Are enough local governments acting on climate emergency declarations?
Hannah Callingham says councils must start to develop and deliver climate change strategies in order to meet declarations.
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. |
Councils have supported 90% of rough sleepers during pandemic
04/05/2020 Councils have offered accommodation to 90% of known rough sleepers to keep them safe during the pandemic, the Government has confirmed. |
Social landlords asked to only allow essential home moves
28/04/2020 Social housing landlords have been asked to pause any non-urgent house moves to help limit the spread of coronavirus. |
Councils call for more time to spend Right to Buy cash
28/04/2020 Council leaders have called for more time to spend money from Right to Buy sales, as most housebuilding has been halted in the wake of coronavirus. |
Council-owned housing companies increase housing targets in past year
28/04/2020 The lifting of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) cap has helped council-owned housing companies increase their new-build housing targets by 70% in the past year, a new survey has revealed. |
Research shows ‘boom’ in build-to-rent homes
23/04/2020 The number of build-to-rent homes has increased by 12% in the past year, new research has revealed. |
Birmingham signs major development deal
23/04/2020 A new deal to unlock up to 1,000 new homes has been agreed between Birmingham City Council and Homes England. |
Social landlords issued with new domestic abuse guidance
16/04/2020 New guidance to help social landlords protect tenants from domestic violence during the coronavirus pandemic has been published. |
Millions of renters expect to lose their job in next three months
16/04/2020 One in five private renters in England expect to lose their job in the next three months due to the coronavirus crisis, new research has revealed. |
Think tank calls for benefit cap to be suspended to protect renters
09/04/2020 Social housing tenants are the most likely to be affected by the current economic crisis, a new report has found today. |
Government announces ‘biggest changes to building safety in a generation’
03/04/2020 The Government has announced steps to further reform building safety, including mandatory sprinkler systems and consistent wayfinding signage in all new high-rise blocks over 11 metres tall. |
Gateshead to look at bring housing back in-house
30/03/2020 Gateshead MBC is to formally consult on proposals to bring its housing services back in-house. |
Renters protected from eviction during coronavirus crisis
27/03/2020 Charities have welcomed moves to protect tenants from all ongoing housing evictions. |
Charity says it ‘defies belief’ that renters evicted during a pandemic
24/03/2020 Shelter has warned that legislation to suspend new eviction cases during the coronavirus pandemic does not go far enough as 20,000 evictions set to go ahead. |
Council chiefs say new Fire Safety Bill ‘step in the right direction’
20/03/2020 Building owners and managers of high-rise and multi-occupied buildings are to be held to account for the safety of their residents thanks to new legislation. |
Tenants protected from eviction during coronavirus outbreak
19/03/2020 Council leaders have welcomed measures to protect renters from being evicted due to the coronavirus crisis. |
Council chiefs welcome drive to ensure new homes come with gigabit-speed broadband
17/03/2020 Local authority leaders have welcomed an announcement that the Government will legislate to make sure new-build homes come with gigabit-speed broadband. |
Tory MPs call for more funding for services to prevent rough sleeping
16/03/2020 A group of 10 Conservative MPs have called for a move from a policy of ‘housing first’ to one of ‘prevention first’ that would see more funding go to services aimed at preventing homelessness. |
Jenrick 'deeply disappointed' in housing delivery under Khan
13/03/2020 The number of homes being delivered in the capital under Sadiq Khan has been ‘deeply disappointing’, according to secretary of state for housing Robert Jenrick. |
Jenrick outlines new proposals to reform planning process
12/03/2020 Developers will be able to demolish vacant buildings and turn them into new homes more quickly, under new proposals published today. |
Budget 2020: £1bn Building Safety Fund to remove unsafe cladding
11/03/2020 A new £1bn fund to remove unsafe cladding from high-rise buildings has been unveiled today by the chancellor. |
Lack of housing stopping councils from helping homeless people, charity warns
10/03/2020 A lack of affordable housing is forcing local authorities to leave people homeless, a homelessness charity has warned. |
Next mayor should ‘step up’ fight against rogue landlords, group says
09/03/2020 Half of London’s boroughs did not fine any landlords for letting out unsafe homes in the past year, new research reveals. |
Inquiry into housing tenure and unemployment launched
09/03/2020 A new parliamentary inquiry launched today to tackle the employment and earnings gap that exists between working age social housing tenants and other tenures. |
Over £30bn annual investment needed to reach net zero by 2050
09/03/2020 An estimated £33bn of investment is needed every year for the next three decades if the Government is to meet its carbon emissions target of net zero by 2050. |
Council chiefs call for freedom to cut carbon emissions from housebuilding
