‘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’. |
Councils empowered to auction off leases
04/12/2024 The Government has handed councils new powers to tackle the empty shop scourge and revitalise high streets. |
Renters' Rights Bill to extend homelessness prevention duty
06/11/2024 Councils' homelessness prevention duty to evicted tenants could be extended from 56 to 147 days or more under the Renters' Rights Bill. |
Just 5% of London private rentals affordable to low-income households
17/10/2024 Only 5% of private rental listings in London are affordable to households who use Local Housing Allowance (LHA) to pay their rent, new research has found. |
Brum misses out on £165m in council tax
02/10/2024 Birmingham City Council has missed out on over £165m worth of council tax in five years, new research reveals. |
Value of rental arrears jumps 70%
02/10/2024 The value of rental arrears owed to local authorities has increased by more than 70% in the last five years, new research has revealed. |
No-fault evictions ban returns to Commons
11/09/2024 A ban on landlords evicting tenants without a valid reason is among the ‘landmark’ renting reforms to be introduced to Parliament today. |
Landlords facing increasing costs due to selective licensing
12/08/2024 Thousands of landlords in England are facing increasing costs due to selective licensing schemes imposed by local councils, new research has found. |
King’s Speech: No-fault evictions to be banned
17/07/2024 Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first King’s Speech has confirmed that so-called no-fault evictions will be banned. |
Islington identifies £1.8bn housing shortfall
05/07/2024 Islington Council is facing a deficit ‘in excess of’ £1.8bn in its housing revenue account (HRA) over the next 30 years. |
Labour-commissioned report calls for cap on rent rises
14/05/2024 Rent rises should be capped to help millions of struggling renters in England and Wales, a new report commissioned by Labour argues. |
Councils fail to collect £7m in fines from rogue landlords
14/05/2024 Less than half the fines levied against rogue landlords have been collected by local authorities, a freedom of information request has revealed. |
Four in 10 council homes sold under right to buy owned by private landlords
10/05/2024 More than four in 10 council homes sold under right to buy are now owned by private landlords, new research has revealed. |
MPs sign off indefinite delay to no-fault evictions ban
25/04/2024 The Renters (Reform) Bill, which now includes an indefinite delay to the long-awaited ban on ‘no-fault’ evictions, passed its third reading in the Commons yesterday. |
Khan pledges to build 6,000 ‘rent control’ homes
05/04/2024 London mayor Sadiq Khan will today commit to building homes with capped rents as part of his bid for re-election next month. |
Brent council set to launch landlord licensing scheme
26/03/2024 A new borough-wide landlord licensing scheme is set to launch in Brent on April 1, the council has announced. |
No-fault evictions in London rise 60%
04/03/2024 London mayor Sadiq Khan has slammed ministers ‘broken promises’ over protections for private renters amid reports that promised reforms are being watered down. |
Oxford leader slams Gove’s short-term lets plan
21/02/2024 Oxford City Council has criticised the Government’s proposals to limit short-term lets arguing that they ‘fall a long way short of what's needed’. |
Gove: Short-term lets to require planning permission
19/02/2024 Second-home owners will have to seek planning permission for future short-term lets, the Government has announced. |
New complaint handling codes launched
08/02/2024 New closely aligned codes aimed at making good complaint handling easier for local authorities have been launched. |
Two in five adults fear mounting housing pressures
24/01/2024 Two in five people who pay housing costs in England are worried that pressures will get worse this year, new research has found. |
Housing crisis forcing poorer older renters to move
22/01/2024 Older renters living on low incomes are being forced to move to more deprived areas with fewer services due to the housing crisis, new research suggests. |
Fresh call for minimum standards to protect private renters
19/01/2024 MPs have urged the Government to protect tenants from the ‘catastrophic’ impact of poor-quality homes on their health. |
Gove consults on plan for quicker housing repairs
09/01/2024 Social landlords would be required to fix hazards including damp and mould within ‘strict time limits’ under proposals set out by housing secretary Michael Gove today. |
Rental reforms at risk from cash-strapped councils
12/12/2023 Local authorities will struggle to enforce the Government’s rental reforms without a ‘significant boost to their resources,' MPs warn. |
Autumn Statement: Housing benefits unfrozen
22/11/2023 Housing benefits for private renters are set to increase as Jeremy Hunt confirms the uprating of Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in autumn statement. |
Government urged to push through ‘no fault’ evictions ban
09/11/2023 The chair of the levelling up, housing and communities (LUHC) committee has urged the Government to commit to a timetable for abolishing section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions. |
‘Stark inconsistency’ across London on Build to Rent
08/11/2023 Planning policy across London boroughs ‘could do far more’ to provide a comprehensive basis for the delivery of Built to Rent (BtR) schemes, a report has argued. |
Councils respond to King’s Speech
08/11/2023 The Local Government Association (LGA) has responded to proposed legislation announced yesterday in the King’s Speech. |
