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The Accounts Commission have revealed local authorities are currently facing a budget gap of £585m this financial year – but matters are only set to get worse.

Last week the commission published a report on the financial state of councils in Scotland at a budget briefing prepared by Audit Scotland. Stark conclusions were drawn which highlighted that if councils were to make any improvements, ‘ever tougher decisions’ would have to be made. These include councils having to raise money through charging citizens for some services and using reserves.

Experts found that this year’s budget gap represents 3.5% of councils’ total revenue budget.

According to the budget briefing, the 2024/25 funding allocation of total revenue to local government has increased by 5.7%, but money remains constrained as most of the increase is directed to funding to deliver central government pledges.

The majority of local authorities in Scotland were planning to increase their budgets by increasing council tax in 2024/25, however in the Autumn of 2023 the government announced a council tax freeze in a bid to help locals struggling with inflated living costs.

Although, the financial blows for councils don’t stop there. Within the report, the Accounts Commission have highlighted that councils could be facing a budget shortfall worth £780m by 2026/27.

Derek Yule, from the Accounts Commission, has claimed it is ‘getting harder for councils to do more with less.’

Derek added: ‘They have to find and then deliver significant levels of savings to address budget gaps. Fully engaging with local people and being clear about the different and difficult budget choices is vital, whilst understanding the impacts on the most vulnerable.’

This is the first year that findings from the budget briefing have been made public. The Accounts Commission said the ‘wide range’ of approaches councils take to budget setting and the level of information, and the way that it is publicly reported, made it ‘challenging to report a definitive national position’.

Following this, Derek said councils in Scotland must improve the way they present financial information.

Reacting to the dire financial states of local authorities, COSLA – a councillor-led, cross-party organisation championing the work of Scotland’s councils, is calling for a ‘real’ and ‘meaningful’ solution to address the problem.

Katie Hagmann, COSLA’s resources spokesperson, said: ‘It is vitally important that these concerns, which have been consistently raised by COSLA Leaders and are now backed up by evidence presented by the Accounts Commission, are acted upon for the sake of Scotland’s public services and our communities who rely upon them.

‘Now is the time to take real action. [The] Accounts Commission report is an accurate portrayal of where we are now. The reality right now for councils has never been more challenging.

‘The effect of years of real-terms cuts to core budgets have been compounded by additional policy commitments and less flexibility in how we allocate increasingly directed budgets. This makes the ability to take local decisions on most of our budget, almost impossible.’

Image: Chris Robert

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New figures from Rightmove’s House Price Index show the average price of properties listed for sale increased by 0.8% this month.

The month of May holds various positives. Typically, it is the time in England when the weather starts to improve, flowers begin to blossom and the days get longer. However, new data from Rightmove’s House Price Index also shows this month to be a particularly good time for house sales. Experts have uncovered that this month, the average price of a home rose to £375,131, which is an increase equivalent to £2,807.

According to professionals from Rightmove, the increase has happened as a result of the Spring selling season – May is often a popular time when people decide to buy a house, as new records have been set in 12 of the past 22 years.

Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove, said this news is especially encouraging as various industry experts believed the property sector would struggle after the Bank of England hiked interest rates up to 5.25%.

‘Some predicted that property prices would suffer sharp falls and take a while to recover following the Bank of England increasing the vase rate up to 5.25%, where it has remained since august 2023,’ Tim said. ‘However, the momentum of the Spring selling season has exerted enough upwards price pressure to reach a new record asking price.’

Tim added: ‘From a regional perspective, the North East, with the cheapest average prices in Great Britain, has seen the strongest price growth. However, it’s important to remember that prices overall are still only 0.6% ahead of this time last year. The market remains price-sensitive, and with prices reaching new records in the majority of regions and mortgage rates remaining elevated, affordability for many homebuyers is still stretched.’

In addition to showcasing a rise in property prices, the data also displayed that increased buyer and seller activity has been driven by pent-up demand, despite continued high mortgage rates. Sales agreed between buyers and sellers in the first four months of the year are up 17% compared to the same period in 2023, outpacing a 12% rise in new listings.

Daniel Austin, CEO at ASK Partners, said: ‘The property sector is recovering. Rent values have seen sustained growth, positioning real estate as reasonably valued in comparison to gilts and presenting growth potential.

‘In the realm of commercial real estate, factors like physical condition, location, and age significantly influence a property’s value. Well-maintained properties boasting modern amenities tend to command higher prices, while neglected ones may struggle to attract tenants or investors. In the current market, the emphasis has shifted towards the importance of location and quality over the yield on debt or cost. We anticipate opportunistic acquisitions of prime properties in prime locations.’

Echoing a similar tone, Aaron Milburn, UK managing director for Pepper Advantage, claimed it is likely the trend of increased house prices and buyer-seller activity will continue.

‘Growth in house prices looks set to continue, according to Rightmove this morning. This would appear to complement our recent findings that mortgage arrears growth is slowing to its lowest rate since September 2022’s Mini-Budget and the mortgage market is showing some signs of improvement,’ Aaron said. ‘However, today’s figures contrast with those from Nationwide’s survey earlier this month which observed the average asking price of a home going in the opposite direction.

‘This discrepancy highlights that the state of the housing and mortgage markets is not the same across the whole of the UK, with disparity between regions. Similarly, we found that the arrears growth rate increased during Q1 for both the North East and North West regions while other areas, including the South East and Greater London, decreased. Even with green shoots appearing, the economic picture remains complex, and certain groups remain under pressure and will likely require support for some time.’

Overall, Rightmove predicts around 1.1 million completed sales transactions will occur this year. However, due to the house buying process still taking around five to seven months to complete, Rightmove have stated that to achieve this target by Christmas, people who are considering buying a property should act now.  

Image: volzi

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Central government have given councils in the county £9.6m to help restart housebuilding plans that have been delayed by almost two years.

Planning permission to build 16,000 homes in Norfolk have been in talks since 2022, however they were postponed due to concerns about pollution levels in the River Wensum and on the Broads.

Against this backdrop, Norwich Broadland, South Norfolk, Breckland and North Norfolk councils stopped granting permission for new properties close to the waterways. The authorities said no more homes could be constructed until measures were implemented to stop sewage from new properties impacting river nutrient levels.

However, thanks to funding from the government, the plans to build new homes have been given the go-ahead, as over £9m has been earmarked to help fund mitigation measures that include paying farmers not to keep livestock near rivers.

Lee Rowley, local government minister, who visited a housing estate at Beeston – a town near Norwich, said: ‘We have seen too many homes stuck in the planning system. This government backs the builders and not the blockers.

