VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
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.
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. |
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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. |
Council chiefs call for solar panels on new builds
28/04/2025 All new homes should have solar panels installed to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs for households, council leaders say. |
Call for caution over land value capture reform
24/04/2025 Experts have urged against wholesale reform of developer contributions, despite the flaws within the current system. |
London boroughs issue bankruptcy warning over £330m overspend
23/04/2025 Town halls may soon be forced into effectively declaring bankruptcy if more is not done to tackle the £330m homelessness overspend, London Councils warns. |
Social workers warn of rising risk of unsafe housing
23/04/2025 Over 21% of social workers have had to remove a child from their family in the last three years due in part to unsafe housing conditions, new research reveals. |
Leeds battles Right to Buy housing crisis
23/04/2025 Efforts to deliver affordable housing in Leeds have been undermined by Right to Buy, the city council has warned. |
Horsham challenges local plan decision
23/04/2025 Horsham District Council has complained to the planning inspectorate after its local plan was rejected. |
Council rejects accusation it acted illegally in homeless mother case
22/04/2025 A London borough maintains that it has acted legally after the local government ombudsman accused it of refusing to find temporary housing for a pregnant woman. |
Council to sell unsafe properties purchased after Grenfell fire
22/04/2025 The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is aiming to sell off 14 properties that it purchased to house survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire. |
Craig David backs call for 90,000 social homes
17/04/2025 Music icon Craig David has backed a call for tens of thousands of new social homes a year over the next decade. |
Minister blocks Oldham exit from development plan
10/04/2025 Oldham MBC's attempt to exit an agreement that could see the development of 11,500 new homes has been stymied by the Government. |
Councils spend £40m fighting ‘ratflation’
09/04/2025 Local authority pest control services made nearly 300,000 visits to people’s homes to deal with pest infestations last year at a cost of £40m. |
Social housing wait over a hundred years in some areas
09/04/2025 The Government has been urged to tackle the worsening housing crisis as new research reveals a century-long wait for social housing in parts of England. |
Stepping up to help disabled social housing tenants
07/04/2025 The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government is calling for social housing providers to train staff in disability issues to help impaired tenants. |
Temporary accommodation crisis ‘utterly shameful’, MPs say
03/04/2025 Council chiefs have urged the Government to increase the temporary accommodation subsidy as MPs warn homeless children are living in ‘appalling conditions’. |
Whitehall dismisses Homes England cull reports
02/04/2025 Reports the Government plans to abolish Homes England as part of a cull of quangos have been dismissed by Whitehall. |
Minister: No compromise on building safety amid housing target pressure
01/04/2025 Building safety will not be compromised as the Government tries to meet its 1.5m new homes target, minister Alex Norris has insisted. |
Council issues £45k in housing fines
01/04/2025 Salford City Council has issued £45,000 of fines to landlords in an effort to improve local housing conditions. |
Local planning authorities working to out-of-date plans
01/04/2025 Two-thirds of local planning authorities (LPAs) outside of London are working to out-of-date research plans, new analysis has revealed. |
Homelessness 'fastest growing financial risk' for London boroughs
28/03/2025 MPs have called for action to help local authorities in London tackle the rising costs of providing homelessness support. |
LGA launches new empty homes toolkit
28/03/2025 Councils can now access more support to help them tackle long-term empty homes thanks to a new toolkit from the Local Government Association (LGA). |
Godstone sinkhole residents able to return home
27/03/2025 Most of the residents of a Surrey village affected by a huge sinkhole are now able to return to their homes, the council has confirmed. |
A national asbestos record could prove positive for councils
26/03/2025 With momentum for a national record of asbestos in public buildings, Nicola Dawn, a Partner at Forbes Solicitors, looks at how this could benefit councils. |
Cladding safety tax delayed one year
26/03/2025 A tax to fund the removal of unsafe cladding from homes has been delayed one year over fears it might undermine the Government's housebuilding plans. |
Newport to set up company for property maintenance
26/03/2025 Newport CC is planning to set up an arm's-length trading company to take over the maintenance of its properties. |
Affordable housing gets £2bn funding boost
25/03/2025 The Government has announced £2bn in funding aimed at delivering up to 18,000 new social and affordable homes. |
Government ‘complacent’ over cladding capacity issue
20/03/2025 The Government ‘appears complacent’ about the fact there is insufficient capacity across local government to address the dangerous cladding crisis, MPs warn. |
Overstretched finances threaten 1.5m housebuilding target
20/03/2025 The pressure on social housing finances at the local level could undermine the Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million houses this parliament, LGA warns. |
Ministers in urgent plea for council help with Afghan refugees
11/03/2025 Councils have been urged to support an Afghan resettlement programme under which regions will be handed an allocation from the 6,000-7,000 annual arrivals. |
CCN: Planning legislation would ‘dilute’ local oversight
11/03/2025 Legislation aimed at speeding up planning decisions would ‘dilute’ the role of councillors on planning committees, warns the County Council Network (CCN). |
Vent-Axia Publishes Free eBook to Help Social Housing Landlords Navigate Awaab’s Law
05/03/2025 Leading British ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia has published a free eBook ‘Ensuring Safe Housing Conditions: Focusing on Mould and Damp Conditions’. |
Hull CC urges residents to report empty homes
05/03/2025 Hull City Council has urged residents to report empty homes as part of the effort to tackle the ‘unprecedented housing shortage.’ |
Wealth fund backs social housing retrofit loans
03/03/2025 The National Wealth Fund (NWF) has announced plans to guarantee £250m of loans to housing associations to support the retrofitting of social housing. |
Planning breaches uncovered at £6m mansion
03/03/2025 North Norfolk DC has launched an investigation after it was alleged the owners of a £6m house had built a pool and tennis court without planning permission. |
Is enough being done to meet the 1.5m housing target?
