Latest news with #NHF
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Supported housing in crisis, groups tell Starmer
Supported housing, which helps vulnerable or disabled people live independently, is in crisis, an open letter signed by more than 170 organisations in the sector claims. Services at one in three providers in England had to shut last year, adding to a total shortfall of about 325,000 places, says the letter, which will be delivered to Prime Minister Keir Starmer today. Signatories to it include Refuge, Age UK and the National Housing Federation (NHF). Blaming cuts to council funding and rising costs, the NHF says a further one in three providers fear they may close unless the government pledges more money. The government says supported housing is vital and it is focused on building more homes. About half a million people in the UK currently live in supported housing, including young care leavers, army veterans, people with learning disabilities and those escaping homelessness or domestic abuse. "Supported housing plays an indispensable role in cutting NHS waiting list backlogs, and reducing pressure on social care, temporary accommodation, and other vital public services," the open letter says. However, it says the future of supported housing is now at risk following "years of funding cuts" and that local authorities have now been forced to "decommission vital services". "Rising costs alongside reduced funding have rendered many services unviable, forcing many to close, while demand for supported housing continues to rise. The decision to increase employers' National Insurance contributions has placed even further pressure on providers' budgets." The organisations are calling for long-term increased funding for housing-related support of at least £1.6bn per year for councils and for supported homes to be among the 1.5 million new houses planned by the government. "We recognise the vital role played by supported housing in helping vulnerable people to live independently and well, and the contribution it makes to tackling rough sleeping and timely hospital discharge," a spokesperson for the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government said. The spokesperson said the government was putting £2bn into increasing social and affordable housebuilding in 2026-27, with further details to be set out in a long-term housing strategy later this year. Proponents of austerity measures say tough funding choices need to be made to balance the UK's finances. However, Shaoxiong Liu says his family do not know what they would have done without a supported housing place for his son Jason. Aged 39, Jason has autism, a learning disability and mental health challenges. As he grew older, this became increasingly unmanageable for his family. After falling ill, Jason was admitted to hospital with sepsis in 2017. Due to his challenging behaviour and a condition that induces severe vomiting, he remained in hospital for months as they struggled to find somewhere long term that could accommodate his needs. He was eventually placed with Advance Housing, where his family says Jason has flourished in the intervening eight years. His weight has risen from 35kg to 53kg, he can go on bus trips and attends social events organised by the housing provider. "Jason's behaviour is so much better now. He's lived there so long and he's happy there," Mr Liu says. "Jason is an adult now and we are in our 70s, so his behaviour could be quite dangerous for us if he lived with us - we couldn't look after him." The NHF says one in three providers in England it surveyed say they may have to stop providing services altogether, meaning the loss of 70,000 supported homes across the country. In 2009, ringfenced council funding for housing-related support was removed. When council budgets were cut during austerity from 2010, funding was needed in other areas, meaning some councils had to cut supported housing services. The NHF says that means there are now fewer supported homes than in 2007, including a net loss of 3,000 supported homes in the last three years. It calculates there is a total shortfall of up to 325,000 supported homes, based on unmet need.
BBC News
25-04-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Supported housing is in crisis, letter to PM Keir Starmer says
Supported housing, which helps vulnerable or disabled people live independently, is in crisis, an open letter signed by more than 170 organisations in the sector at one in three providers in England had to shut last year, adding to a total shortfall of about 325,000 places, says the letter, which will be delivered to Prime Minister Keir Starmer today. Signatories to it include Refuge, Age UK and the National Housing Federation (NHF).Blaming cuts to council funding and rising costs, the NHF says a further one in three providers fear they may close unless the government pledges more government says supported housing is vital and it is focused on building more homes. About half a million people in the UK currently live in supported housing, including young care leavers, army veterans, people with learning disabilities and those escaping homelessness or domestic abuse."Supported housing plays an indispensable role in cutting NHS waiting list backlogs, and reducing pressure on social care, temporary accommodation, and other vital public services," the open letter it says the future of supported housing is now at risk following "years of funding cuts" and that local authorities have now been forced to "decommission vital services"."Rising costs alongside reduced funding have rendered many services unviable, forcing many to close, while demand for supported housing continues to rise. The decision to increase employers' National Insurance contributions has placed even further pressure on providers' budgets."The organisations are calling for long-term increased funding for housing-related support of at least £1.6bn per year for councils and for supported homes to be among the 1.5 million new houses planned by the government. "We recognise the vital role played by supported housing in helping vulnerable people to live independently and well, and the contribution it makes to tackling rough sleeping and timely hospital discharge," a spokesperson for the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said the government was putting £2bn into increasing social and affordable housebuilding in 2026-27, with further details to be set out in a long-term housing strategy later this year. Proponents of austerity measures say tough funding choices need to be made to balance the UK's Shaoxiong Liu says his family do not know what they would have done without a supported housing place for his son 39, Jason has autism, a learning disability and mental health challenges. As he grew older, this became increasingly unmanageable for his family. After falling ill, Jason was admitted to hospital with sepsis in to his challenging behaviour and a condition that induces severe vomiting, he remained in hospital for months as they struggled to find somewhere long term that could accommodate his was eventually placed with Advance Housing, where his family says Jason has flourished in the intervening eight years. His weight has risen from 35kg to 53kg, he can go on bus trips and attends social events organised by the housing provider."Jason's behaviour is so much better now. He's lived there so long and he's happy there," Mr Liu says. "Jason is an adult now and we are in our 70s, so his behaviour could be quite dangerous for us if he lived with us - we couldn't look after him." The NHF says one in three providers in England it surveyed say they may have to stop providing services altogether, meaning the loss of 70,000 supported homes across the 2009, ringfenced council funding for housing-related support was removed. When council budgets were cut during austerity from 2010, funding was needed in other areas, meaning some councils had to cut supported housing NHF says that means there are now fewer supported homes than in 2007, including a net loss of 3,000 supported homes in the last three years. It calculates there is a total shortfall of up to 325,000 supported homes, based on unmet need.
