LocalGov to partner with LATCo Conference 2026
LocalGov confirmed as the official media partner for the LATCo Conference & Exhibition 2026, supporting the event in highlighting innovation and best practice.
Rayner resigns from Government
05/09/2025 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has announced her resignation from the Government. |
Worcestershire takes action over 'proliferation' of HMOs
05/09/2025 Reform UK-led Worcestershire CC is the latest council to raise concern over Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs). |
Council denies leaving man to sleep in car
04/09/2025 A Lincolnshire man with health issues was left sleeping in his car after South Kesteven DC failed to offer him temporary housing, Ombudsman rules. |
Councils back Right to Buy reforms but seek more flexibility
04/09/2025 Reforms to Right to Buy (RTB) have given councils greater confidence in protecting and growing their housing stock, according to a new LGA survey. |
ARCH plea to increase rent cap
01/09/2025 Councils should be able to raise tenants' rents by up to £3 per week on top of any inflation-linked increase, a local authority association has told ministers. |
Councils forgo over £50m second homes revenue
01/09/2025 The sale of second homes has seen up to £55m less council tax revenue generated for local authorities. |
Call to abolish Homes England
01/09/2025 A think-tank has called for the abolition of Homes England. |
Councils hand millions to landlords amid housing crisis
01/09/2025 Local authorities in England are paying millions of pounds a year to incentivise private landlords to house homeless families, new data has revealed. |
Councils call for restrictions on office-to-home conversions
01/09/2025 Local authority leaders are calling on the Government to limit office-to-residential conversions, warning they are undermining affordable housing delivery. |
Airtech Helps Landlords Comply with Awaab’s Law
29/08/2025 Condensation and mould specialists, Airtech, are offering help to social housing landlords ahead of Awaab’s Law coming into effect on 27 October 2025. |
Breaking: Epping asylum hotel injunction overturned
29/08/2025 A temporary injunction banning use of the Bell Hotel in Epping to accommodate asylum seekers has been overturned. |
One in 10 supported homes at risk
29/08/2025 50,000 specialist homes for people with support needs are at imminent risk of closure due to ongoing funding pressures, National Housing Federation warns. |
Hotels Aren’t the Answer: Rethinking Asylum Support
28/08/2025 Jon Featonby, chief policy officer at Refugee Council, argues that last week’s High Court ruling shows hotels are an unsustainable solution for asylum seekers. |
‘Very serious failings’ found in council’s social housing
27/08/2025 Arun District Council’s housing service has been hit with the regulator’s lowest rating after inspectors uncovered ‘very serious failings’. |
Supported housing shortage costs NHS £71m, warns LGA
27/08/2025 Local government leaders have called on the Government to invest more in supported housing to help save the NHS £50m a year. |
Dorset Council reveals lower homelessness rates
22/08/2025 Dorset Council’s temporary accommodation (TA) rates have dropped by over half following the launch of ‘successful prevention initiatives’. |
London Councils: Funding reforms could be ‘devastating’ for capital
22/08/2025 The Government must consider London’s ‘high levels of deprivation’ in the Fair Funding Review 2.0, says the cross-party group representing the capital’s councils. |
Lloyds social housing ad branded ‘misleading’
22/08/2025 A Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) advert stating that the lender had provided £19.5bn to social housing projects has been banned by the advertising watchdog. |
Council home sell-offs to outpace new builds eightfold
21/08/2025 Local authorities in England are set to lose over eight times as many council homes in 2025/26 as were completed the previous year, think tank has estimated. |
'Quiet majority' favour local development
21/08/2025 Councils have been urged to consult more widely on planning applications after research found a majority of the population was in favour of local development. |
Councils press Home Office for closer work on asylum housing
21/08/2025 Local authority leaders have urged the Home Office to work much more closely with councils when it comes to decisions about asylum accommodation. |
A Local Ruling with National Consequences
20/08/2025 The Epping Forest asylum hotel case exposes a planning problem far bigger than Essex, says Faraz Baber, Chief Operating Officer at Lanpro. |
Council acts on Disabled Facilities Grant backlog
20/08/2025 North Yorkshire Council has pledged to improve how it manages Disabled Facilities Grant applications after an investigation revealed a backlog of cases. |
Farage: Put pressure on councils to follow Epping Forest
20/08/2025 Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has urged people to 'put pressure' on councils to go to court after a High Court ruling. |
Council wins temporary injunction over asylum hotel
