Sampling COVID’s impact on Surrey
Michael Coughlin describes how Surrey CC is developing a ‘rich and granular’ understanding of how its residents, communities and the local economy are being impacted by the pandemic.
Councils warned not to adopt allocations criteria that disadvantage domestic abuse victims
14/01/2021 The ombudsman has reminded councils to consider the exceptional circumstances of people fleeing domestic abuse when assessing their housing needs. |
Nearly 130,000 children in temporary accommodation during lockdown
13/01/2021 Around 450 primary schools’ worth of homeless children are spending lockdown in temporary accommodation amid a chronic shortage of affordable housing, council chiefs have warned. |
Report finds data problems in Brownfield Land Registers
12/01/2021 More than 348,000 homes could be built on unregistered brownfield land, an investigation has revealed. |
Ban on evictions extended in Scotland
08/01/2021 The temporary ban on evictions orders has been extended until the end of March in Scotland. |
Government urged to bring back Everyone In programme
07/01/2021 The Government has been urged to ensure all rough sleepers are housed during the third national lockdown. |
Council housing waiting lists could double due to COVID-19
22/12/2020 Local authority housing waiting lists could nearly double as a result of COVID-19, council chiefs have warned. |
West Midlands Combined Authority wins £51m to transform brownfield sites
21/12/2020 The West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) has won £51m to transform derelict industrial sites into new communities. |
Charity warns a quarter of a million people trapped in temporary accommodation
17/12/2020 Over a quarter of a million people in England have been living in temporary accommodation throughout the pandemic, a homelessness charity has warned today. |
Jenrick announces revised plan for housing algorithum
16/12/2020 The Government has announced a raft of new measures in an attempt to provide much-needed homes in urban areas and on brownfield sites. |
Local authorities need greater clarity and commitment from government to make our homes greener
16/12/2020 Mike Thornton argues local authorities cannot be successful in reducing carbon emissions in their areas without the backing of a clear national policy framework. |
Developers yet to apply for planning permission for over a million homes, councils find
11/12/2020 Developers have failed to seek planning permission for more than a million homes on land earmarked for development by councils, according to new research. |
London council rejects ‘cruel’ new immigration rules
10/12/2020 Lewisham Council has hit out at ‘draconian’ new immigration rules that make sleeping rough a legal ground to cancel or refuse permission to stay in the UK. |
MPs savage abandoned £192m housing scheme
08/12/2020 A £192m affordable housing programme that failed to deliver any homes has been labelled ‘deplorable’ by the Public Accounts Committee. |
Ex-service personnel face ‘significant housing difficulties’
08/12/2020 Some ex-service personnel still face housing difficulties despite a decade of improvements when it comes to housing outcomes for people leaving the armed forces. |
Council leader slams plans for asylum seeker site in village
08/12/2020 The leader of Test Valley Borough Council has started a petition calling on the Government to rethink plans to house 500 asylum seekers on the edge of Barton Stacey village. |
Multi-million funding boost to Disabled Facilities Grant
04/12/2020 Councils will be given an extra £68m to help thousands of disabled people make adaptations to their homes. |
London boroughs accused of ‘optimism bias’ on housing targets
04/12/2020 London could face a 86,000 shortfall of new homes over the next decade due to 'over optimistic projections', new research has argued. |
Future affordable housing must deliver big on space
25/11/2020 Local authorities are under pressure to deliver more affordable housing but while the focus is largely on quantity, this shouldn’t come at the expense of quality, writes Jonathan Pearson. |
Councils have 'serious concerns' over protecting rough sleepers this winter
24/11/2020 Some councils will face the 'difficult choice' of leaving people to sleep rough or placing them in unsafe accommodation this winter, a new report has warned. |
Ombudsman tells council to review its housing allocations policy
19/11/2020 East Lindsay District Council agreed to review its housing allocations policy to ensure it meets its equality duties following investigation by the Ombudsman. |
Charity calls for new standards for accessible housing
18/11/2020 A charity for elderly people is calling for national building standards to be raised to be ‘accessible and adaptable’ as a minimum baseline as a new survey reveals there is a shortage of accessible housing. |
PM publishes ten point plan for 'green industrial revolution'
18/11/2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson has published his ten point plan for creating a 'green industrial revolution' for 250,000 new jobs. |
Social housing tenants get stronger voice under new reforms
17/11/2020 Social housing tenants will be able to complain more effectively under new measures published by the Government. |
Council housing waiting lists set to double next year, report warns