BBC News
09-04-2025
- General
- BBC News
Century-long wait for some family council homes in London
The waiting list for a family-sized social rented home in some London boroughs would now take over a century to clear completely at the current rate of progress, new research has by the National Housing Federation (NHF) found that families wanting properties with three or more bedrooms in Westminster, Enfield and Merton would all have to wait over 100 years to get a home at current average estimate across London was much lower at 27 years, and the average across the whole of England was seven government said the report highlighted the "devastating impact of the social housing crisis" and added that it was investing £2bn into social housing in England. Kate Henderson, the NHF's chief executive, said: "The fact that families in so many parts of the country face waiting lists for an affordable home longer than their children's entire childhood is a national scandal."Chiara Daughtry, a mother of one from north-east London, told BBC Radio London that she was offered a house in Bradford, West Yorkshire, when she faced a no-fault eviction due to the long wait time."My job is here, my daughter's in school here, and my family and friends are here in London," she schoolteacher said she eventually got into a privately rented one-bedroom flat but said it was "really hard" to meet the £1,600 a month in rent and childcare costs. Ms Daughtry said council housing would give herself and daughter more stability."I could be evicted again. I have no idea if my landlord will let me stay. I've already had one rent increase in two years, and if it continues then I won't be able to continue to stay living here," she said. In January, it was revealed that the total number of households on waiting lists for social housing in London last year hit the highest level for more than a decade.A total of 336,366 households were waiting home in the capital as of 1 April 2024. Eight of the 10 local authorities in England with the longest estimated timescales to clear the backlog are in London:Westminster – 106.7Enfield – 105.3Merton – 102.4Wandsworth – 82.0Camden – 81.8Mansfield – 75.5Slough – 74.3Redbridge – 74.3Greenwich – 67.1Newham – 42.5 'Impossible situations' In a joint message with the charities Crisis and Shelter, the NHF is calling on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to put major investment into social housing in her spending review in June."Every day our front-line services hear from desperate parents forced into impossible situations," said Mairi MacRae, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter.A spokesman for London Councils – the capital's local government association – said in response to the NHF's research: "The growing number of Londoners stuck on waiting lists for social housing is evidence of the capital's worsening housing and homelessness emergency."He said that one in 50 Londoners was homeless and the boroughs were "doing everything we can to build the affordable homes our communities are crying out for" but do not have enough resources. A spokesman at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said it was embarking on the "biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation" and investing in homelessness minister Matthew Pennycook also pointed out in answer to a recent written question on the topic that the number of people on the housing waiting list list is "not the same as the number of households waiting" with councils reviewing them to establish who no longer requires a social home.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Is nib holdings limited's (ASX:NHF) Recent Stock Performance Influenced By Its Fundamentals In Any Way?
