New Roots, a provider of exempt housing, has announced it will move away from the tenure warning that the lease-based model is “inherently dangerous.”
New Roots is based in Birmingham (Photo: Getty)
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New Roots, a provider of exempt housing, has announced it will move away from lease warning that the lease-based model is ‘inherently unsafe’ #UKhousing
The Birmingham-based housing association, which last year received a non-compliant G3 / V3 rating from the social housing regulator (RSH), said it was unable to develop a rental formula and service charges for exempt dwellings meeting rent requirements. standard while being attractive to owners.
Andy Howell, President of New Roots, said Inside the accommodation: “We are not going back into exoneration, I think the lease model is inherently dangerous.
âWe have direct properties that we manage ourselves, which we are tenants, but with which we are not comfortable either. We will therefore be completely leaving the exempt housing. “
Exempt housing is a type of supported housing in which landlords provide âcare, support or supervisionâ to residents for which they can charge significantly higher rents than traditional social housing, paid for by housing allowances.
Cities like Birmingham have seen an explosion in the number of exempt accommodation providers in recent years and some providers have been linked to organized crime groups.
The New Roots delivery model has historically involved the rental of homes to private owners.
Mr. Howell added: âYou really have to do your due diligence before you start working with people. And the other thing is that nobody really defines this question on the support, the quality of the support, the amount of support of these contracts.
âYou have to be convinced that it supports people in the right way, you have to be convinced that it provides good service and value for money, and we are not convinced on any of these points. “
New Roots said it will work with partners to develop an exit strategy while supporting and assessing tenant needs.
Mr Howell stressed that no tenant would be left homeless and that they could be transferred to another registered provider.
The provider said it would seek to develop “new services” for homeless and vulnerable adults in Birmingham. Mr. Howell suggested that one area the organization will look at is a social rental agency model.
Social rental agencies help homeless and vulnerable people access and maintain private rentals in the rental sector, but they also generate income to cover operational costs.
New Roots said it informed RSH and Birmingham City Council of its decision.