16/11/2020 Council housing waiting lists are set to double to two million households next year due to the impact of the pandemic, a new report has warned. |
Councils invited to bid for £20,000 to tackle pandemic-related housing issues
12/11/2020 Local authorities have been invited to bid for extra support to help them tackle the impact of COVID-19 on the housing crisis. |
Planning reforms could be a ‘set-back’ for affordable homes, survey warns
11/11/2020 The majority of social landlords (85%) have warned the Government’s planning reforms will lead to less social and affordable housing, according to the results of a new survey. |
Council housing 'revolution' would create a quarter of a million new jobs, says report
06/11/2020 A 'radical' new approach to council housing would create 250,000 jobs and end the housing crisis, the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has argued. |
Thousands of social homes to be decarbonised in Wales
06/11/2020 The Welsh Government has committed £10m to upgrade the energy efficiency of at least 1,000 existing social homes. |
How dementia care villages could support urban regeneration
05/11/2020 Can care providers and local authorities come together to revitalise run-down communities and create a more sustainable and caring future, ask Ian Holme and Simon Lewington. |
Crisis call for return of Everyone In
04/11/2020 The chief executive of homelessness charity Crisis has called for ring-fenced funding for councils to provide COVID-safe accommodation for anyone at risk of rough sleeping. |
Homes England funding rule undermines ‘levelling-up agenda’
02/11/2020 A disproportionate amount of Government funding for housing is being given to the UK’s most affluent areas, a property consultancy firm has calculated. |
Councils urged to approve more self-build homes
30/10/2020 Councils should grant enough planning permission to meet local demand for self-build, the Government has said today. |
Funding allocated for thousands of new homes for rough sleepers
29/10/2020 More than 3,300 new long-term homes for rough sleepers will be delivered by the end of March 2021, the Government has pledged. |
Rural homelessness doubles in past two years, campaigners warn
28/10/2020 Homelessness in rural areas has more than doubled since 2018, new research from campaigners has warned. |
Charity blasts cost of 'shoddy and expensive' temporary accommodation
23/10/2020 Councils in England spent £1.2bn on providing temporary accommodation for homeless households in 2019/20, figures have revealed. |
London council fines two rogue landlords £110,500
22/10/2020 Islington Council has fined two landlords £110,500 for providing dangerous and sub-standard housing. |
Housing-with-care is 'critically low', report warns
22/10/2020 The UK has an ‘acute’ lack of housing-with-care for older people, a report has warned. |
Capacity for 1.3 million homes on brownfield land, campaigners reveal
21/10/2020 There is enough brownfield land to deliver 1.3 million new homes, new analysis has revealed. |
Government launches £3m supported housing pilot
20/10/2020 The Government has announced that £3m will go to fund pilots in five areas aimed at improving the quality, enforcement, oversight and value for money in supported housing. |
Keep all options on the table to decarbonise heat
20/10/2020 Daniel Burton argues that councils will need to consider the latest technology-driven solutions to deliver low-carbon heating at scale. |
Calls to invest £900m in ‘transitional supported housing’
15/10/2020 The Government has been urged to invest £900m to ensure the UK’s most ‘invisible’ vulnerable people have access to supported housing by a think tank. |
Housebuilders call to raise threshold for affordable homes
15/10/2020 Raising the affordable homes threshold would help boost smaller developments, the National Federation of Builders (NFB) has argued. |
Council set to take housing services back in-house
15/10/2020 Kirklees Council is set to approve plans to bring the management and maintenance of its housing stock back in-house next week. |
Sector calls for new task force on housing with care
15/10/2020 The retirement community sector has united to urge the Government to set up a task force on housing with care in order to ‘level up’ for older people. |
Councils secure £10m to help homeless people this winter
13/10/2020 Councils will receive a new £10m Cold Weather Fund to help rough sleepers stay safe this winter. |
The impacts of planning reform on employment land
08/10/2020 Where will the recent and proposed reforms to the planning system take us? Stuart Hardisty reports. |
Warning that homeless people will die this winter without action
08/10/2020 The Government has been urged to provide self contained accommodation for homeless people this winter to protect them from coronavirus by charities and health bodies. |
Planning reforms risk delivery of affordable homes, council chiefs warn
07/10/2020 Communities could have missed out on 30,000 affordable homes in the past five years if proposed Government planning reforms were in place, local leaders warn. |
Social home shortage fuelling housing crisis, charity warns
06/10/2020 A ‘disastrous’ lack of social homes has caused a housing emergency in England, a charity has warned today. |
Kent councils take back control of housing stock
05/10/2020 Four councils in East Kent have taken back control of housing management services. |