nib holdings (ASX:NHF) has had a great run on the share market with its stock up by a significant 19% over the last three months. Given that stock prices are usually aligned with a company's financial performance in the long-term, we decided to study its financial indicators more closely to see if they had a hand to play in the recent price move. Particularly, we will be paying attention to nib holdings' ROE today. Return on Equity or ROE is a test of how effectively a company is growing its value and managing investors' money. In other words, it is a profitability ratio which measures the rate of return on the capital provided by the company's shareholders. AI is about to change healthcare. These 20 stocks are working on everything from early diagnostics to drug discovery. The best part - they are all under $10bn in marketcap - there is still time to get in early. Return on equity can be calculated by using the formula: Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity So, based on the above formula, the ROE for nib holdings is: 15% = AU$161m ÷ AU$1.1b (Based on the trailing twelve months to December 2024). The 'return' refers to a company's earnings over the last year. One way to conceptualize this is that for each A$1 of shareholders' capital it has, the company made A$0.15 in profit. View our latest analysis for nib holdings We have already established that ROE serves as an efficient profit-generating gauge for a company's future earnings. We now need to evaluate how much profit the company reinvests or "retains" for future growth which then gives us an idea about the growth potential of the company. Assuming all else is equal, companies that have both a higher return on equity and higher profit retention are usually the ones that have a higher growth rate when compared to companies that don't have the same features. At first glance, nib holdings seems to have a decent ROE. And on comparing with the industry, we found that the the average industry ROE is similar at 16%. This certainly adds some context to nib holdings' moderate 7.3% net income growth seen over the past five years. We then compared nib holdings' net income growth with the industry and found that the company's growth figure is lower than the average industry growth rate of 19% in the same 5-year period, which is a bit concerning. Earnings growth is an important metric to consider when valuing a stock. The investor should try to establish if the expected growth or decline in earnings, whichever the case may be, is priced in. This then helps them determine if the stock is placed for a bright or bleak future. Has the market priced in the future outlook for NHF? You can find out in our latest intrinsic value infographic research report. The high three-year median payout ratio of 78% (or a retention ratio of 22%) for nib holdings suggests that the company's growth wasn't really hampered despite it returning most of its income to its shareholders. Moreover, nib holdings is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Our latest analyst data shows that the future payout ratio of the company over the next three years is expected to be approximately 65%. However, nib holdings' ROE is predicted to rise to 20% despite there being no anticipated change in its payout ratio. Overall, we feel that nib holdings certainly does have some positive factors to consider. The company has grown its earnings moderately as previously discussed. Still, the high ROE could have been even more beneficial to investors had the company been reinvesting more of its profits. As highlighted earlier, the current reinvestment rate appears to be quite low. Having said that, looking at the current analyst estimates, we found that the company's earnings are expected to gain momentum. To know more about the latest analysts predictions for the company, check out this visualization of analyst forecasts for the company. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Sign in to access your portfolio
Sky News
31-03-2025
- General
- Sky News
At least 91,000 new affordable homes could be built with cladding money, social housing providers say
Social housing providers are warning their ability to build new affordable and social rent homes is plummeting, thanks to the soaring costs of the post-Grenfell Tower cladding crisis. Some 72 people were killed in the 2017 tragedy, but eight years on, as many as 12,000 buildings are thought to be wrapped in the kinds of flammable materials that led to it. Work hasn't even begun on half of the affected buildings, with an estimated 7,000 at-risk blocks not yet identified by the government. It's thought the bill to remove those products across the country will run to the tens of billions. But Housing Associations - not-for-profit organisations who provide social rented housing - are excluded from most government funding. Instead the money for much of their remediation is coming from social tenants' rent and being diverted from other projects. The National Audit Office thinks it will have to spend £3.8bn in total to remove non-ACM, combustible cladding on buildings over 11m high. New research suggests that's the cost-equivalent of building 91,000 much-needed new affordable homes. It's as we're seeing a huge drop in the number of new social rent and affordable homes being built by these providers. Across England, the National Housing Federation (NHF) says affordable housing starts have decreased by 39% to 43,439 - the lowest number since 2016. In London affordable housing starts have collapsed by 90% in the year to March, compared to the year before. The housing association Peabody says they have already spent £300m on cladding remediation, and that bill will keep rising. At one of their sprawling development sites in east London, tower blocks spring from the ground. But only phase one of the 10-year project (905 new homes) is secure. Plans for the other 2,500 flats have been put at risk - precisely because of funds being diverted to building safety. "If we don't if we don't find a way of funding the future phases, then I'm afraid we would have to stop at the end of phase one," their chief executive Ian McDermott said. The numbers are stark: "Normally we build about 2,000 homes a year. This year we will build fewer than 100 homes. "It's at a time when one in 21 children in London are living in temporary accommodation, so the need for social housing has never been greater." The data seems to pour cold water on the government's pledge to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliament. "The numbers are going in the wrong direction," said Rhys Moore, executive director of the NHF. "I think it is now widely accepted that there is no way to meet the 1.5 million homes target without a significant increase in social and affordable house building." Earlier this month, a committee of MPs warned the government hadn't taken the risks seriously enough and called for a formal assessment to be published by the end of the year on the way remediation costs are impacting house building targets. Mr Moore is calling on the government to expand the Building Safety Scheme to include housing associations: "What we think is indefensible is that some of the poorest families in the country, social tenants, are having to pick up the costs with their rents, to make those buildings safe." Giles Grover, from End Our Cladding Scandal, agrees with that call: "Our campaign position has always been that social housing providers should have full and equal access to the funding." But unlike the housing associations and NHF, he's concerned about too much of their focus being on development. Throughout the cladding crisis some housing associations have faced criticism for their handling of building safety issues, particularly with regard to shared owners. Mr Grover said: "We do need to make sure that social housing providers focus on their core purpose, which is making those homes decent, making those homes safe, and actually treating people like vulnerable, shared owners with a lot more respect." If there's a safety issue, he said, "let shared owners sublet, let them sell - or buy back their flats. Because right now associations are just carrying on, wanting to be tinpot developers". A Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government spokesperson said: "We are determined to make Britain's homes safer and deliver change for residents who have suffered for too long, and it is right that developers pay their fair share. "This government will deliver 1.5 million homes as part of our Plan for Change and just this week we committed £2bn to deliver thousands of new social and affordable homes. We continue to work closely with industry so we can deliver on our housing ambitions."