‘This fund will help unlock new housing in catchment areas like Norfolk, supporting councils to build more homes that local communities want and need.’

However, environmental groups, have claimed that whilst introducing nutrient neutrality measures were a start, the government need to do more.

Norwich Green Party councillor Gary Champion said: ‘Instead of improving the water we are just removing one source of pollution and replacing it with another, so the river is still polluted.

‘We really should be taking measures to bring overall pollution levels down.’

Image: Phil Hearing

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Since 2021 the world’s second largest economy have faced property struggles. However, the country have recently revealed their most significant steps yet to address it.

China’s property market was a key driver of growth up until developers began selling houses that hadn’t been built yet. With ever-rising prices, citizens were happy to keep purchasing – even if they didn’t intend to live in the houses, which inevitably caused their market to crash. However, this week, new measures have been announced which include cutting the amount home buyers need for a deposit and encouraging local authorities to purchase unsold properties.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) claimed it would establish a 300bn yuan – which equals to £32.8bn – facility to support affordable housing. This is designed to help local state-owned enterprises to but unsold homes.

In addition, the central bank have also axed the minimum mortgage rate and cut the minimum down payment for first-home buyers from 20% to 15%. The lowest deposit for second homes was also reduced from 30% to 25%.

Today, He Lifeng, Vice Premier, informed officials that councils can purchase properties at ‘reasonable prices’ and sell them as affordable housing, although he hasn’t offered any details yet about the number of homes that could be bought or the timescale the initiative would run for.

As well as the new measures being revealed, new figures have also been released which show new home prices had fallen for the 10th month in a row in April – the 0.6% month-on-month decline was the sharpest reduction since November 2014.

Against this backdrop, County Garden – a struggling Chinese developer – had a hearing in a Hong Kong court over its potential liquidation on Friday. Although, this has been adjoined to 11th June.

Since 2021 developers in China have been facing severe financial pressures as local authorities announced measures to curb the amount real estate companies could borrow.

Image: Rikke Filbært

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Paul Kutschmarski, director of Web Presence, believes too many charities are unaware of the huge benefits available to them through Google Ad Grants.

The website you are currently viewing has been created by our friends at Web Presence, who are based down the road from Air Quality News in Macclesfield.

At a recent visit, Web Presence director Paul Kutschmarski got to talking about his work with charities. Specifically, about helping them access Google Ad Grants, through which the search engine offers charities a considerable amount of free advertising.

Paul was frustrated that so many charities are unaware of the scheme and many others tended to view it as ‘too good to be true’ and were reluctant to engage.

As many of the magazines at Public Sector News deal with a variety of charities, we offered to give Paul the opportunity to explain what is available and how they can go about accessing this fantastic resource. 

Can you explain what you want to achieve?

Google Ad Grants for charities, that’s the thing. We offer a service, partnered with Google, which allows charities to get up to $120,000 a year in free advertising on Google ads, putting them at the top of the search results pages. We’ve been moderately successful at rolling that out. We’ve unlocked around £3m in funding for charities over this last year – which is fantastic – but the number we wanted to hit was £20m.

What I want to do is make charities aware that this is available. There’s no tricks or gimmicks to it. It sounds a little bit ‘too good to be true’, especially with how funding is for charities right now. But it’s not, it’s really good. It’s really valuable. And I want to get it in the hands of as many charities as I can.

The first thing they’re gonna say is what’s in it for you?

Absolutely, so yes, we charge for our service, so it’s a commercial thing but the funding itself, to pay for the clicks, is completely covered by Google up to that  limit of $120,000. And the offering from us is a heavily, heavily discounted version of what we offer our commercial clients.

What brought this about?

I’ll tell you the origin story of why we started doing this. We work with a fantastic charity in Manchester called National Ugly Mugs who provide safeguarding services for sex workers. We’ve been their tech partner for the last few years, we run their website, the membership and everything.

A few years ago, they were approached by this huge agency to offer this Google ad service, which we weren’t really aware of at the time. And, being their tech partner, they approached us and said, ‘Can can you do this for us?’ but the price they were being quoted was ridiculously low, it was about five times cheaper than we’d offer to a commercial client. It was really good pricing so we said, with the size and experience of that company, they know what they’re doing, work with them, it sounds like it’s going to be all good.

And then, over the next year, we watched just how poor it was. How little was done and how little value was added. I think of that $120,000 budget, they spent around £2,000 over the course of a year and they only made two changes to the account, one every six months.

So the charity said, ‘can you can you look at this again, we’d like you to do it?’  And that set us off.

We had to look at how we could do we do it at this price point. Obviously, it’s very easy to do cheaply if you only make two edits a year, but how do we do it to our normal, high level of service?

So we spent around a year and a half working on this new product internally, to figure out how do we get it down.

And we had a breakthrough talking to our other charity clients. We found there were three ‘pillars’ that they all had in common: They need help with fundraising. They need help with raising awareness. And they need help with recruitment. 

And that that changed everything because what we were able to do then was pre-create entire campaigns that work for fundraising, that work for awareness, that work for recruitment – with just the the details missing – the bit that relates to that particular charity.  So it’s a template, effectively.

We were able to eliminate all of the boilerplate, and that was phase one of us getting it working.

And then phase two – we’re software developers so we were able to develop some bespoke software to tackle the repetitive tasks that we were doing over and over again, that don’t really add value. Writing a lovely report that’s easy to understand is great, but it’s not a good use of time to do it repetitively, over and over again… doing the communications… monitoring the accounts. So we developed software to automate all of that for us.

So our time is only spent improving the accounts making sure they’re doing good work.

We found we were able to reduce our costs by 80%. It’s still profitable, but it’s cheap enough that small charities can afford it at a good price point.

What is that price point?

We have a few packages available, depending on the charities needs, and where they start from.  £3,800 – or £350 a month – to access £90,000 a year in free advertising is a pretty good proposition.

What exactly do you do for the charities?

We will handle the whole process from start to finish. We do the Google grant application with them: do all the application paperwork, do the eligibility checks and once the grant’s released, create the Google Ads account – the actual platform that they’re going to use for it.

And for any charity that wants it, we will do the application pro bono. So if you can’t afford our services, and you just want access to the grant, we’ll do that for free.

The part where you start paying is if you want us to do the audience research, find what keywords people are searching for, write all of the ads for you and build that into an account. And then on a monthly basis, or a bi monthly basis, go in and see how it’s going, pull back on the stuff that’s not working very well and push ahead on what is doing well, so it’s getting better and smarter each month. And working towards the fundraising, awareness and recruitment goals we’ve predecided with the charity. That’s the part you’re paying us for.

