Research Briefing
The Fair Rents Regime
This note explains who is entitled to a ‘fair rent’ and how these rents are set.
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Research Briefing
Immigration Bill
The Immigration Bill would significantly reduce migrants’ rights of appeal; restrict access to services including private rented accommodation, bank accounts and NHS services by reference to immigration status; establish new arrangements for investigating sham marriages and examining persons departing the UK; and make various other changes related to immigration controls.
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Research Briefing
Paying Local Housing Allowance direct to tenants in private rented housing
This note explains the requirement to pay Local Housing Allowance direct to most tenants in the deregulated private rented sector since 7 April 2008.
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Research Briefing
Housing complaints – the role of designated persons
This note provides information on the role introduced by the Localism Act 2011 for "designated persons" in relation to complaints against social landlords by their tenants.
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Research Briefing
Warden support in sheltered housing
This note considers the issue of the removal of resident wardens from sheltered housing and the move towards a model of "floating support".
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Research Briefing
Mortgage repossessions: tenants’ rights (England and Wales)
This House of Commons Library briefing paper summarises the options available to tenants when they discover that their landlord has defaulted on the mortgage payments.
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Research Briefing
The reform of Housing Revenue Account Subsidy
This note provides background on the old Housing Revenue Account (HRA) subsidy system and considers some of the issues associated with it up to its abolition in April 2012. This note will not be updated – information on the self-financing regime can be found in Library note SN/SP/6776 Local housing authorities - the self-financing regime: progress and issues. A further paper, CB8963, A new era of social rented housing in England? (2020) considers prospects for social rented housing following the lifting of the HRA borrowing caps in 2018.
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Research Briefing
Welfare Reform Bill: Committee Stage Report
This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill. It complements Research Papers 11/23 and 11/24, prepared for the Commons Second Reading debate.
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Research Briefing
Localism Bill: Committee Stage Report
This paper covers the Commons Committee Stage of the Bill, and complements Research Papers 11/02 and 11/03, prepared for Second Reading. The Bill covers a wide range of topics in local government, planning, housing and the governance of London. It was not substantially amended in Committee, although there were some minor technical Government amendments. However, at several points, Ministers agreed to look again at certain issues and consider whether to introduce amendments at Report Stage.
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Research Briefing
Welfare Reform Bill: reform of disability benefits, Housing Benefit, and other measures
This paper has been prepared for the Second Reading debate in the House of Commons. For information on the provision in the Bill relating to the introduction of Universal Credit, please see the complementary Library Research Paper, 11/24. Besides Universal Credit, the Bill proposes a number of other significant welfare reforms, including replacement of the current Disability Living Allowance, restriction of Housing Benefit entitlement to social housing tenants whose accommodation is larger than they need, time-limiting the payment of contributory Employment and Support Allowance to twelve months, and capping the total amount of benefit that can be claimed.
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Research Briefing
Localism Bill: Planning and Housing
This paper covers three parts of the Bill: Part 5 of the Bill will abolish regional planning, introduce a neighbourhood planning regime and abolish the Infrastructure Planning Commission. Part 6 of the Bill will make significant changes to the way in which social housing is provided and will also repeal the legislation governing the provision of Home Information Packs (HIPs). This Part includes provisions that will enable the long awaited reform of council housing finance. Part 7 of the Bill will make changes to housing and regeneration functions in London. It will abolish the London Development Agency and introduce a regime for Mayoral Development Corporations. Changes to Greater London Authority governance will allow the delegation of functions by Ministers to the Mayor.
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Research Briefing
The regulation of sale and rent back agreements
All firms undertaking sale and rent back agreements now have to be authorised by the FSA, so giving consumers greater protection. A key feature of the full regime will be that all consumers who undertake a sale and rent back agreement will have a guaranteed minimum tenancy of five years.
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Research Briefing
Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants Etc.) Bill: Committee Stage Report
This paper summarises the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Bill. In July 2009 the Government announced that it would legislate to ensure that tenants are given adequate notice to vacate their property if their landlord defaults on their mortgage. Over the summer of 2009, the Government consulted on legislative options to achieve this. On 3 December 2009, Dr Brian Iddon announced that he would introduce a Private Members' Bill to protect private tenants whose landlords default on their mortgage. The Bill has Government support.
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Research Briefing
Mortgage Repossessions (Protection of Tenants Etc.) Bill Bill 15 of 2009/10
The main purpose of the Bill is to offer protection to tenants of rental properties whose landlord has both defaulted on his mortgage and not notified his lender that the property was being let (an 'unauthorised tenancy'). The Bill gives courts power to postpone the delivery of a possession order, and to stay or suspend the execution of an existing possession order. It also ensures the tenant is given notice of a possession order before its execution.
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Research Briefing
The decent homes standard: update
This Commons Library paper outlines progress in achieving the decent homes standard in the social and private housing sectors under the Labour Governments between 2000 - 2010.
Total results (page 9 of 10)