LocalGov elections: Being vigilant ahead of the local elections
Ahead of the local elections next month, Owen Prendeville, Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), offers tips for protecting against cyber attacks.
What is a metro mayor?
25/04/2024 A metro mayor is directly elected by local people to oversee a region’s combined authority. |
Social housing tests could heavily impact London
25/04/2024 London boroughs are likely to be most heavily impacted by the Government’s proposed UK connection test for social housing. |
Fresh call for Right to Buy restrictions
23/04/2024 Housing experts today called for fresh restrictions on the controversial Right to Buy policy – including a ban on applying it to new builds. |
Charities call for action on ‘dangerous’ homes
22/04/2024 A coalition of charities has launched a campaign urging the Government to halve the number of homes blighted by mould, damp and other serious hazards. |
Officers recommend refusal of Birmingham skyscraper plans
18/04/2024 Plans for a 42-storey skyscraper in Birmingham city centre have been recommended for refusal over heritage concerns. |
Over 84k households evicted since no-fault eviction ban promise
15/04/2024 Over 84,000 households have faced homelessness due to being issued with a section 21 notice since the Government committed to ban no-fault evictions. |
Blackpool neighbourhood to be demolished to build £65m campus
11/04/2024 Blackpool Council's planning committee has approved the demolition of a town centre neighbourhood to clear space for a new £65m university campus. |
Homes England urged to strengthen relations with local government
09/04/2024 An independent review of Homes England has urged officials to 'build closer relationships' with councils. |
Vent-Axia's Heat Save Helps Hillingdon Council with Carbon-friendly Makeover
08/04/2024 Vent-Axia has helped Hillingdon Council decarbonise its social housing properties by providing energy efficient heat recovery ventilation for residents’ homes. |
Khan pledges to build 6,000 ‘rent control’ homes
05/04/2024 London mayor Sadiq Khan will today commit to building homes with capped rents as part of his bid for re-election next month. |
Public health directors call for better regulation of private rented sector
04/04/2024 Public health directors have welcomed measures aimed at improving social housing but called for more action to tackle poor conditions in the private sector. |
What this year’s election could mean for housing
03/04/2024 Jonathan Pearson, director at Residentially, looks at what the coming election could mean for the future of affordable housing in the UK. |
2,000 social housing blocks affected by ‘life-critical’ problems
02/04/2024 Almost 2,000 social housing blocks in England have ‘life-critical’ problems with their external cladding, according to official data. |
Proposed law could ease housing emergencies
27/03/2024 Scottish councils may be required to assess the condition of private rented accommodation under a proposed law. |
Young homeless people feel ‘ignored’ by councils
27/03/2024 Young people experiencing homelessness feel ‘dismissed and ignored’ when they approach local authorities for help, research has found. |
Brent council set to launch landlord licensing scheme
26/03/2024 A new borough-wide landlord licensing scheme is set to launch in Brent on April 1, the council has announced. |
Leicester council to borrow £45m to buy property
26/03/2024 Leicester councillors have agreed to borrow £45m to buy property to help the city council tackle the local housing crisis. |
Call for reintroduction of housing targets
22/03/2024 A cross-party coalition representing 27 mid-sized regional British cities has called for the next Government to reintroduce local housebuilding targets. |
Planning for senior housing ‘stalled’, survey reveals
21/03/2024 Less than a third of local authorities do not have clear policies in place to support housing for seniors, new research has revealed. |
Lost Homes, Lost Hope – why fighting tenancy fraud matters
19/03/2024 Alan Bryce, interim head of the Fraud Advisory Panel, argues that cracking down on tenancy fraud can help solve the local government financial crisis. |
Housing Ombudsman awards residents £40k
14/03/2024 Residents left in dire damp and mould conditions by Lewisham Council have been awarded tens of thousands of pounds. |
Crawley leaders warns of housing emergency
13/03/2024 The leader of Crawley Council has called on the Government to ‘take decisive action’ to address the city’s housing emergency. |
Council homes acquisition plan could save boroughs £1.5bn
12/03/2024 Plans to boost London’s council housing supply by buying from the private market could save boroughs and the Government billions over the next 20 years, a report has found. |
Are social housing providers at risk of underinsurance?