28/02/2025 Jonathan Pearson, director of Residentially, asks if the Government is doing enough to meet its 1.5 million new homes target. |
Number of rough sleepers up by a fifth
28/02/2025 The number of people rough sleeping in England has increased by a fifth in a year, according to new government figures. |
Rayner: Grenfell inquiry must be ‘catalyst’ for systemic change
26/02/2025 The Government is committed to ‘stronger regulation’ to improve building safety, says Rayner while setting out the response to the Grenfell inquiry. |
Extra £30m to combat homelessness
26/02/2025 An additional £30m in emergency funding has been allocated to councils in England to help prevent evictions and support rough sleepers. |
Unlock Awaab’s Law compliance with audits
25/02/2025 Validate cleaning performance to ensure healthier living conditions, advises MSL Solution Providers. |
Leicester to build 53 council homes on derelict school site
24/02/2025 Work is set to begin on the construction of 53 council homes at a derelict school site in Leicester. |
Investigations into Godstone sinkhole delayed
24/02/2025 Authorities have delayed investigations into the cause of a huge sinkhole in a Surrey village, citing safety concerns. |
Average wait for council housing nearly at three years
18/02/2025 The average wait for council housing has almost hit the three-year mark with one London borough reporting the average wait to be over 25 years. |
Rules change proposed to boost social housing supply
18/02/2025 Changes to financial rules that could unlock funds for council investment in social housing are to be put before ministers. |
Developers leave 1.4 million homes unbuilt
14/02/2025 Councils have given planning permission for more than 1.4 million homes since 2007 that have not been built, research has found. |
Starmer: 100 new towns under consideration
13/02/2025 Proposals for new towns on more than 100 sites have been submitted as part of what the PM calls the ‘largest housebuilding programme since the post-war era.’ |
Vent-Axia Welcomes Government Setting Date for Awaab’s Law
12/02/2025 Vent-Axia has welcomed the UK Government setting a date of October 2025 for Awaab’s Law to be introduced across the social housing sector. |
Rayner announces £350m affordable housing boost
12/02/2025 An extra £350m will be invested to boost the number of affordable homes and more will be done to stop rogue landlords getting benefits, the deputy PM says. |
Spending Review chance to end ‘permacrisis’
11/02/2025 The Spending Review is a chance to end the ‘permacrisis’ that has left a growing number of local authorities on the brink of bankruptcy, London Councils says. |
Housing plan on MoD site scrapped due to acid grasslands
07/02/2025 Colchester City Council is set to remove a former Ministry of Defence firing range from its development plans due to the site's ‘environmental value.’ |
Combined authority plea ahead of Chagossian arrivals
05/02/2025 Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has pleaded for help from other local authorities ahead of the upcoming arrival of hundreds of Chagossians. |
Social housing waiting lists to 'top two million'
04/02/2025 The number of households on social housing waiting lists in England could top two million by 2034, property experts have forecasted. |
Croydon to use Peep Show flats for temporary housing
31/01/2025 Croydon Council is set to acquire part of Peep Show’s ‘Apollo House’, home of characters Mark and Jeremy, to house homeless people on a temporary basis. |
Council’s housing service in need of ‘significant improvement’
29/01/2025 An investigation by the social housing regulator has confirmed that ‘significant improvement is needed’ in Portsmouth City Council’s housing service. |
Vent-Axia's Embodied Carbon Calculations for Commercial Heat Recovery Aid Building Design
29/01/2025 To help with the design of low and zero-carbon buildings, ventilation manufacturer Vent-Axia has completed its embodied carbon calculations on its products. |
Major flooding incident in Somerset as residents evacuated
28/01/2025 A major incident was declared in Somerset yesterday as residents were evacuated from their homes due to flooding. |
Rising number of child deaths linked to temporary housing
28/01/2025 An estimated 80 children died in temporary accommodation in the year up to 30 September 2024, according to new research. |
Havering to house homeless people in empty Essex office block
27/01/2025 Cash-strapped Havering Council has approved plans to convert an office block outside the borough into residential units for homeless families. |
‘No desire’ to address short-term homelessness system
24/01/2025 MPs examining the homelessness crisis have warned that there is seemingly ‘no desire to move away from an unsatisfactory short-term system’. |
Tackling the ecological skills gap
21/01/2025 Catherine Spitzer, chief executive of Environment Bank, explains how private investment can help councils that are struggling to attract skilled ecologists. |
Nine in 10 council housing budgets under financial stress
20/01/2025 Local authorities have warned in a new survey that they may be unable to balance their books because of pressure on their council housing budgets. |
LGA: Councils urge further reform of Right to Buy
20/01/2025 Council chiefs have called on the Government to go further with Right to Buy (RTB) reforms and to give councils the power to adapt the scheme. |
