Shortlife
For many years the Agency has been a keen proponent of short-life as a means to bring more properties back into use. As the name suggests there will be a short period of occupancy of these properties. This technique is invaluable in areas of high demand for housing and where there are empty properties facing an uncertain future. It is applicable for both private and public property and is a quick way of utilising wasted assets.
Short-life accommodation is accommodation that is used for a temporary fixed term period with a guarantee that the property will be vacated by the end of the period. This form of accommodation is invaluable for ensuring properties are used in the period before demolition or refurbishment.
Most short-life accommodation is carried out by housing co-operatives. The co-operatives use excluded contractual tenancies. This means that when a co-op applies to a court for return of the property, there is no discretion allowed by the judge and therefore no rights available for the tenants. Effective short-life operators begin legal proceedings for the recovery of the property six months in advance of the contract coming to an end to ensure that there is sufficient time to conclude proceedings. Once the co-operative receives the possession order, this then lasts for six years. Short-life operators also have the additional option of using replacement properties, which do not require legal powers.
Many people in the housing sector were deterred from using short life as an alternative by the Bruton ruling in 2000. Mr Bruton was a short-life tenant in Lambeth who had been accommodated in a property for a long period of time. The property was identified for redevelopment, and a court declared that he had rights because he had a secured tenancy agreement. Fully mutual co-operatives cannot give secured housing tenancies and can only give excluded contractual tenancies. If Mr Bruton had had such a contractual tenancy, the court would not have been allowed this discretion. Brent Community Housing (BCH) has a copy of the legal ruling and copies are available.
There are currently 25 members of the Short Life Forum in London and Brent Community Housing Association is one of the largest, with 330 short-life tenancies.
In the past some co-operatives have undermined the principle of short life by not giving properties back at the end of the agreed tenancy. It is imperative, though, that short life will only work as a principle if it is respected on all sides that the property will be vacated at the end of a certain period.
The benefit of short life for the tenant is that they are offered better accommodation than they might previously have had in bed and breakfast accommodation or other temporary accommodation, and the rents are substantially lower than they might pay in other areas of social housing (this is still the case, but rents are creeping up – BCH used to be able to keep rents low as often we did not have to pass on rent to the providers – now they do in most cases). In addition, short-life properties provide an effective solution to the way that empty properties attract crime and associated problems. In many respects short-life accommodation can be seen as infinitely preferable to boarding up a property and it attracts an income stream.
It is interesting to note that of the BCH tenants, 75% are economically active. They have made a big play recently in trying to attract key workers, and have succeeded in attracting staff such as hospital cleaners and porters, who all provide essential public services. In Hammersmith & Fulham the key worker Short life scheme houses only referrals from the following; health authority, social work, HM Prison service)
Short-life accommodation need not be sub-standard housing, for example, BCH has clear standards for their properties and the only difference from other social housing is the decoration and fittings. Essentially short life is basic accommodation to a decent standard but with low rents and a fixed time period. For each new tenant of BCH it is clearly spelt out to them that their tenancy is of a temporary nature.
In many respects ‘short life’ is a misleading name for this type of accommodation; it could be suggested that a name like ‘guaranteed temporary accommodation’ might be a more appropriate description of this type of accommodation.
For further information
Please contact:
Brent Community Housing 020 7624 3168
Westminster Housing Co-op 020 7289 0105
Phoenix Housing Co-op 020 8980 1069
Alamo Housing Co-op 020 7272 3391
Information about the Empty Homes Agency
The Empty Homes Agency is an independent campaigning charity, which exists to highlight the waste of empty property in England and works with others to devise and promote sustainable solutions to bring empty and wasted property back into use.
Empty Homes Agency
195-197 Victoria Street
London
SW1E 5NE
Tel: 020 7963 6883
Fax: 020 7828 7006