How exactly does the Google Ad grant work?

So, at current rates you’d get a little over £90,000 to that amount on your Google Ads account without incurring any cost.

Once you’ve got the grant, you’ve got it forever. You don’t need to keep reapplying each year or anything like that. You just keep it for as long as you use it.

One of the limits is that you can’t just blow the whole budget in the first month. It’s limited to around £230 a day. It’s a paced budget, designed for ‘always-on’ advertising, rather than just to promote certain events through the year.

What’s the pricing for Google ads? So if  I’ve got, say, just £10,000 pounds to spend on ads, what would I get for that?

It depends on your niche. It works like an auction. So if there’s, say, five companies that sell fences, one of them could say ‘I’ll pay two pounds per click’ and another says, ‘well, I’ll pay three’ – and that’s the order the ads will appear.

So the price that you pay for each time someone clicks on one of your ads, is set by your competitors. It would generally be around 50p to £5 each time somebody clicks one of your ads.

When you say ‘ads’ people think  graphic images but it’s not is it, it’s just it’s what we see when we search Google for anything.

Yes. Those first four results you see when you search for anything tend to have the ‘sponsored’ key word next to them. They’re the Google ads that you’d see. 

Are the ads constantly on there or can people run campaigns for three months and then pull them.

We do both. We call them seasonal campaigns. For a lot of charities, there are big events through the year, such as Autism Awareness Week and Children in Need, that come around at specific times of the year. So they tend to run in addition to the ‘always on’. But generally, for our clients, we are always fundraising, 24/7. 

I’m assuming most charities won’t have experience in this, so are in need of a lot of guidance. 

Absolutely. We think of ourselves like a bolt on digital department for each. The figures from Google say that working with an agency gives you an eight times better return than doing it alone. And the average person just wouldn’t know what to ask for it, so we have this pre-written strategy of what we’re trying to achieve for that specific client, what’s what’s the highest priority? How are they doing now, without the ads turned on? What would be a good figure for us to hit once they do have the ads turned on? And it works.

When the charities have spent the money, that’s it, so how long can that $12o,000 be made to last?

For the majority of our claims, we think of it as an unlimited budget – this is one of the ‘too good to be true’ parts. A big national charity can spend that £260 every day. One of our clients is Act for Addenbrooke’s who were running a DRTV campaign, fundraising for children who were stuck in hospital over Christmas. We were able to contribute towards 7,000 donations across the course of that campaign and they could burn through their budget by lunchtime, and then they’re off for the rest of the day. But if you imagine a 50p or £1 per click, and a charity that only serves Macclesfield, you won’t spend anywhere near the $120,000. You might be lucky to spend £10 or £20 a day. So in that case, we see it as an unlimited budget.

Do you design and run websites for any of these charities?

We do, Autism Initiatives and National Ugly Mugs for example. We don’t have to build a website, there’s no upsells or anything like that. But there are some requirements on the grant that you have what Google considers a ‘quality website’, so it has to be secure.

How many charities are you currently working with?

I think we have about 25 clients that are active and a good few more that we’re in some stage of discussion with, but we really want to do this at scale. Because of our investment over that 18 months, we have the team that can do this. We have the software, we have all the kit and everything’s set up to do it at scale. 

You said you’ve been a bit frustrated that more charities aren’t using the resource…

Yes, ‘ve been surprised and a bit frustrated at how slow the uptake has been on this. It’s a little bit bizarre, and we’ve put it down to a bit of ‘it really does sound too good to be true.’ 

Also, I guess there’s maybe not a huge commercial appetite within charities and not a great understanding of what Google ads are and what value they can add. I know that lots of charities are aware of it, but I think there’s many more who aren’t.

Our team are experts in their fields and have worked within charities themselves, so are passionate about not only utilising this fantastic resource, but also educating the people in the charities on the smart digital tools out there, that can help them reach their charity goals.

For more information contact Web Presence here.

Images: Rajeshwar Bachu and Myriam Jessier

During 2021 and 2023 £13m worth of civil penalties were issued to rogue landlords by councils, but only £6m has been collected so far, according to data from the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA).

In England, local authorities have the power to issue civil penalties worth up to £30,000 for a range of offences committed by rogue landlords. These include not having an up-to-date gas safety certificate, electrical safety breaches, not protecting deposits and breaching the right-to-rent rules.

The research, which was published yesterday by the NRLA, found that almost half of local authorities have not issued any civil penalties between 2021 and 2023, while 69% had issued five or fewer. However, despite the fines being dealt, councils are yet to collect all the money owed by landlords.

Commenting on the findings, Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said: ‘Rogue and criminal landlords cause misery for their tenants and undermine the reputation of the responsible majority. Tackling them should be a high priority for councils.

‘At a time of tight budgets, it is strange that councils are failing to collect the fines levied on those landlords failing to do the right thing. It makes a mockery of the deterrent such fines should be. It will also come as a bitter blow to the many responsible landlords who comply with, and exceed, their responsibilities – but are subject to licensing regimes and associated fees all the same.’

The figures come as the Renters Reform Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, could offer a series of new offences that can be finable if it is passed.

Following this, the NRLA has raised the question of how able councils will be to use these newly acquired powers when almost half are not using the powers they already have.

Due to councils failures, the NRLA is calling for the creation of a new national chief environmental health officer to lead the charge for improved enforcement against rogue and criminal landlords.

‘It is vital that the Government and councils work together to boost the capacity of enforcement teams to make better use of the existing powers they have to tackle poor-quality housing,’ Beadle said. ‘Without this, additional protections for tenants in the Renters Reform Bill run the risk of being meaningless.’

Image: OleksandrPidvalnyi

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Remarked as a groundbreaking example of commercial redevelopment, Technique helped sustainability transform two adjoining mid-20th century properties in London.

The two abandoned old buildings that were situated in Clerkenwell, London, have now been transformed into a new office space that is comprised of three floors. Working with developer General Project, the client set out to deliver a development encapsulating high standards of architecture and specification, which would minimise energy and resources – a key aspect of reaching net zero targets.

Against this backdrop, specialist timber subcontractor B&K Structures were recruited to sustainably deliver the project. The use of timber meant lorry deliveries were cut by up to 70% and the material itself acts as a carbon sink because it preserves the chemical that is stored in wood, preventing its release back into the atmosphere.

Since the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, which broke out in 2017, developers are being urged to switch to timber when building new establishments, as the material used to construct the tower was found to be easily flammable. 

In addition to providing green and safety benefits, experts who worked on the new development, said timber also helped ‘navigate a complex planning process and maximised the area uplift on a retained RC structure with serious existing limitations.

