Propertymark has joined organisations representing tenants, landlords, and other housing providers to call for the UK Government to secure Local Housing Allowance to the 30th percentile of rents and carry out a thorough assessment of the case for raising it to the 50th percentile.

National Audit Office (NAO) findings show that statutory homelessness has worsened since the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) came into force in April 2018. A report, published on 23 July 2024, is highly critical of the previous Conservative UK Government for a lack of strategy, fragmented funding, and failure to address issues with housing supply.

Rt Hon Vaughan Gething, MS, has set out his priorities for the rest of this Senedd term, with building safety, homelessness, visitor accommodation, and planning all forming part of the programme. Radical and transformative change which matters most in people’s lives is what the Welsh Government will be concentrating on, and the First Minister is looking forward to a renewed, genuine partnership with the new UK Government to unlock opportunities across Wales.

Propertymark’s Head of Policy and Campaigns, Timothy Douglas, met Patrick Harvie, MSP, as part of the Scottish Government’s Private Rented Sector Stakeholder Group to discuss the Housing (Scotland) Bill and continued to assert that rent control proposals should be dropped in favour of focusing on other actions to make the private rented sector more affordable. This will ensure there is an adequate housing supply that meets increasing demand and tackling existing inequalities of income and wealth.

The lack of an evidence-based approach to the private rented sector (PRS) by the Scottish Government is impacting the effectiveness of the sector in assisting with Scotland's housing crisis, according to the findings of a Chartered Institute of Housing Scotland and Fife Council report which urges Ministers to demonstrate leadership.

Propertymark has responded to the Welsh Government consultation on Ending Homelessness White Paper and welcomes the decision not to place a legal duty on private landlords to refer tenants at risk of homelessness to housing teams. We strongly urge local authorities to consider agents and landlords as part of the solution and actively develop positive relationships with them.

Focusing on the key housing sector themes, Propertymark is calling for prioritisation of work with the PRS on homelessness, investment in reliable data collection, and a boost in support for decarbonisation.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) will at last be unfrozen and Universal Credit (UC) will rise under UK Government tax and spending plans announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt, MP, today, 22 November 2023. Rate relief and full expensing for businesses are also included.

The Welsh Government is consulting on potentially world-leading reforms that includes proposals which outline new legal duties for a range of bodies, with the acknowledgement that the keys to solving homelessness often lie with other agencies outside that system.

Propertymark has co-signed a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of the Autumn Budget strongly urging action on static rates of local housing allowance (LHA) and the lack of affordable private rented homes.

Propertymark has supported the Welsh Government’s proposals to exempt hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation used for local authority homelessness purposes from occupational contracts as part of the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016.

Figures released by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) back up evidence given to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Commons Committee by Propertymark on 28 June 2023. Head of Policy and Campaigns Timothy Douglas warned MPs of vulnerable tenants being priced out of the market.

Responding to Welsh Parliament’s Local Government and Housing Committee inquiry looking at how incorporating the right to adequate housing into Welsh law would work in practice, Propertymark stated that it must act fairly to agents and landlords as well as consider any unintended consequences on housing providers and the market.

The Senedd Cross Party Group for Housing has written to the Welsh Government regarding their 2023-2024 draft budget to raise concerns, politically and professionally, about whether it focuses on the right things to provide for the most vulnerable people in the current housing emergency.

Propertymark responds to the UK Government’s consultation on the proposed changes to the homelessness legislation stating local authorities must continually act to prevent and relieve homelessness before court action is required.

On 25 January 2023, a Scottish opposition party debate discussed the issues of homelessness and the delivery of new homes and called for the Scottish Government to declare a housing emergency and introduce a dedicated housing minister.