19/08/2025 Asylum seekers are to be removed from an Essex hotel that has became the focus of protests this summer. |
Devolution Revolution: Solving the Data Deficit
19/08/2025 Jonathan Marwood, Partner at Hartnell Taylor Cook, explains why robust real estate data is essential for devolution, housing delivery, and regeneration. |
Over £300m Ukrainian refugee funding unspent
19/08/2025 More than £300m given to English councils to help house Ukrainian refugees still sits in council bank accounts, freedom of information (FOI) request reveals. |
Newcastle CC welcomes £120m brownfield regeneration deal
19/08/2025 Newcastle City Council has hailed today’s approval of a £121.8m investment as a ‘catalyst for development’ that will deliver thousands of new homes. |
Tenancy fraud punished in Hackney
15/08/2025 Several council houses have been taken from fraudulent tenants who were revealed to own multiple properties. |
EXCLUSIVE: Sector warns Government over rental crackdown
15/08/2025 Councils have privately warned they will be unable to enforce a planned toughening up of regulations on the quality of rented homes without extra funding. |
Call for one hundred thousand high-quality council homes
14/08/2025 Council housing stock in the UK must be ‘replenished’ and improved in design, a think tank has argued. |
Housing plan prompts backlash from Sunderland A.F.C
13/08/2025 Sunderland A.F.C has announced plans to object to Sunderland City Council’s housing development proposals. |
Residents want more say in new town development plans, survey reveals
13/08/2025 A survey has revealed that 73% of people don’t feel confident that the Government’s new towns scheme will fulfil future ‘community needs’. |
Vacant property numbers up despite housing shortage
11/08/2025 The average number of vacant properties per council area has increased in recent years despite the ongoing housing crisis. |
Cloudhouse offers housing associations risk-free route to IT modernisation
08/08/2025 70% of UK housing associations still rely on unsupported IT – Cloudhouse offers a risk-free route to modernisation. |
Editor’s Comment: Are councils selling off allotments?
06/08/2025 Jeremy Corbyn warns of a government-backed threat to UK allotments—but are fears justified? |
Corbyn accuses Rayner of allotment sell off
06/08/2025 Jeremy Corbyn has criticised local government secretary Angela Rayner for allowing councils to sell off allotments to fund day-to-day spending. |
Planning reform proposals could deliver thousands of new homes
04/08/2025 New think tank report urges rapid local planning changes to boost housing supply and support council-led development |
RTB reduced council wealth by billions, says think tank
04/08/2025 The Right to Buy (RTB) scheme resulted in councils handing over £82bn to tenants, think tank says. |
Councils underperform in meeting self-build plots demand
01/08/2025 Over 50% of councils reportedly did not abide by legal guidelines around authorising sufficient numbers of self-build homes. |
Wethersfield base to house 445 more asylum seekers
31/07/2025 Home Office has informed Braintree DC that it plans to temporarily increase the number of asylum seekers at the Wethersfield base beyond its bed limit. |
Home Office recommits to closing asylum hotels
31/07/2025 The Government has insisted it ‘remains committed' to ending the use of hotels for asylum accommodation after growing public anger. |
Regulator identifies ‘serious’ social housing failings
30/07/2025 Five local authority landlords have been told to make significant improvements to the management of their social housing. |
Sunderland invests over £700,000 to support people with learning disabilities
25/07/2025 Sunderland City Council is to allocate £724,000 to help people with learning difficulties or autism carry out adaptions to their homes when they are discharged from hospital. |
Vent-Axia Welcomes Awaab’s Law Draft Guidance
22/07/2025 Leading British ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia has welcomed the Government’s recent publication of ‘Awaab’s Law: Draft guidance for social landlords’. |
West Midlands Mayor reveals economic growth plan
22/07/2025 West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker has unveiled plans to create tens of thousands of new jobs and homes, which he hopes will ‘turbocharge’ the region’s economy over the next decade. |
PM says 'lots of housing' exists across councils
22/07/2025 Prime Minister Keir Starmer has claimed there is ‘lots of housing’ that can be used to provide temporary accommodation across local authorities. |
New town developments could advance amid local objections
21/07/2025 New town developments could proceed amid resistance from residents, says housing and planning minister. |
Councils to be handed powers to inspect rented homes without notice
21/07/2025 Councils are set to be given powers to inspect rented homes without providing notice to landlords |
Norwich secures investment for redevelopment scheme
17/07/2025 Norwich City Council had partnered with Aviva Capital Partners (ACP) to deliver a £350m redevelopment project. |
LGOF: Will it work?