Various professionals have expressed their opinions on the new structure.

Amr Asaad, B&K structures

‘There were initial benefits [to using timber] such as the lower weight, requiring far less reinforcement of the foundations, and then the enhanced future flexibility it provides in terms of adapting the building to different needs.’

Fred Schwass, development director, General Projects

‘Our team has worked together as pioneers in mass timber, delivering unique spaces which prioritise quality and aesthetics over lettable space. For Technique we were also able to ensure cost certainty on the structural elements, meaning we had a pain/gain share agreement so the client had reasonable cost certainty during construction.’

Andy Heyne, Partner, Housing repairs and environmental services (HTS)

‘The dedication to aesthetic yet low environmental impact materials is carried throughout the entire building.  Significantly, the exposed structure celebrates the building by transposing a new CLT frame with the same grid; the timber slabs provide flexibility to connect floors with staircases, if required by a future multi-floor tenant.’

Lee Roberts, Pre-construction director, B&K Structures

‘Technique is another fantastic addition to our commercial portfolio and showcases the benefits that a hybrid timber and steel solution can bring to complex refurbishment projects. The faultless design and build process by the BKS team is testament to our longstanding experience and expertise with this type of scheme.’

Images: General Project

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The new build organisation have promoted a former apprentice into the position, showcasing the ability to excel your career in the development industry.

Elivia Homes have promoted Peter Hutson to become the new managing director of its Eastern region. He originally joined the development company as an apprentice and then progressed to become part of the central team, where he served as construction director for eight years. Now, Huston will head a team of more than 40, and will have overall responsibility for developments across Kent, East Sussex and Essex.

In addition, Huston will also be responsible for expanding the business, overseeing the company’s land acquisition programme and maintaining the regions performance in customer service.

‘I’m delighted to be taking the helm of our successful eastern business,’ said Peter Hutson. ‘The senior team, and the business as a whole, is very optimistic about our future, and my vision is firmly fixed on driving significant growth in the region, while motivating our fantastic team.’

Chris Chiles, chief executive of Elivia, said: ‘Peter’s promotion aligns with our core values of passion, progress and expertise. His journey from apprentice to managing director exemplifies the ethos of hard work, and the strategic foresight at the core of all our business decisions.

‘As we stand on the cusp of new opportunities and challenges, Peter’s role will be integral in delivering our strategy and guiding our eastern operation with a vision that ensures both resilience and growth.’

Elivia expanded into their newest region last year after the owners bought Millwood Designer Homes.

Image: Blake Wheeler

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Heineken UK is set to reopen 62 pubs and refurbish hundreds of older venues in a bid to attract customers who predominantly work from home.

Over 90 sites are set up for a makeover, which is expected to cost around £200,000, and the majority are located on sites under Star Pubs and Bars arm. The investment will see 62 sites reopen in 2024, meaning that by the end of the year the brewer will have opened the doors to 156 long-term closed pubs since the end of 2023.

The refurbishments will focus on new designs, signage and dividing screens that will help create different areas of the pubs to accommodate people’s reason for visiting. These include areas for watching sport and eating dinner.

Progress on the scheme has already started as the Ashford arms in Ashford-in-the-Water, Derbyshire, has just reopened after it closed its doors during the Covid-19 pandemic. The establishment has a 107-cover restaurant, nine en-suite rooms and 30-cover alfresco area.

In addition to helping local business and providing entertainment for those who are stuck inside their homes all day, Heineken have also said their developments will benefit the environment. The company have announced they will be launching further projects to improve pub insulation and cut energy use by 15% as part of its goal to become net-zero by 2040.

Commenting on the news, Lawson Mountstevens, managing director of Star Pubs, said: ‘People are looking for maximum value from visits to their local. They want great surroundings and food and drink as well as activities that give them an extra reason to go out, such as sports screenings and entertainment.’

‘Pubs have proved their enduring appeal; after all the disruption of recent years, Star is on track to have the lowest number of closed pubs since 2019,’ Lawson said. ‘It’s a tribute to the drive and entrepreneurship of licensees and the importance of continued investment. We’ve spent more than £200m upgrading and maintaining our pubs over the last five years, and we’ll continue to invest to keep them open and thriving.’

News of the pubs reopening has come at a tragic time for watering holes across the UK. Following the pandemic and the continued cost-of-living crisis, a record number of pubs have had to shut their doors. The latest figures from the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) shows over 500 pubs closed across the UK in 2023.

Image: Heineken UK 

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Research shows people who work in construction often suffer worse with their wellbeing, so this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week we’re discussing how they can be best supported.

This week – 13th May to 19th May – is Mental Health Awareness Week, which is an event that was established by the Mental Health Foundation in 2001 with an aim to tackle stigma and help people understand and prioritise their and others’ mental state. To mark the occasion, we will be directing readers’ attention to the construction industry, as research has found people in the sector are more likely to struggle with mental illness than any other workers.

Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) has woefully highlighted that workers in construction are four times more likely to die by taking their own life than in any other sector. In addition, two hardware and electrical organisations, otherwise known as IronmongeryDirect and ElectricalDirect have reported that 82% of builders in the UK grapple with work-related mental health problems every year, with an overwhelming 92% admitting to feeling uncomfortable discussing their problems.

Against this backdrop, research from Fix Radio – the UK’s only national radio station dedicated to builders in the trades – has revealed that 38% of tradesmen are now experiencing the worst levels of stress and anxiety in their lifetime.

How the mental health crisis is impacting the trades sector

Clive Holland, host of The Clive Holland Show – which is aired on Fix Radio – has claimed that there are an unjust number of reasons why the rate of suicide is so high in the construction sector, and these must be addressed now.

‘There are several underlying reasons why the rate of suicide in the construction trades is so high,’ Clive said. ‘Firstly, there is a macho image in the industry and men are not brilliant at ‘opening up’ and discussing their feelings. But I feel that this is changing slowly, but surely.

‘Secondly, there is a lot of stress involved in running a small business – there are long hours, few holidays, slow payers and cash flow issues. In the last two years particularly, spiralling costs of materials and spiking energy prices have squeezed margins even further. Couple that with the growing skills shortage – it ramps up extra pressures on daily site life. The pandemic has magnified many of these problems – tradespeople will tell you that they have never been this busy. Many are fully booked until the end of the year, if not further.’

Clive added: ‘It is also worth remembering that while many of our tradespeople have fantastic skills and deliver outstanding work, the weakest part of their game is dealing with the details of their business. Great tradespeople are not necessarily great business people and it is worth remembering that they often feel intimidated by the admin and financial side of the job.’

Where can help seek help?