DCN proposes three reforms to deliver 100,000 affordable homes
20/01/2025 The District Councils’ Network (DCN) has published a study today, which proposes three reforms the organisation claims could provide 100,000 affordable homes. |
‘Serious failings’ in two councils’ social housing standards
16/01/2025 The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) has identified serious failings following inspections at Newcastle and Nottingham city councils. |
500,000 tenants set to lose Right to Buy their council home, report finds
15/01/2025 The Government’s proposed clampdown on the Right to Buy (RtB) scheme will see around 500,000 tenants become ineligible to buy their council home, a new report has found. |
ADCS: Cuts have led to poor safeguarding outcomes for children
14/01/2025 The combination of poor-quality housing and the cost-of-living crisis is contributing to ‘family distress and breakdown’, safeguarding report concludes. |
‘Serious concerns’ about council’s homelessness service
10/01/2025 Brentwood Borough Council has been putting ‘unnecessary barriers’ in the way of people accessing its homelessness services, an investigation has found. |
The Temporary Accommodation Crisis: A call for urgent solutions
08/01/2025 Nathalie Meunier, sales director at offsite manufacturer Premier Modular, argues modular construction offers a solution to the temporary accommodation crisis. |
Councils’ housebuilding rests on playing to staff strengths
07/01/2025 Eman Al-Hillawi, CEO at business change consultancy Entec Si, looks at how councils could improve housebuilding progress by re-aligning their workforce. |
Airtech Improves Indoor Air Quality and Tackles Mould for Mid-Devon Social Housing Resident
06/01/2025 Airtech, a leading condensation and mould specialist, has helped a Devon social housing resident improve the indoor air quality in their home and combat mould. |
Tackle housing crisis to fix NHS and economy, ministers told
02/01/2025 The Government cannot hope to stabilise the NHS and grow the economy without tackling the crisis of poor-quality housing, a report has warned. |
Former minister Maclean among 38 new peers
23/12/2024 Former Conservative housing and planning minister Rachel Maclean is among 38 new peers who will enter the House of Lords. |
Liverpool City Council sets out plan to deliver 10,000 houses
23/12/2024 Liverpool City Council has set out plans to deliver more than 10,000 new homes in one of Britain’s most deprived areas. |
GLA developer stuggles with £300m debt
23/12/2024 Auditors have warned a developer owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) may require a rescue package. |
Councils get £1bn to tackle homelessness
18/12/2024 Local authorities in England will receive the ‘largest ever’ cash injection into homelessness services next year, the Government has announced today. |
Government changes rules to spot slow planners
17/12/2024 The speed with which councils decide planning applications will be assessed over a shorter time period by the Government. |
Mandatory housebuilding targets confirmed
12/12/2024 English councils must deliver on an ‘ambitious’ combined target of 370,000 new homes a year, the Government has confirmed. |
Ofgem praises solar scheme for social housing
10/12/2024 Council estate residents in Hackney will be able to buy discounted energy from new solar panels on their buildings from next year. |
Rayner: NIMBYs will no longer have upper hand
09/12/2024 Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has announced plans to end the influence of NIMBYs on housebuilding, vowing they will ‘no longer have the upper hand'. |
Home Office doubles time for new refugees to find home
06/12/2024 The Home Office will temporarily give new refugees more time to move on from asylum accommodation, in a move it is hoped will reduce pressure on councils’ homelessness services. |
Child was at ‘constant risk of injury’ in unsafe temporary accommodation
05/12/2024 A family with a disabled child had to live in an unsafe flat for a year and a half longer than they should have, an investigation has found. |
Child put in care after councils fail to adapt home
05/12/2024 Errors made by two councils left a child with significant and complex needs living in an unsuitable home for ‘far too long’, an ombudsman has found. |
Rayner: Housing targets are mandatory
04/12/2024 Angela Rayner has insisted that councils must meet the Government's housing targets after local authorities branded them impossible to achieve. |
Hitting Housing Targets: How much Green Belt is needed?
02/12/2024 David Churchill, a partner at Carter Jonas, asks how much Green Belt must local authorities release to meet housing targets. |
Council’s handling of housing complaints ‘defensive’
28/11/2024 A special investigation by the Housing Ombudsman has revealed a ‘defensive complaints culture’ within Camden Council’s landlord services. |
Social housing rules eased for veterans
27/11/2024 Councils in England can no longer require veterans to have a connection to the local area to qualify for social housing, the Government confirmed today. |
Brum staff call for security review
26/11/2024 Birmingham City Council staff have called for a review of security at their offices after three housing staff were injured in a ‘serious incident'. |