Black people three times more likely to experience homelessness, figures reveal
02/10/2020 Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) groups are being disproportionately impacted by homelessness, new figures have revealed. |
Jenrick: Permitted Development Right homes must meet space standards
01/10/2020 All new homes in England delivered through any Permitted Development Right (PDR) must meet space standards, the housing secretary Robert Jenrick yesterday announced. |
The pressure of procurement
30/09/2020 Local authorities may be missing out on the chance to extract maximum value for their new-build housing projects, according to Tim Young. |
Local authorities can build back better with housing association joint ventures
28/09/2020 Olwen Brown outlines the five factors that support the long-term success of joint ventures. |
Tens of thousands of homes built after ‘bypassing’ planning system
23/09/2020 The Government’s approach to regulating the quality of new homes is ‘broken’, campaigners say as a new study argues that tens of thousands of homes have legally avoided the planning system. |
Calls for £1.3bn fund to buy-up private housing for social rent
23/09/2020 A £1.3bn National Housing Conversion Fund would create 42,500 new affordable homes and 9,300 new jobs, according to a new report. |
Cold and damp homes putting millions more at risk of COVID-19, report warns
22/09/2020 Millions of people living in cold and damp homes could be more at risk of contracting coronavirus this winter, a new report has warned. |
Study promotes ‘systemic change’ within the private rented sector
22/09/2020 A new study outlining measures that can be adopted to make the private rented sector (PRS) more secure for people from a diverse range of backgrounds has been launched. |
Modular housing a 'game-changer' for housing and jobs, experts claim
22/09/2020 Modular housing is a ‘game changer’ and could deliver 75,000 homes a year, a report from experts has claimed. |
Labour calls for extension of evictions ban to ‘avoid homelessness crisis’
18/09/2020 The Labour Party have called on the Government to extend the evictions ban due to end on Sunday to avoid a homelessness crisis this winter. |
Manchester CC launches consultation on 270 home regeneration proposal
18/09/2020 Manchester City Council has launched a consultation on a regeneration plan that will see 270 new homes built in Collyhurst. |
Councils warn of 'housebuilding fiasco'
15/09/2020 New government housing targets will lead to a north-south divide in England, the Local Government Association (LGA) has warned. |
Council announces ‘innovative’ nitrate neutral development scheme
14/09/2020 Havant Borough Council has become the first local authority to enable nitrate neutral regeneration and redevelopment. |
Renters facing eviction given a 'Christmas truce'
11/09/2020 The Government has announced a 'winter truce' on the enforcement of evictions over the Christmas period. |
Calls to ban unregulated accommodation for under 18s in care
10/09/2020 Councils should be banned from placing vulnerable children in unregulated accommodation such as hostels or caravans, the Children’s Commissioner has said today. |
Council apologises for leaving disabled dad in ‘mouse-infested’ house
10/09/2020 A London council has apologised after leaving a disabled dad and his family in mouldy, mouse-infested temporary accommodation for three years. |
Funding boost to unlock surplus land for housing
10/09/2020 The Government has announced a £30m fund to help release surplus public sector land for new housing. |
Manchester council to consider extending selective licensing schemes
09/09/2020 Manchester City Council’s executive will be asked to approve a consultation on extending selective licensing schemes to up to 12 new locations in the city which cover around 2,500 homes. |
Government commits extra investment to house prison leavers
08/09/2020 The Government has pledged that an extra 1,700 prison leavers will receive closer supervision under plans to extend the number of places in approved premises. |
Council chiefs welcome £12bn affordable housing fund
08/09/2020 Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s affordable housing funding announcement, but called for more powers to deliver social homes in their local areas. |
Housing Ombudsman names six councils with highest number of maladministration findings
07/09/2020 A new report from the housing Ombudsman has found that maladministration in the handling of complaints by landlords is the area of ‘most consistent concern’. |
Four in ten homes granted planning permission go unbuilt, research shows
04/09/2020 The backlog of unbuilt homes that have been granted planning permission has grown by 100,00 in the last year, new research has revealed. |
London council criticised for housing man in Birmingham costing him a job
27/08/2020 Merton Council has been criticised for housing a man from London in Birmingham, forcing him to give up his second job. |
Derby council joins campaign for ‘once-in-a-generation’ investment in social housing
25/08/2020 Derby City Council and Derby Homes have joined a national campaign to make social housing a Government priority in the coronavirus recovery. |
Local authority pension fund invests £150m in rental housing
25/08/2020 An investment manager for local authority pension funds has invested £150m in private rental housing provider Get Living. |