The demand for national helplines has displayed the growing desperation among industry professions for support – the Big Brew, a national helpline for mental health – revealed that over a third of texts were from individual construction workers contemplating suicide, with 16% of those relating to depression. These heartbreaking statistics have been published at a challenging time in the sector as individuals have reported struggling with schedules, material shortages, the ongoing pressures of delivering housing targets and new environmental directives.

To try and help ease some of the pressure and combat stereotypes associated with people in this profession seeking help, Fix Radio have also highlighted various helplines that are on hand to offer assistance.

These include:

• The Lighthouse Club: 100% focused on improving the welfare and wellbeing of the construction community in the UK and Ireland. They provide a range of free and proactive services to help companies deliver the best possible support to their employees and their families.
• 24/7 Confidential Helpline:Available to everyone on your site including subcontractors, agency workers and allied trades. Their Construction Industry Helpline covers all aspects of emotional, physical and financial wellbeing, and is available in many different languages through our partnership with translation services
• Self-support app:A downloadable Wellbeing Support App called ‘Construction Industry Helpline’ that covers all the aspects of wellbeing. The app is packed with information to learn about conditions, how to develop coping strategies with signposting to over 3000 accredited organisations that provide support. It really is a ‘mate’ in your back pocket
• Text HardHat:A 24/7 service dedicated to providing immediate access to text back counselling
• Wellbeing Masterclasses:These are one hour scheduled CPD Accredited wellbeing education sessions covering topics such as: managing stress, building resilience, work-life balance, mindfulness, meditation, financial management and many more
• Lighthouse Beacons:Having identified over 160 volunteer centres around the UK and Ireland where workers can drop in to meet like-minded people, socialise and talk – the Beacons are facilitated by individuals with lived experience, and in this confidential environment, encourage those struggling with life problems to share their issues and if required, seek further help

Image: Karolina Grabowska

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Part of the government’s sweeping changes to the welfare system include claimants having to look for extra work if they do less than 18 hours a week.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have said the new rule, which came into effect this morning, means individuals working less than half of a full-time week will have to book frequent visits with their work coach to boost their earnings.

Ministers have increased the administrative earnings threshold from the equivalent of 15 hours to 18 hours at national living wage for an individual claimant. The DWP have said the change applies to some 180,000 people.

Commenting on the news, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, said: ‘Today’s changes will help more people on universal credit move into well paid jobs and progress towards financial independence, which is better for them and for economic growth.’

The new legislation, which was announced last month by Mr Sunak alongside a review of payments to people with disabilities and mental health conditions, means people earning under £892 a month or £1,437 for couples will have to seek additional work.

This is up from individuals earning £617 and £988 for couples.

Mel Stride, Work and Pensions secretary, said: ‘We will always back those who want to work hard and today we are radically expanding the support available to help people progress in work.

‘With the next generation of welfare reforms, I want to help thousands of people on their journey off benefits and towards financial independence.

‘Our plan is making work pay, with people in full-time work now £7,000 better off than on out-of-work benefits, and our tax cuts putting £900 back in the pockets of millions of workers across Britain.’

Image: Suzy Hazelwood

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Figures from the Bank of England have revealed hundreds of thousands of homeowners have taken out mortgages in the last few three years that they will be paying off into retirement.

Despite house prices coming down and the Bank of England talking about lowering interest rates, there is one group of people who will be bearing the brunt of the housing crisis well into their retirement years.

Research that was obtained through Freedom of Information requests showcased that 42% of new mortgages in the fourth quarter of 2023 – or 91,394 – had terms going beyond the state pension age.

In the final quarter of last year, people aged 30 to 39 accounted for 30,943 new mortgages lasting beyond state pension age, while people aged 40 to 49 accounted for 32,305.

Those aged under 30 made up 3,676 of these mortgages.

During the same period in 2021, researchers found 31% of mortgages had the same end date, showcasing the increase in popularity for longer-term loans.

Against this backdrop, across the final quarters of all three years leading to 2023, almost 300,000 new mortgages were in this category.

Sir Steve Webb, ex-Liberal Democrat MP who is now a partner at the consultancy firm LCP, has voiced his concerns that younger people are taking out longer mortgage loans to manage costs, but these result in higher interest rates which mean they will be paying more in the long term.

‘The huge number of mortgages which run past state pension age is shocking,’ Sir Webb said. ‘The challenge of getting on the housing ladder is forcing large numbers of young homebuyers to gamble with their retirement prospects by taking on ultra-long mortgages.’

Sir Webb added: ‘We already know that millions of people are not saving enough for their retirement and if some of that limited retirement saving has to be used to clear a mortgage balance at retirement they will be at even greater risk of poverty in old age.

‘Serious questions need to be asked of mortgage lenders as to whether this lending is really in the borrower’s best interests.’

Echoing a similar tone, Karina Hutchins, principal for mortgage policy at UK Finance, said that while longer mortgage loans can offer some short-term benefits, they will eventually have ‘less disposable income to put into their pension if the mortgage runs for its full term.’

Karina remarked: ‘We would encourage customers to speak to an independent mortgage adviser to discuss the best options available for their specific circumstances.’

Currently, it remains unclear how long this trend may last as it depends on whether mortgage rates drop and settle. Following the decision to keep interest rates at 5.25% on Thursday, Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, said he remains ‘optimistic’ that things are moving ‘in the right direction’.  

Image: BrianPenny

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The organisation based in Chapeltown is set to host a series of enterprise themed events next week to mark the occasion and encourage young people looking to break into the industry.

Research published in SME Magazine shows six in 10 young adults plan to be their own boss by the age of 30, suggesting that the launch of a new business hub in Leeds couldn’t have come at a better time.

To celebrate the hub’s grand opening, on Monday 13th May the launch of Steps to Business is kicking off a week of enterprise themed events. The scheme is a start-up training programme aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs aged 16-25 who will be linked up with access to investors and business advisers.

On Wednesday 15th, Enterprise Takeover Day will be happening – an informal event offering a one-stop shop for all business support needs from industry experts across West Yorkshire.

Commenting on the news, Adrian Green, Unity Enterprise Manager, said: ‘We are excited to be hosting such an impressive line-up of activities over the course of five days, each with entrepreneurship at its heart.

‘Steps to Business will use non-conventional training methods to help those taking part realise their dreams.  The launch event on Monday is free to attend and we are expecting lots of foot fall from noon until 4pm when it concludes.

‘We are also hugely grateful to AD:VENTURE for organising the Enterprise Day on Wednesday which, again, is free entry for all.’

