are in east Yorkshire!  Withernsea, Hornsea and Bridlington share this honour along with the Scottish seaside towns of Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

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Preston affordable homes plan would irreversibly change area

EAST RIDING COUNCIL proposals to build new homes in Manor Road, Preston, look set to be kicked out at a Planning Committee meeting at County Hall, Beverley on Monday.

The planning application to build 20 'affordable dwellings' to be rented out by the council, is to be discussed by the Eastern Area Planning Sub-Committee on Monday 14th June. Council officers are recommending that the scheme is refused on the grounds that the development would "irreversibly change the character of the street scene and the area in general".

Council officers in their report (3mb, PDF, page 200) to be submitted to the meeting on Monday have accepted that there is a need to provide affordable housing in Preston and that 20 new homes would contribute to that need. However, they consider that the proposed site is not suitable for the scale of the development being proposed. And in this instance "the need to provide affordable housing is not sufficient to outweigh the detrimental harm caused to the rural character and appearence of the street scene".

Over 200 letters of objection to the scheme have been received by the council from local residents concerned about the scale of the development and its impact on local services and the environment. Many of these objectors are expected to attend the meeting on Monday.

Useful link: ER Council Eastern Area Planning Committee

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New affordable homes for Hedon?

FOLLOWING THE REJECTION of plans in January to build four new homes at Cloeberry Way, Hedon, the East Riding Council has resubmitted its application. This time the planning application stipulates that only three homes will be built following demolition of the existing two garages.

As previously reported on the Hedon Blog the council had planned to build new properties on the Cloeberry Way site as part of its strategy to meet the need for affordable homes across the region. The new homes are part of a £33million programme being carried out by the council to build 275 affordable homes in 2010/11.

The planning application for four homes was rejected last time as unsuitable because it would have resulted in a “cramped and akward form of development” and “an undue sense of enclosure for any potential future occupiers”. The new application will undoubtedly address those issues.

However, some local residents will be concerned about the loss of any car-parking spaces in the Drapers Lane area.

The planning application is available for inspection at the Customer Service Centre at 2, New Road, Hedon during office hours.

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