12/03/2024 Michaela Tweedley, director at building and projects consultancy Brawdia, discusses whether social housing providers are at risk of underinsurance. |
Limited exemptions for empty homes powers
11/03/2024 Councils will face only a limited number of exemptions from new powers allowing them to levy higher taxes on empty homes, ministers have confirmed. |
Right to Buy lobbying fails as temporary boost ended
08/03/2024 The Treasury has confirmed councils will no longer keep 100% of Right to Buy (RTB) receipts after the current financial year despite lobbying by the sector. |
Impact of the Leasehold and Freehold Bill on councils
08/03/2024 Jeremy Dharmasena, head of Leasehold Reform & Litigation, Knight Frank, looks at what the Leasehold and Freehold Bill will mean for local authorities. |
Gove urged to ‘listen’ to Cambridge on housing plans
07/03/2024 Communities need ‘far more detail’ and to have their say on government plans for a major expansion of housing around Cambridge, local leaders have said. |
Craig's call for asylum change
07/03/2024 Manchester City Council’s leader has urged Whitehall to implement ‘simple changes’ to asylum policy to ease huge pressures on major urban centres. |
Budget: Over £240m for Canary Wharf housing announced
06/03/2024 Chancellor Jeremy Hunt today announced £242m to deliver thousands of houses in Barking Riverside and Canary Wharf. |
Cladding issue could be 'tip of iceberg'
06/03/2024 Barnet LBC has warned fire safety issues with nearly 600 low-rise homes could be ‘just the tip of the iceberg across the country’. |
Vent-Axia's Heat Recovery Retrofit Solution is the perfect fit for Almond HA
05/03/2024 When Almond HA was looking for energy efficient upgrades of ventilation in its West Lothian properties, it chose Vent-Axia's Heat Recovery Retrofit Solution. |
'Culture of mistrust' found at Newham
04/03/2024 Newham LBC’s chief executive has vowed to tackle the ‘culture of mistrust’ among politicians and officers laid bare by a critical peer review. |
Ombudsman: Family left ‘sofa surfing’ for a year
01/03/2024 Waltham Forest Council has apologised after a family was forced to stay with relatives and friends – or ‘sofa surfing’ – for a year because the local authority forgot about them. |
Call for ‘emergency action’ over rough sleeping spike
29/02/2024 A homelessness charity has called for ‘emergency action’ over ‘out of control’ levels of rough sleeping in England. |
London boroughs spend £3m a day on temporary accommodation
28/02/2024 The cost of temporary accommodation in the capital ‘threatens to bankrupt boroughs’, London Councils has warned. |
£220m boost for homelessness services
28/02/2024 The Government has announced £220m for councils to prevent families from becoming homeless and provide support for people sleeping rough. |
Eastbourne BC to vote on declaring housing emergency
28/02/2024 Eastbourne BC, the local authority behind a recent Westminster summit on the temporary-accommodation crisis, will today vote on declaring a housing emergency. |
Home Office 'chaos' leaves thousands of illegal arrivals in 'perma-backlog'
27/02/2024 The Government’s struggling asylum policy has heaped significant demand on cities’ housing services, experts have warned. |
Medway backs £42m temporary accommodation investment
27/02/2024 Medway councillors have green lighted plans to invest £42m in new properties to help ease the council’s temporary housing pressures. |
Durham secures £6m to tackle homelessness
27/02/2024 Durham County Council has successfully secured over £6m in funding to tackle homelessness. |
Social housing investment could boost economy by over £50bn
26/02/2024 Much more investment in the construction of social housing could boost the economy by a dramatic £51.2bn, according to a new analysis. |
Regulator calls for 'substantial' planning intervention
26/02/2024 The planning system requires ‘substantial intervention’ by the Government to ensure consistent delivery of new homes, a major study has concluded. |
Report lays bare ‘dire state’ of Britain’s homes
23/02/2024 A third of households in the UK live in poorly insulated homes and cannot afford an acceptable standard of living. |
Birmingham failed residents over damp and mould, ombudsman finds
22/02/2024 The Housing Ombudsman has found six cases of severe maladministration in Birmingham City Council’s handling of issues reported by tenants. |
Planning inspectors acted unlawfully over council’s net zero plans
22/02/2024 Planning inspectors were wrong to describe West Oxfordshire District Council’s net zero plans for a garden village as ‘too rigorous’, a High Court judge has ruled. |