Leeds Media Centre is one of three business groups operated by Unity Enterprise, the not-for-profit subsidiary company of BME housing association Unity Homes and Enterprise, and it recently underwent a £1.8m refurbishment in partnership with Leeds City Council and the European Regional Development Fund.

Cedric Boston, Unity Homes and Enterprise Chief Executive, said: ‘Leeds Media Centre is already a hive of entrepreneurial activity.  The new business hub will enable it to play an even greater role in empowering local people to succeed in business.

‘Creating and improving life chances is at the heart of everything we do.  Starting and growing a sustainable business can be the key that unlocks doors to social and economic progression in vibrant neighbourhoods.

‘As a BME housing association with our roots firmly in the local communities we serve, we know that the entrepreneurial talent is out there.  We will continue to do everything we can to find and nurture it.’

Image: Leeds Media Centre

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Leeds City Council’s housing system has been hit by unprecedented demand

Research discovered over 1,500 people were sleeping rough in Nottingham in 2022, prompting authorities to create a new housing scheme to get people off the streets.

Nottingham City Council have teamed up with Places for People, a leading UK social enterprise organisation, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and Homes England to deliver four self-contained homes to help get people off the streets in the city.

One of the Nottingham homes that is available to get people off the streets.

The properties, which will be managed by Places for People, are fully furnished and occupied by a single adult experiencing homelessness or at risk of it. Each tenant will be able to stay in the homes, which cost £330,000 to renovate, for up to two years.

After two years, tenants will be supported into moving into longer-term accommodation, freeing up the properties for other people at-risk of sleeping rough.

Rachel Crownshaw, group managing director for communities at Places for People, has claimed that within the past year, the organisation have helped over 10,000 people escape homelessness risks and that his new scheme will only excel their efforts.

‘This is going to be such an important service for those in Nottingham who desperately need somewhere safe to live independently,’ Crownshaw said. ‘We’re delighted to see Villa Road open, and I’d like to thank our partners at DLUHC, Homes England and Nottingham City Council for working with us to bring this to life.’

Crownshaw added: ‘People end up rough sleeping for a variety of complex reasons varying from financial trouble, domestic abuse, difficulties with drugs or alcohol, and mental health.

‘That is why this service will be much more than a place to live, we will also be delivering a bespoke plan for everyone living here to help them tackle obstacles or challenges they face and help them access a variety of support services. Through this support, we aim to help everyone who lives here into permanent and independent accommodation and reduce their risk of homelessness again in the future.  

‘I’m proud to say that this service is part of our continued support to help people out of and away from homelessness. In the last year, we have helped almost 11,000 people who were homeless or at risk of being homeless across the UK and we are determined to continue to build on this.’

At the beginning of 2023, figures were published by Shelter – the UK’s leading homelessness charity – which showed that on a given night in 2022 there will have been over 1,614 people recorded as homeless in Nottingham, which is a rate of one in 201 people. This is the highest rate of homelessness found in the East Midlands.

Arguably, the completion of this scheme couldn’t have come at a better time. With previous data already showing that homelessness is a major crisis in Nottingham, the continued cost-of-living issues could only have contributed to the problem.

Cllr Jay Hayes, portfolio holder for housing and ward cllr for Bestwood, said: ‘We have maximised every opportunity for grant funding to support the delivery of the city’s Ending Rough Sleeping plan.   

‘We are therefore very pleased that Places for People Living Plus will be joining the local partnership and delivering new homes to help meet the wide range of needs of vulnerable people in Nottingham.’

Image: Places for People

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Today policymakers at the Bank of England confirmed interest rates will stay at 5.25% but they have hinted at a potential June cut.

At 12pm today, 9th May 2024, experts claimed that although inflation is looking to be ‘moving in the right direction’ as it is expected to hit its target of 2% and would fall to just 1.6% in two years, interest rates will remain at 5.25% – the highest level experienced within the last 14 years.

Members of the Bank’s rate setting monetary policy committee (MPC) – which is comprised of nine individuals – were found to be split on the decision to hold rates at the same level. Swati Dhingra and Dave Ramsden voted to slash rates down to 5%.

However, despite being overruled, it seems support to lower interest rates are growing. In the previous meeting, Dhingra was the only one who voted to cut them.

Andrew Bailey, the Bank’s governor, has suggested that a rate cut at its next meeting in June is a possibility.

‘Before our next meeting in June, we will have two full sets of data – for inflation, activity and the labour market – that will help us in making that judgement afresh,’ Bailey said. ‘But, let me be clear, a change in bank rate in June is neither ruled out nor a fait accompli.’

News of keeping interest rates at 5.25% has, however, come as a shock for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Douglas Grant, Group CEO of Manx Financial Group, said: ‘Today’s decision to maintain interest rates at the same level will reassure some businesses and consumers but frustrate others. The path however is set for rates to come down and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should seize this opportunity to re-evaluate their current lending arrangements and strengthen their positions.

‘Research conducted by Manx Financial Group reveals a significant shift in the financial landscape for SMEs. In contrast to the previous survey, where only 25% faced challenges, the current findings indicate that two out of five SMEs are now grappling with operational slowdowns or halts due to a lack of external financing.

‘The survey also underscores that 15% of SMEs seeking external finance or capital are unable to secure the necessary funds. This financial constraint, coupled with a potentially unprecedented and volatile environment marked by ongoing conflicts, multiple elections, a tightening labour market, and persistent cost-of-living challenges, poses obstacles to the prospects of SMEs and national economic growth.

‘The current government has demonstrated the effective implementation of short-term loan schemes, and we advocate for the next government and Treasury to continue this focus. Prioritising the establishment of a permanent government-backed loan scheme, tailored to resilient sectors and involving both traditional and non-traditional lenders, could be instrumental.’

Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at ASK Partners, has welcomed the announcement with open arms as he claims it will benefit the real estate sector.

‘Holding steady at 5.25 per cent as expected is welcome news from the Bank of England for many in the real estate investment market as the UK property sector remains in recovery mode and is starting to adjust to the ‘new normal’ rate environment,’ Austin said. ‘We’re now starting to see a gap in monetary policy develop in Europe with the Swedish central bank deciding to cut for the first time in eight years yesterday.’

Austin added: ‘For those currently looking to invest in commercial and residential real estate without the hassle of ownership, alternative avenues such as property debt investment, which can provide higher returns and also access to liquidity via a secondary market, are becoming more popular.’

In March it was reported that inflation dropped to 3.2% and is expected to have fallen to 2% in April after a reduction in the energy price cap, bringing down household bills monthly.

The Bank said inflation would be bumpy this year after a rise towards an average of 2.5% in the second half of 2024, before falling again in 2025 and 2026 to 1.6%.

