Exempt accommodation key issue of by-election
BIRMINGHAM residents are “in utter despair” over the increase in drug dealing, begging and sex work in their communities, according to MPs.
Shabana Mahmood, the MP for Ladywood, said: “I have had constituents break down, explaining that they are worried that their children are witnessing public drug taking, people collapsing in the street having drunk too much or urinating in their front gardens, all on what were once modest, quiet residential streets that were home to tight-knit communities.”
And this has become the key issue in the Birmingham Erdington by-election, to be held on March 3.
The growth in crime and antisocial behaviour has been blamed on something called exempt accommodation. Ms Mahmood claims Labour’s candidate in Erdington, Paulette Hamilton, has a plan to deal with the problem.
At the same time, Robert Alden, the Conservative candidate, has been talking to housing ministers about his proposal for new laws to deal with the issue.
Meanwhile, 42 leading housing charities and experts, frontline organisations, and local authorities have signed a letter to the government calling on it to take action.
Exempt accommodation is a type of supported housing for people considered to be vulnerable, who can range from drug addicts and criminals leaving prison to survivors of domestic violence. People from very different backgrounds, with no connection to each other, can be placed in the same shared house.
Landlords are meant to provide “more than minimal care, support or supervision”. In return, they can charge significantly higher levels of rent than normal, paid for by Housing Benefit. In some cases, this can mean £500 per week for a single room, funded by taxpayers. The Department for
Too many rogue providers who have clocked this is a money-spinning opportunity and who take full advantage
Work and Pensions is believed to spend £1bn a year on exempt accommodation.
Of course, this isn’t necessarily such a bad thing. People need housing, after all. However, the number of properties has shot up, and there are now 22,000 claimants in exempt accommodation in Birmingham – more than double the 11,000 claimants recorded three years ago in early 2018.
And some MPs say landlords are gaming the system. Speaking in Parliament earlier this month, Ms Mahmood said: “There are too many rogue – I describe them as cowboy – providers who have clocked that this is a lucrative money-spinning opportunity and who take full advantage. They get access to larger sums of money to house housing benefit claimants who need care, support or supervision, and then they do not provide it.”
More than 40 leading housing charities, frontline organisations, and local authorities have united in a call to Government to clean up exempt accommodation.
An open letter sent to the Secretaries of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and for Work and Pensions, has been signed by the National Housing Federation, the Chartered Institute for Housing, Crisis, St Mungo’s, Women’s Aid and Housing Justice, and more.
The letter, also signed by Birmingham Council leader Ian Ward, calls on the Government to strengthen the powers of the Regulator of Social Housing to proactively act in this area, and to fund councils to review their local situation.
Robert Alden, the Conservative candidate for Erdington, bought Housing Minister Eddie Hughes to the constituency to discuss the problem.
He says a change in the law will be needed to stop unscrupulous landlords taking advantage of exempt housing, and is fighting for a change to the 2004 Housing Act so that planning permission is required to convert properties to exempt accommodation.
He said: “Birmingham is becoming the capital of exempt accommodation where it is often the case that vulnerable people are housed with those who have been convicted of violent offences and residents are finding their road made less safe.
“We are increasingly seeing our neighbourhoods increasingly blighted by anti-social behaviour, crime and fly tipping due to the rise in exempt accommodation. This is totally unacceptable.”
Meanwhile, Labour MP Shabana Mahmood has been singing the praises of Labour’s candidate in Erdington, Paulette Hamilton.
Ms Mahmood said: “Erdington has a real champion... in Paulette Hamilton. I’ll be working with her to push the Government to give this issue the attention it deserves and push for legal changes to stop the abuse.”