‘Some way to go’ to ensure ex-service personnel have access to housing, trust says
25/08/2020 Trust dedicated to ensuring ex-service personnel can re-enter society has published proposals aimed at providing service leavers with affordable housing. |
Evictions ban extended
21/08/2020 The Government has extended the ban on evictions of renters for a further month following lobbying by councils. |
Councils warn of ‘avalanche of evictions’
21/08/2020 The local government sector is braced for a deluge of homelessness following the end of the evictions ban. |
Women and single parents ‘most negatively impacted’ by COVID-19
20/08/2020 Women and single parents are likely to be most negatively impacted by COVID-19 and the pressures it is putting on social housing, according to researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA). |
Welsh government announces £50m package to tackle homelessness
11/08/2020 The Welsh government has announced the onset of phase two of a package aimed at providing people with safe and secure homes. |
Funding boost for neighbourhood planning groups
10/08/2020 Grants to neighbourhood planning groups in urban and deprived areas has nearly doubled, the Government has announced. |
A modular solution to the housing crisis
10/08/2020 Richard Hyams says modular construction is the untapped answer to providing shelter to Britain’s homeless. |
Reforms to fast-track local plans
06/08/2020 Councils will face sanctions unless they draw-up local plans within 30 months under government proposals to overhaul the planning system. |
Winners of £900m for shovel ready schemes are announced
04/08/2020 Ministers have announced the 300 schemes that will receive a share of the £900m Getting Building Fund and confirmed £360m for mayoral combined authorities to fund homes on brownfield land. |
Following Orders: five actions necessary for DCOs
29/07/2020 Matthew Spry and Nicki Mableson argue that approving large housing schemes under a Development Consent Order will need clear guidance. |
Hampshire councils sign £1.2bn joint venture for new garden community
29/07/2020 A public-private partnership to deliver 3,500 homes in Hampshire's new garden community has been agreed. |
MPs call for 90,000 new social homes every year
27/07/2020 An extra £10bn in grant funding is required to deliver the number of social homes needed to meet demand, MPs have said today. |
New design toolkit to create 'healthy housing'
24/07/2020 New design guidance to ensure housing developments create healthier communities has been launched. |
Turn high street shops into new homes, urges report
22/07/2020 The Government should stop trying to slow the ‘inevitable’ decline of the high street and instead embrace new ways of saving urban centres, a new paper has argued. |
London boroughs face £23m rent arrears due to Universal Credit
22/07/2020 The rollout of Universal Credit is leading to thousands of council tenants falling behind on rent payments, new research commissioned by London Councils has found. |
Jenrick unveils extra funding to help house vulnerable people
20/07/2020 Councils are being encouraged to apply for the government’s £266m fund to help vulnerable people move into long-term accommodation. |
Will ‘Build Build Build’ help construct council housing?
20/07/2020 Will ' Project Speed' helps councils to build more housing? Paul Butterworth reports. |
Running on empty
17/07/2020 Mark Robinson discusses the widening gap in public sector funding and the implications for the sector’s built environment partners. |
Commission warns 500,000 affordable homes at risk of being lost
16/07/2020 The affordable housing gap could widen by 500,000 over the next five years without urgent action, a report has warned today. |
Selling off government car parks could deliver 110,000 new homes, study finds
15/07/2020 Public sector owned car parks have the potential to deliver more than 110,000 new homes while maintaining parking services, a new study has revealed. |
Mistakes on homelessness are making matters worse, says Ombudsman
15/07/2020 Problems with the way councils are meeting their housing duties are making things worse for homeless people, the Ombudsman found. |
Planning system is failing housing for the elderly, report finds
14/07/2020 The vast majority of housing-with-care planning applications are speculative, new research has revealed. |
Council to bring housing management back in-house
10/07/2020 Islington Council is set to bring the management of homes back in-house once its current Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contract comes to an end. |
It’s time to get building
10/07/2020 Arshad Bhatti explains how airspace can help hit affordable housing targets. |
Sunak outlines £3bn green investment package
08/07/2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced £1bn will be made available to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings, including schools and hospitals. |
This issue of Public Property examines how how flexible workspaces can lead the way in regeneration for local authorities, Why local authority intervention is key to successful urban regeneration schemes and if the Government’s challenge of embracing beauty is an opportunity for communities.
The March issue also takes a closer look at Blackburn with Darwen Council's first digital health hub to help people gain control over health and care services.