Image: Shutterstock

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The Committee has published a new report calling for the government to leave affordable rents to the private sector and to direct their attention to social homes.

Earlier this week, the cross-party Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (LUHC) published a new report titled ‘The Finances and Sustainability of the Social Housing Sector’, in which experts call on the government to invest in the social housing sector to ensure 90,000 new social rent homes can be delivered per year in England.

One of the ways of achieving this, according to professionals who work within the sector, is that the government should stop focusing their attention on affordable rents and they should set a clear, achievable target for the number of social rent homes it intends to create each year.

The report also recommends authorities use land value capture and reforms to grants and funding to support social housing, and help the sector deliver decarbonisation and fire safety improvements – a topic that should arguably be a priority since the tragic fire broke out at Grenfell Tower.

Responding to the report, Darren Rodwell, housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association (LGA), claimed that there are more than 1.2 million households on council waiting lists in this country and over 100,000 households living in temporary accommodation – a record high.

Rodwell said: ‘Long-term certainty on powers and funding could help councils deliver an ambitious build programme of 100,000 high-quality, climate-friendly social homes a year.’

In addition to Rodwell expressing his concerns, a number of other industry experts have also voiced their opinions on the new report.

Andy Hulme, chief executive, The Hyde Group

‘We need to be building around 90,000 more socially rented homes every year to meet existing need. But, to get anywhere near this, we need more public investment which will give the sector confidence and unlock an even larger amount of private investment.

‘Government can play an important role without necessarily as big a price tag. By giving housing providers more certainty on rents and longer funding programmes, investment in homes and the building of homes will be increased.’

Andrea Thorn, director of homes and communities, Riverside

‘Providing a target for the number of social homes the sector should build each year would enable government to work with housing associations and councils to deliver more much-needed homes.

‘Homes England should play a strategic role, providing grant funding for social housing which would help solve the housing crisis, boost the economy, create thousands of new jobs, and reduce pressure on the NHS, criminal justice system and social care system.

‘Ahead of the next general election we urge all political parties to read this report and engage with housing associations on how we can work together to fund and deliver more social housing in the decades to come.’

 In addition, London Councils welcomed the LUHC report, claiming that ‘without more government investment it is hard to see anything but a bleak future for social housing.’

‘With resources massively squeezed, it feels like we’ve been left with mission impossible,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Social housing is crucial to tackling London’s homelessness crisis. It’s a vital component of the capital’s social and economic success, and we should all want the sector to thrive. Boroughs are as keen as ever to work with ministers in ensuring more resources are secured for boosting social housing in London and across the country.’

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The Denbigshire-based organisation have received over £1,000 to help it to repair fixable goods, reduce household waste and save locals money.

Although this café isn’t made up of coffee and baristas, it is full of conservationists who are working tirelessly to assist with the current climate crisis.  Ruthin Repair Café, a community based not-for-profit, has been repairing household goods for local residents since February 2020, in a bid to reduce waste.

Running once a month, its team of 24 volunteers have helped fix 963 items to date across 31 Repair Café events. The most common repairs are electricals, especially toasters and vacuum cleaners, followed by sewing repairs, such as soft toys and clothes.

However, the funding that has been announced by enfinium, the UK’s largest waste operator, will help take these events to the next level. The organisation is set to receive £1,500 which will cover running costs, including room hire and consumables, and enable volunteers to develop their skills. This will include first aid training, tool sharpening classes and PAT safety-testing certification, which is critical for electrical item repairs.

Arguably, this funding couldn’t have come at a better time. Data from the Öko-Institut – a non-profit, private-sector environmental research institute – shows that maintaining a single television for an additional seven years can save the equivalent of 657kg CO2.

Commenting on the news, Mike Maudsley, CEO of enfinium, said: ‘Repairing broken items is a critical part of reducing the amount of waste we produce. In turn, this leads to lower consumption, lower carbon emissions and less waste ending up in landfill. This is why we are delighted to be awarding Ruthin’s Repair Café with funding today, which has been helping local families to reduce waste and save money since 2020.’

In addition, Anne Lewis, Ruthin Repair Café organiser, has expressed her enthusiasm about being awarded the money.

‘We are thrilled to have been awarded this funding from enfinium. The funds will enable us to continue to help support the local residents of Ruthin repair their broken items, and provide training to our fantastic team of volunteers,’ Lewis added.

The funding from enfinium has come from the company’s Repair Cafés Support Fund, which was launched in March 2024. The total currently stands at £60,000 and it was established to supports cafés located within a 30-mile radius of one of enfinium’s facilities in Kent, North Wales, West Yorkshire or the West Midlands.

Cafés can apply for funding of up to £1,500 per annum before 31st May 2024.

The Ruthin Repair Café takes place on the first Saturday of every month at the Naylor Leyland Centre in Ruthin, North Wales, from 10AM to 3PM and is free and open to all.

Image: Ruthin Repair Café

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Sadiq Khan has been re-elected as the Mayor of London with the smallest mandate since the office was created 24 years ago, analysis shows.

On Thursday 2nd May it was announced that the Labour politician won 43.8% of the vote, which was enough to secure Khan a third term under the new First Past the Post system. However, new research from the Electoral Reform Society found the result means he is the mayor returning to City Hall with the lowest level of support among Londoners who voted when compared to results under the previous electoral system. 

All prior London mayoral elections used the Supplementary Vote (SV) system, which allows voters to indicate a first and second preference for two candidates. Under SV, if no candidate gets over 50% of first preference votes, the top two candidates continue to a runoff where second preference votes from eliminated candidates are allocated – ensuring winning candidates have a broad base of support.  

The mayor with lowest vote share under SV was Ken Livingstone, who received 44.4% of votes from voters giving him either their first preference vote or a transferred second preference vote in 2004.   

Darren Hughes, chief executive of the Electoral Reform Society, has claimed that this new system is making it more difficult for the public to vote, but is lowering the bar for politicians.  

‘What we are seeing at these elections is the bar being lowered for politicians while being raised for voters,’ Hughes said. ‘The move to First Past the Post has lowered the bar for politicians to get elected by taking choice away from voters. The result is we have seen a Mayor of London elected with the smallest mandate ever as well as PCCs and a mayor win their races on around a third of the vote.’

Hughes added: ‘This is bad for voters, who now have mayors and PCCs the majority didn’t vote for; it is bad for elected politicians who have to do their jobs with less backing for their policies; and it is bad for trust in democracy.’

However, Hughes go on to say that ‘we are seeing the bar to voting being raised for voters as this was the first-time millions had to show ID to cast their ballot.’