EXCLUSIVE: Councils offered second chance to claim housing cash
22/02/2024 Civil servants have issued a last-minute invitation for councils to claim cash from a fund that has suffered from poor take up by local authorities. |
New analysis says housing building target needs to rise
21/02/2024 England could need over 500,000 news homes every year according to analysis just released. |
Rowley: Councils must do more to improve high-rise safety
21/02/2024 Housing minister Lee Rowley has called on councils to do more to tackle building owners who fail to fix high-rise buildings in the wake of Grenfell tragedy. |
Oxford leader slams Gove’s short-term lets plan
21/02/2024 Oxford City Council has criticised the Government’s proposals to limit short-term lets arguing that they ‘fall a long way short of what's needed’. |
Sto rainscreen cladding system streamlines construction at Blar Mor
20/02/2024 A Sto rainscreen cladding system has provided an alternative construction method for a new housing development, generating time and cost efficiencies. |
Council appeared to be in ‘crisis management mode’
20/02/2024 ‘Multiple and repeated’ failures by Hammersmith and Fulham Council left residents feeling ‘anything but secure in their homes’, a special investigation has found. |
Gove: Short-term lets to require planning permission
19/02/2024 Second-home owners will have to seek planning permission for future short-term lets, the Government has announced. |
Council chiefs call for review of Ukrainian refugee scheme
19/02/2024 Council leaders have called for an urgent review of funding for Ukrainian refugees as 9,000 have reported as homeless and more need longer-term support. |
Barton House residents demand safety reassurances
15/02/2024 Residents of Barton House in Bristol have marched to City Hall demanding reassurances about the safety of the building ahead of their return. |
Ealing agrees £150m package to buy up housing
14/02/2024 Councillors in Ealing have approved a £150m plan to acquire housing in the face of soaring temporary accommodation costs. |
‘Brownfield first’ reforms unveiled
14/02/2024 Councils in England will be told to prioritise brownfield development and be ‘less bureaucratic’ in their approach to building on previously developed land. |
Suffolk council leaders warn of ‘catastrophic’ HRS proposals
13/02/2024 Suffolk council leaders have warned of ‘a catastrophic effect’ on vulnerable residents should Suffolk CC agree proposed Housing Related Support changes. |
Right to Buy must reform, council bosses warn
13/02/2024 The Right to Buy scheme is causing the significant loss of social housing and cannot continue in its current form, the Local Government Association has said today. |
Croydon to wind down Brick by Brick
12/02/2024 Croydon LBC’s mayor is set to give the go-ahead to officially wind down the council’s development firm Brick by Brick. |
Further planning reforms on way, says Gove
12/02/2024 Empty shops could be quickly converted into homes and developers given fresh incentives to build on brownfield sites under ministers’ latest plans to expedite housebuilding. |
Cardo Group provides insight into how valuable Frameworx is as a procurement solution
12/02/2024 Frameworx impresses with its intuitive, easy-to-use procurement approaches which are seeing high value contracts being mobilised in the social housing sector. |
£3bn boost to affordable homes fund
12/02/2024 An additional £3bn is now available to build and improve affordable housing in England. |
Norfolk council to double council tax on second homes
12/02/2024 Second-home owners in north Norfolk will see their council tax double from next year. |
New complaint handling codes launched
08/02/2024 New closely aligned codes aimed at making good complaint handling easier for local authorities have been launched. |
The Temporary Housing Dilemma: a strategic approach
07/02/2024 Darya Kolas, Partner & Head of Social Housing at Copping Joyce, discusses the temporary housing dilemma facing local authorities. |
Council leaders call for housing subsidy uplift
07/02/2024 District council leaders have called on the Chancellor to increase the amount local authorities can claim for temporary accommodation. |
Officer warning over street votes
06/02/2024 Council officers have issued a scathing response to plans for street-level planning votes – dismissing the idea as a costly ‘proliferation of polls’. |
Social housing reform: a recipe for more homelessness and litigation?
