Making a holistic case for devolution
Penny Rinta-Suksi argues the Government needs to make a holistic case for devolution, and back it with legislation.
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. |
Supercharging council housing programmes
07/07/2020 Cllr Jacqui Wilkinson explains why councils are a safe pair of hands for kickstarting the economy. |
Jenrick extends affordable homes scheme
06/07/2020 Councils will have a year longer to build affordable homes after construction stalled during the pandemic. |
Charity warns 230,000 renters at risk of 'Covid-eviction'
06/07/2020 Nearly a quarter of a million private renters have fallen into arrears since the pandemic started, a homelessness charity has warned today. |
Rent arrears could see homelessness treble this year, campaigners warn
01/07/2020 Homelessness could treble this year due to financial impact of coronavirus, campaigners have warned today. |
Research suggests 84,000 fewer homes will be built this year due to Covid-19
30/06/2020 More than 80,000 new homes will not be delivered this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, research has revealed today. |
Retrofit can provide a green stimulus to the UK’s regions
29/06/2020 Richard McWilliams argues that net zero objectives will only be met through a holistic approach to whole house retrofit. |
Councils to prioritise social housing for veterans
29/06/2020 Councils have been told to give priority to members of the Armed Forces and veterans who have poor mental health when allocating social housing. |
Landlords urged to factor pandemics into future business plans
29/06/2020 Landlords must factor in the threat of future pandemics into long-term business planning, according to research carried out amongst social housing leaders. |
Calls for a flexible zoning system to end housing crisis
23/06/2020 A flexible zoning system would help build more homes in the UK and end the housing crisis, a new report has argued. |
Councils call for 100,000 social homes for key worker 'heroes'
22/06/2020 A new report has called for 100,000 social homes to be built each year for health, care and other key workers. |
Whitehall extends planning permission deadlines
22/06/2020 The Government has extended planning permission deadlines to ensure hundreds of construction projects do not run out of time during the pandemic. |
Councils back evictions ban in face of landlord criticism
15/06/2020 Councils have insisted police powers can still be used to evict perpetrators of domestic violence amid the evictions ban. |
Housing sector at risk of collapse due to Covid-19, think tank warns
10/06/2020 At least 76,000 homes are at risk of not being built this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, a think tank has warned today. |
Council sets up new development company
10/06/2020 Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) has launched a new development company to help deliver new homes, create more jobs and grow the local economy across the borough. |
Local leaders join forces on home retrofit project
10/06/2020 A new project to help local and combined authorities upgrade the energy efficiency of their existing housing stock has been launched by the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC). |
Evictions suspended for a further two months
08/06/2020 Council chiefs have welcomed the ban on evictions for a further two months. |
Council gets go-ahead for local plan judicial review
05/06/2020 Sevenoaks District Council has been given permission to bring a judicial review against the government's planning inspector’s after it refused to endorse its local plan. |
Homes England agrees deals worth £300m
04/06/2020 Homes England has agreed three funding packages worth £300m to deliver 20,000 homes across the capital. |
Frontline services warn of rise in homelessness
04/06/2020 Over of half of frontline services have seen a rise in homelessness due to the coronavirus pandemic, research has revealed today. |
Downsizing crucial to tackling ‘skewed’ housing market, says report
03/06/2020 Better housing options for older people in the UK could reduce the national housing target by 50,000 a year, a new report has found. |
Council-owned housing company set for approval
02/06/2020 Manchester City Council is set to approve plans for a new housing development company to deliver at least 500 new homes every year. |
Councils locked out of plans to lift lockdown
31/05/2020 Plans to lift the lockdown for people who have been shielded were not revealed to local government before they were announced at the weekend. |
Homes England to invest £61m for 6,500 new homes in Cambridgeshire
29/05/2020 Homes England has agreed to invest £61m with developer Urban&Civic to deliver 6,500 new homes at Waterbeach in Cambridgeshire. |
Plan to build 6,000 new homes to 'end rough sleeping'
26/05/2020 The Government has pledged to provide long-term homes for those people taken off the streets during the pandemic. |
Councils 'unlikely to cope' with rise in homelessness
22/05/2020 Campaigners have warned that councils are unlikely to cope with a rise in homelessness after figures showed half of homeless households were unable to secure a home before the pandemic. |
‘Golden opportunity’ to end rough sleeping
22/05/2020 The Government has been urged to commit £100m to councils in a bid to end rough sleeping in England. |
Securing the best sites for future development
15/05/2020 Katja Stille explains why a more strategic approach is needed for site allocation. |
Jenrick launches plans to kickstart housing market
13/05/2020 Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has restarted the housing market as part of the Government’s plans to ease lockdown. |
Homes for Heroes calls for 100,000 affordable key worker homes
12/05/2020 The UK’s 15 largest housing associations have joined forces to call for 100,000 affordable new homes for key workers over the next five years. |
Labour's five-point plan to protect renters from eviction
11/05/2020 Labour has published a five-point plan to prevent renters from being evicted during the coronavirus crisis. |
CIPFA: 17 years to work through council housing waiting list
04/05/2020 It could take up to 17 years to re-house individuals and families on the waiting list for council housing, data analysis by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) has revealed. |
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.