16/07/2025 Dr Jonathan Carr-West, LGIU, discusses the Local Government Outcomes Framework (LGOF), the latest instalment in the history of local government accountability. |
Majority of rural councils have no social housing targets
16/07/2025 Only one in five rural local authorities have planning targets for building new social homes despite a shortage of new houses in rural areas. |
Affordable housing projects to receive £100m uplift
09/07/2025 Housebuilders are set to deliver a boost of £100m to affordable housing projects across the UK. |
Councils set to benefit from ‘bespoke’ housebuilding support
08/07/2025 A vanguard of 10 councils has been selected to co-design the new Council Housebuilding Support Service (CHoSS). |
Alarm raised over safeguarding risks in temporary accommodation
07/07/2025 Councils must do more to consider safeguarding risks when housing children in temporary accommodation, says the Children’s Commissioner. |
Council leaves abuse survivor homeless
04/07/2025 The London Borough of Waltham Forest has apologised after a survivor of domestic abuse was left street homeless for five weeks. |
Pennycook confirms fresh Right to Buy restrictions
04/07/2025 Tenants of new social homes will not be able to buy their homes through Right to Buy (RtB) for 35 years, housing minister Matthew Pennycook has confirmed. |
LGA: Councils have £276bn of untapped potential
04/07/2025 Government support overcoming place-specific barriers to growth could help local authorities unleash £276bn of untapped economic potential, research suggests. |
Rayner announces plan to build 180,000 new social homes
02/07/2025 The Government has announced plans to build 180,000 new social homes by 2035 as part of the effort to tackle the shortage in temporary accommodation. |
Rough sleeping rates surge by 63% over a decade
30/06/2025 Rough sleeping rates in London reached a peak between April 2024 and March 2025, research reveals. |
EXCLUSIVE: Government turns to councils for extra building inspector capacity
30/06/2025 The Government has turned to councils for extra building inspector capacity as high-rise housing projects continue to be dogged by regulatory hold-ups. |
Reform-led council to bring social housing in-house
25/06/2025 West Northamptonshire Council's cabinet has voted to bring back in-house the management of 11,500 social homes. |
Regulator finds ‘serious’ consumer standards failings
25/06/2025 An inspection has revealed ‘serious failings’ with Slough Borough Council’s engagement with tenants. |
Waverley BC demands ‘fairer’ local infrastructure rules
24/06/2025 Waverley Borough Council has called for ‘clearer’ and ‘fairer’ legislation around the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). |
Finding accessible housing ‘postcode lottery’
24/06/2025 Disabled people in the North East or East Midlands six times less likely to be living in an accessible home compared to people in London, research reveals. |
Landlords take council to court over licensing fees
23/06/2025 A legal case has been filed against Leicester City Council following a dispute about landlord fees. |
New social housing criteria to support vulnerable groups
20/06/2025 A change in housing rules is set to improve access to social housing for care leavers under 25 and domestic abuse survivors. |
Councils face enforcement capacity 'struggle'
19/06/2025 A cornerstone of the Renter's Rights Bill is under threat due to a lack of council capacity, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Council backs women-only housing development
18/06/2025 A new women-only housing block in Acton is set to provide 102 affordable flats for those ‘disproportionately affected’ by the housing crisis. |
Housing target threatened by planning officer shortage, says UNISON
16/06/2025 The Government’s efforts to boost affordable housing could be derailed if the shortage of planning officers in England is not addressed, UNISON warns. |
Black hole spending review
11/06/2025 Jonathan Werran, chief executive of Localis, reflects on what the Spending Review means for local government. |
Spending Review: £39bn funding boost for social and affordable housing
11/06/2025 Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced a £39bn investment in social and affordable housing over the next 10 years in the Government's Spending Review. |
Mapping successful 15-minute cities
11/06/2025 Is GIS the difference between success and failure for 15-minute neighbourhoods? Alex Zirpolo, principal GIS consultant at Lanpro, argues it is. |
Council’s pension scheme could provide over 200 homes
10/06/2025 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea intends to invest millions from its £2bn pension fund to support vulnerable residents. |
Call for strengthening oversight of developer contributions system
06/06/2025 Weaknesses in developer contributions system intended to fund affordable housing are undermining the councils' ability to negotiate with developers, NAO says. |
Housebuilders call for ‘meaningful action’ on planning staff crisis
05/06/2025 The association representing housebuilders in England and Wales has called on the Government to tackle the staffing shortage in local planning authorities. |
Spending Review ‘make or break’ for 1.5m housing target
05/06/2025 A select committee chair has written to the Chancellor warning of the impact of departmental budget cuts on Government plans to deliver 1.5 million houses. |
Hillingdon considers asylum seeker funding legal action
30/05/2025 Hillingdon Council is considering legal action against the Government after the Home Office refused to provide extra funding to house asylum seekers. |
Housing ombudsman raises alarm over 474% surge in repair complaints
29/05/2025 The housing ombudsman has warned that anger at poor housing conditions could result in unrest as his office reveals a dramatic increase in repair complaints. |
Is immigration making the UK an ‘island of strangers’?