06/03/2020 Council leaders and mayors from across the political spectrum are calling on the Government to abandon proposed restrictions on their ability to cut carbon emissions from housebuilding. |
Two million over-55s in ‘dangerous’ homes
05/03/2020 Over two million over-55s are living in a home that endangers their health and wellbeing, an alarming new report has revealed. |
Jenrick orders council to go ahead with 28,500 homes despite local objections
05/03/2020 An Oxfordshire council has said it is ‘disappointed’ by the Government’s decision to order the local authority to build thousands of new homes. |
Council chiefs worry £5bn Right to Buy discounts ‘threaten’ scheme
04/03/2020 Local authority leaders have warned that billions of pounds of centrally determined national discounts are threatening the future of Right to Buy (RtB). |
A pathway to low carbon heat
03/03/2020 Ian Rose explains why decarbonising home heating offers financial opportunity to registered social landlords. |
Housing benefit reform a ‘false economy’
27/02/2020 Councils have been left carrying the financial burden of reforms to housing benefit, new research has revealed today. |
Study reveals eight-year ‘time lag’ in delivery of large housing sites
26/02/2020 Large housing sites of 2,000-or-more take on average eight years to deliver their first home from submitting the initial planning application, study reveals. |
High-rise residents warn worries over fire safety causing mental distress
24/02/2020 A survey of residents living in high-rise buildings in Manchester has found fire safety risks are damaging their mental health and wellbeing. |
70,000 homes ‘at risk’ of having no flood insurance
21/02/2020 A think tank has warned that there are around 70,000 homes that are at risk of having no flood insurance because they are built in high-risk flooding zones. |
New pilot to turn existing social homes into net-zero properties
20/02/2020 A pilot to turn existing council homes into net-zero energy properties is being trialled by Exeter City Council. |
North disproportionately hit by housing cutbacks - research
19/02/2020 Increased funding and investment in planning skills are required to reverse disproportionate cuts to councils in the north of England, according to research published today. |
Housing overcrowding in London at ‘40-year high’
19/02/2020 Overcrowding in housing in parts of London and the South East of England is worse now than at any other period over the last four decades, research reveals. |
Councils demand extra planning powers
19/02/2020 Councils have called on the Government to use its White Paper to give them powers to take action on unbuilt land that has planning permission. |
Legal & General commits £100m pension money for affordable housing
19/02/2020 Insurance giant Legal & General has provided £100m of long term debt financing to its affordable housing business. |
Selling public land has created ‘minuscule’ amount of affordable housing, think tank says
18/02/2020 The Government has sold enough public land for developers to build 131,000 homes, but only 2.6% of those homes will be for social rent, think tank reveals. |
Affordable housing in Wales to receive a £24m ‘boost’
18/02/2020 The Welsh government has announced that £24m is to be invested into building more affordable homes in Wales. |
Council gets ‘green light’ to set up trading company
18/02/2020 Plans to set up a new council-run trading company to manage 79 new homes in Kingston have been given the go ahead. |
Extending support for refugees could save millions, research finds
18/02/2020 Helping new refugees for longer could help save the public purse millions of pounds every year, new research has revealed today. |
Cambridgeshire's new modular neighbourhood gets the green light
14/02/2020 Plans to build a new Fenland village and take forward the second phase of a new town in Cambridgeshire have been approved. |
Calls to close down Harlow’s office blocks ‘ghettos’
14/02/2020 Converted office blocks that are being used to house vulnerable homeless people should be closed down, the MP for Harlow has said. |
Council chiefs cautious about plans to offer 30% discount on new homes
07/02/2020 Local authorities have urged the Government to ensure that the proposed First Homes scheme does not come at the expense of providing ‘affordable’ homes for rent. |
End housing allowance freeze to help 100,000 people, council chiefs say
05/02/2020 More than 100,000 people would be protected from financial hardship if Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were lifted to cover the cost of renting, local authority leaders say. |
Combined authority re-defines ‘affordable housing’
04/02/2020 The West Midlands has become the first region to re-define ‘affordable housing’. |
Temporary accommodation industry worth £1.1bn
04/02/2020 An investigation has revealed that councils are spending £1.1bn on temporary accommodation every year, with 86% going to private landlords or companies. |
The self-delivery of private housing
03/02/2020 Sophie Davies says councils have the tools to take private and affordable housing delivery to the next level. |
Councils to fast track 'beautiful buildings'
30/01/2020 Councils will be encouraged to speed up the planning process for ‘beautiful buildings’ through a new ‘Fast Track for Beauty’ rule. |
Seven out of 10 councils overspend on homelessness
28/01/2020 Seven out of 10 English councils overspent their homelessness budgets in 2018/19 by a combined total of nearly £115m, Local Government Association (LGA) analysis has found. |
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.