‘We know that voter ID has already prevented at least 14,000 people from voting at last year’s local elections and this year we have again heard of voters – including a decorated ex-serviceman – being barred from exercising their fundamental democratic right due to not having an accepted form of ID,’ Hughes continued.

‘Our politics is headed in the wrong direction when we are making it harder for people to vote but easier for politicians to get elected by reducing voter choice at the ballot box. We need to set our democracy on a better course by scraping voter ID and improving access to voting, but also by moving to proportional and preferential voting systems that better represent how people voted.’

Echoing a similar tone, Dr Jess Garland, director of research and policy for the Electoral Reform Society, said: ‘These local elections have again seen a raft of highly disproportionate results under First Past the Post, leading to council chambers that don’t accurately reflect voters’ choices. In some cases, parties have taken over 90% of the seats on less than half the vote, while other parties received no seats despite winning sizable vote shares.

‘There is a clear alternative to the unfair results we have seen in England. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland use a fairer proportional voting system, avoiding the distorted and random results produced by First Past the Post.

‘Proportional representation would mean fairer results at local elections and would create council chambers that better reflect the way people voted.’  

Image: Nick Fewings

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Research from the UK’s biggest mortgage lender has revealed the price of properties are falling, but they could creep back up once interest rates drop.

Halifax’s house price index has found that average house prices rose by 0.1% in April after falling 0.9% in March.

According to the figures, a typical UK home costs £288,949 just slightly up compared to £288,781 last month.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: ‘The reality is that average house prices have largely plateaued in the early part of 2024.

‘This reflects a housing market finding its feet in an era of higher interest rates.’

However, the speculation around interest rates falling soon has begun. The rate-setters at the Bank of England are expected to keep rates at 5.25% when they meet on Thursday in a bid to keep inflation down, but Bryden has claimed rates will begin reducing later on in the year.

‘If, as is still expected, downward moves in Bank rate come into play later this year, fixed mortgage rates should fall, ’Bryden said. ‘Combined with the resilience displayed by the housing market over recent months, we now expect property prices to rise modestly over the course of 2024.’

Although, focusing back on current events, the new figures from Halifax display that as the housing market grows accustomed to higher borrowing costs, there’s been an increase in demand for flats and smaller homes.

Against this backdrop, Daniel Austin, CEO and co-founder at ASK Partners, said: ‘The property sector is in recovery mode. Rent values have seen sustained growth, positioning real estate as reasonably valued in comparison to gilts and presenting growth potential.

‘In the realm of commercial real estate, factors like physical condition, location, and age significantly influence a property’s value. Well-maintained properties boasting modern amenities tend to command higher prices, while neglected ones may struggle to attract tenants or investors. In the current market, the emphasis has shifted towards the importance of location and quality over the yield on debt or cost. We anticipate opportunistic acquisitions of prime properties in prime locations.’

As well as Austin expressing his concerns about people favouring location when it comes to buying a house, he also explains that the next government must prioritise the current housing crisis to help people in the UK.

Austin added: ‘A RICS survey uncovered that non-traditional market segments, such as aged care facilities, student housing, data centres and life sciences real estate are yielding the most robust returns.

‘With housing set to be a battleground point in this year’s election and as the sector moves to the top of the agenda for all parties, we hope to see a long-term plan for new homes, including social housing, however, we expect we will see more short-term fixes.

‘Stimulus will be welcome but can create unnecessary froth. For voters, a stamp duty holiday or reprieve may be a welcome sign. For developers, eased planning regulations for brownfield sites and conversions will be popular.’

Image: satheeshsankaran

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Campbell Tickell recently published the results of their work exploring the Housing Ombudsman Service’s (HOS) Landlord Performance data. Here, the organisations Sue Harvey and Catherine Romney, discuss their findings.

The annual landlord reports contain a wealth of information, but the nuances in the definitions and challenges of comparing different types of landlord and different years made for a long article with lots of technical footnotes.

For our busy or impatient clients, here’s the ‘TL;DR’ (too long; didn’t read) version:

HOS Maladministration Rate:

• The HOS uses a Maladministration Rate metric (‘MalRate’) to shine a spotlight on poor complaints performance. MalRate is ‘the number of findings of severe maladministration, maladministration and service failure, expressed as a percentage of the total number of considered findings’
• This metric shows where the landlord was found to be at fault in a higher or lower proportion of the complaints that received a HOS decision
• The MalRate is highlighted in each Landlord Performance Report and underlies the headline conclusion that a landlord performs ‘very well’, ‘similarly’ or ‘poorly’. It is also used to generate the list of landlords with the highest MalRates and, by implication, the poorest complaints performance

CT Incidence Rate

• To derive alternative or additional insights, we have developed the CT Incidence Rate. This calibrates performance to the scale of the landlord, by calculating the number of maladministration findings per 10,000 homes
• This provides a sharper focus on those organisations where the HOS has identified a higher proportion of a landlord’s homes and residents to be experiencing a poor quality of service
• This measure compliments the Regulator of Social Housing’s new complaints Tenant Satisfaction Measure, that calibrates the volume of internally resolved complaints to the size of the landlord

Small number of negative findings

• Our analysis shows that across all housing association and local authority landlords, the average incidence of negative findings sits at 6.8 per 10,000 homes
• While every maladministration finding represents an avoidable poor experience for the resident, fewer than seven negative findings per 10,000 homes per annum suggests that landlord maladministration, as defined by the HOS, is rare
• We recognise that the CT Incidence Rate has shortcomings of its own. A low incidence rate could indicate weaker awareness of and poorer signposting to HOS by that landlord, rather than lower overall service quality

Variation

• When we chart the distribution of the CT Incidence Rate, we can see that calibrated landlord performance varies enormously (see graph)
• By this measure, the worst-performing landlord by our measure had over eight times the average incidence, with 55 negative findings per 10,000 homes. Furthermore, off to the right of the chart there is a very long tail of more than 1,300 landlords with zero HOS findings
• We also find a weaker degree of correlation between the CT Incidence Rate and the HOS MalRate than we expected. The poorest landlord by the HOS MalRate measure sits in the best 30% of landlords by CT’s Incidence metric. Meanwhile the worst-performing landlord by the CT Incidence Rate has a HOS MalRate of 35%, and so doesn’t appear at all on the HOS’s worst performers list

Conclusion

The HOS landlord data undoubtedly provides a rich source of insights into the quality of both service provision and complaints handling. But in not calibrating complaints data by landlord scale, we believe an opportunity to highlight both good and poor performance has been missed.

You can read Campbell Tickell’s full analysis here.

Images: OleksandrPidvalnyi and Campbell Tickell 

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