28/05/2025 LocalGov editor William Eichler spoke to Belong CEO Kelly Fowler to discuss immigration, social cohesion, and whether the UK was an ‘island of strangers’. |
John Lewis wins approval for plan to build 430 homes
28/05/2025 The John Lewis Partnership’s largest build-to-rent project has been given the go ahead in West London despite objections from the local council. |
Government proposes easing environmental protections to boost housing
28/05/2025 The Government has announced a raft of reforms aimed at easing planning regulations and environmental protections to support smaller housebuilders in England. |
New housebuilding rules to offset ‘years of inaction’
23/05/2025 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner tells housebuilders to ‘get on and build’ as the Government introduces delivery timeframes for developers. |
Hackney warned of ‘positivity prism’ danger
22/05/2025 The Housing Ombudsman has criticised Hackney Council for missing multiple opportunities to improve its housing service and warned of a ‘positivity prism’. |
West of England advances local regeneration projects
21/05/2025 Homes England and West of England Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA) have signed a new partnership to support the delivery of housing and regeneration projects. |
Plans to deliver new towns could cost £48bn
20/05/2025 Government plans to build up to 12 new towns in England could cost £48bn, a new study estimates. |
Council told to apologise to homeless abuse survivor
15/05/2025 The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has asked Halton Borough Council to apologise and pay monthly reparations to a homeless domestic abuse survivor they failed to help. |
Councils urged to ringfence housing for women prison leavers
15/05/2025 Local authorities should ringfence a proportion of their supported housing units for women released from prison, a new report says. |
London boroughs face £264m council housing cuts
15/05/2025 London boroughs will need to reduce spending on social housing by £264m over three years to avoid the collapse of their council housing finances, report warns. |
Local government pension scheme could fund affordable housing
14/05/2025 The £392bn local government pension scheme should be harnessed to address the UK’s underinvestment in affordable and social housing, think tank says. |
Skyrocketing Right to Buy applications threaten social housing projects
13/05/2025 A recent rise in Right to Buy (RTB) applications is putting pressure on councils attempting to deliver affordable social housing, the LGA warns. |
Flood victims missing out on support
13/05/2025 Thousands of flood victims are not receiving essential Government support to help protect their homes against future storms, new research reveals. |
Mayor of London unveils ‘ambitious’ green belt plans
09/05/2025 Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced plans to build tens of thousands of new homes on green belt land despite his previous opposition to green belt developments |
Cost of asylum accommodation jumps to £15bn
08/05/2025 The cost of providing asylum accommodation between 2019 and 2029 is expected to triple to £15.3bn. |
Council apologises to domestic abuse victim
08/05/2025 North Kesteven District Council has issued an apology after failing to promptly install vital security measures in the home of a domestic abuse victim. |
VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
08/05/2025 As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant. |
Government launches support network to help local veterans
06/05/2025 Local authority leaders have welcomed a new system designed to make it easier for veterans to access care and support but cautioned against the duplication of services. |
Record number of children in temporary accommodation
30/04/2025 A record 165,510 children are now homeless and living in temporary accommodation, according to the latest homelessness figures. |
Climate change due to wreak havoc on properties
30/04/2025 More than six million properties in England are in areas that are at risk of flooding, the Climate Change Committee has warned. |
200k children risk being trapped in temporary accommodation
29/04/2025 Over 200,000 children could be in temporary accommodation by the end of this Parliament if more isn’t done to build social housing, homelessness charity warns. |