05/02/2024 Helen Tucker, litigation partner in the social housing team at Anthony Collins, warns the Government's social housing reforms could lead to more litigation. |
Scotland’s homelessness system 'at risk of failure'
02/02/2024 Scotland’s homelessness system is on the brink of collapse, according to the country’s housing watchdog. |
Council order to pay over £18k after severe maladministration findings
01/02/2024 Waltham Forest Council has been ordered to pay £18,800 in compensation after failings were discovered in three different housing cases. |
Rough sleeping in London reaches record high
01/02/2024 More people were sleeping rough in the capital at the end of 2023 than at any period in the past decade. |
Health boost for Housing First residents, research finds
01/02/2024 Housing First – under which homeless people are guaranteed a home while they access support – reduces demand on health and social care services, study finds. |
Local approach needed to prepare for ‘silent killer’ of heatwaves
31/01/2024 MPs have called for a locally led approach to retrofitting houses to protect the most vulnerable from heat waves. |
‘Three strikes and you’re out’ social housing plans announced
30/01/2024 Social landlords could soon be empowered to evict anti-social tenants and ban them from applying for council housing under the Government’s new plans. |
Call for council tax overhaul
26/01/2024 Work should begin now on the ‘long-overdue’ revaluation of all domestic properties in England to bolster local government finance, a think-tank has argued. |
Devon and Torbay devolution deal announced
25/01/2024 Devon County Council and Torbay Council are set to enter a level 2 devolution deal with the Government. |
Two in five adults fear mounting housing pressures
24/01/2024 Two in five people who pay housing costs in England are worried that pressures will get worse this year, new research has found. |
Social housing at low risk from 'rogue' equity investors
23/01/2024 The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has assured MPs the sector is at lower risk of ‘rogue’ equity investors that previously entered care markets. |
Ombudsman calls for Royal Commission for social housing
23/01/2024 The Housing Ombudsman has called for the establishment of a Royal Commission to deliver a long-term plan for social housing that tackles social injustices. |
Underfunding of planning teams barrier to growth
22/01/2024 Nine out of 10 SME home builders have warned that underfunded local authority planning departments are hindering the construction of new housing. |
Housing crisis forcing poorer older renters to move
22/01/2024 Older renters living on low incomes are being forced to move to more deprived areas with fewer services due to the housing crisis, new research suggests. |
Council ‘diligent’ in checking for mould before tenant’s death
22/01/2024 Mansfield District Council insists it was ‘diligent in carrying out appropriate works’ on Jane Bennett’s house before she died of lung disease last month. |
Fresh call for minimum standards to protect private renters
19/01/2024 MPs have urged the Government to protect tenants from the ‘catastrophic’ impact of poor-quality homes on their health. |
Local plan review process ‘ineffective’
18/01/2024 Reform is urgently required to improve the local plan review process and increase the number of up-to-date plans, according to new research. |
5,000 winter deaths caused by cold, damp homes
18/01/2024 Cold, damp homes caused an estimated 4,950 excess winter deaths in 2022-23, according to the End Fuel Poverty Coalition. |
Exempting asylum housing from Awaab's Law branded 'unacceptable'
18/01/2024 Charities have described as ‘unacceptable’ plans to exempt asylum accommodation from ‘Awaab’s Law’ forcing social landlords to deal with poor-quality housing. |
Council sells former HQ site for £6m
17/01/2024 Adur District Council has sold the site of its former civic centre for £6m to affordable housing provider The Hyde Group. |
£17m to help rough sleepers for councils ‘most in need’
16/01/2024 The Government has provided £17m to help homeless people off the streets as it insisted it would deliver its pledge to end rough sleeping this year. |
Maladministration findings ‘springboard’ to better services, Croydon told
16/01/2024 Croydon Council has been told by the Housing Ombudsman to use learning as a ‘springboard to deliver better services’ after severe maladministration findings. |
2024: an epochal year of change and transition
12/01/2024 Jonathan Werran, chief executive, Localis looks at what is coming down the tracks for local government in the year ahead. |
Council improvements not ‘felt by residents’
11/01/2024 Lambeth Council’s complaints handling process has improved but the results have not been ‘seen and felt by its residents’, according to the Housing Ombudsman. |
Leveraging tech to tackle black mould
09/01/2024 Deborah Matthews, MRI Software, looks at how arming onsite teams with the right tech can empower social housing providers to be proactive on black mould. |
Gove consults on plan for quicker housing repairs
09/01/2024 Social landlords would be required to fix hazards including damp and mould within ‘strict time limits’ under proposals set out by housing secretary Michael Gove today. |
Housing provider downgraded by regulator
08/01/2024 The social housing regulator has downgraded a major provider across London and the southeast following a review. |
Notts residents warned of record Storm Henk floods
05/01/2024 Nottinghamshire County Council has declared a major incident as Storm Henk causes near-record levels of flooding. |
Two thirds of Housing Infrastructure Fund left unspent
05/01/2024 Two-thirds of the £4.2bn Housing Infrastructure Fund remains unspent more than six years after its launch, despite the housing shortage, according to reports. |
Rural homelessness up 40%
04/01/2024 Levels of homelessness in rural areas have increased by 40% over the last five years, research by a countryside charity has revealed. |
Groundbreaking LGBTQ+ housing proposed for Manchester
04/01/2024 A pioneering LGBTQ+ extra care housing development has been proposed for the site of a former hospital in Manchester. |
Council declares ‘major incident’ after tornado
02/01/2024 Tameside Council has declared a ‘major incident’ after a tornado struck Stalybridge in Greater Manchester last week. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.