‘Nothing for local government’ in King’s Speech
07/11/2023 Councils have expressed disappointment that the King’s Speech offered no commitment to improving local government finances or furthering devolution. |
Social housing complaints hit record high
17/10/2023 Complaints against social housing landlords last year saw a record spike due to poor property conditions and media coverage after the death of Awaab Ishak. |
Charities repeat call for ‘no-fault’ evictions ban
16/10/2023 Thirty charities and non-profit organisations have called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to pass a bill to ban ‘no-fault’ evictions. |
LGA warns Hunt over housing allowance rates
16/10/2023 The LGA has warned chancellor Jeremy Hunt he will force more into homelessness unless he ends a three-year freeze on housing rental benefits. |
Agency found guilty of harassing tenants
11/10/2023 In a prosecution by Brighton and Hove City Council, a lettings agency has been found guilty of harassing tenants and fined £60,000. |
Government set to fail to meet rough sleeping target
25/09/2023 The Government will fail to meet its target to end rough sleeping because of a ‘chronic shortage’ of affordable housing and support services, experts warn. |
Homeless London families evicted as emergency housing deals end
30/08/2023 More landlords are quitting the temporary accommodation sector in London, causing homeless families to be evicted from emergency housing. |
Calls for affordable homes funding in holiday hotspots
29/08/2023 Councils need long-term funding and more planning powers to build affordable homes for local people being priced out of tourist areas, Localis has said. |
Millions of renters a pay cheque away from losing home
23/08/2023 More than two million private renters in England would be immediately unable to pay their rent if they lost their job, homelessness charity Shelter reveals. |
Let renting childminders work from home, minister tells landlords
21/08/2023 Children and families minister Claire Coutinho has told developers and social landlords to allow childminders to work from rented properties. |
Rent arrears surge
02/08/2023 Four in five council landlords have reported growing rent arrears over the past year, according to the findings of a new survey. |
Family rental neighbourhood under development in Leeds
31/07/2023 A new rental community with 223 family homes is under construction in the suburbs of Leeds. |
Ombudsman orders landlord L&Q to pay £142,000
27/07/2023 One of the biggest social landlords in Britain has been ordered to pay £142,000 after an investigation revealed it was ‘dismissive’ of complaints. |
Charity urges against Renters Bill delays as homelessness surges
26/07/2023 Shelter has warned against delays to the Renters (Reform) Bill after figures revealed a record 80,000 households faced homelessness between January and March. |
‘Landmark’ social housing Act becomes law
21/07/2023 The Government’s new Social Housing (Regulation) Act, which includes greater powers to tackle failing social landlords, has become law. |
172 families served no-fault eviction notice every day
19/07/2023 Every day in England, 172 private renting families are handed a no-fault eviction notice as progress stalls on the Renters (Reform) Bill, Shelter has said. |
Turn empty buildings into affordable housing, MPs say
10/07/2023 APPGs have called on the Government to turn empty buildings into affordable housing, after they found repurposing properties could create thousands of homes. |
London facing ‘unmanageable’ housing pressures
05/07/2023 Housing pressures in London have become ‘unmanageable’ due to a sharp fall in private rental listings that is worsening near-record levels of homelessness. |
Campaigners call for more ‘sex for rent’ protections
29/06/2023 Generation Rent has called for the Government to do more to protect financially vulnerable renters from being forced into ‘sex for rent’ arrangements. |
More funding needed to enforce no-fault evictions ban, council chiefs say
27/06/2023 Local authorities will require more staff and funding to enforce the government’s proposed ban on no-fault evictions in England, the LGA has said. |
Newly listed properties unaffordable to benefit recipients
27/06/2023 The proportion of newly listed private rental properties on Zoopla affordable to recipients of housing support has dropped from 23% to 5%, according to IFS. |
Increase in rent arrears since Covid pandemic
22/06/2023 The number of social housing tenants in rent arrears has gone up since the Covid pandemic, according to new research. |
Charity warns of backdoor ‘no fault’ evictions
15/06/2023 Landlords will continue with ‘no fault’ evictions even after Section 21 evictions are banned if renters’ rights are not strengthened, charity warns. |
Local Housing Allowance failing to cover costs
13/06/2023 The allowance paid to help people pay rent for private housing is failing to cover their costs, according to new analysis. |
Holiday homes threaten housing supply in 25 areas
05/06/2023 The growth in holiday homes is threatening to outstrip the housing supply in popular tourist areas, campaigners have warned. |
Social landlords urged to build ‘partnership of equals’
01/06/2023 Social landlords should build a ‘partnership of equals’ with their tenants, a leading housing association has urged. |
Think tank calls for expansion of ‘selective licencing’
24/05/2023 London councils are being prevented from adopting schemes to improve conditions for people in private rented accommodation by regulations, researchers say. |
Council chiefs welcome proposals to ban ‘no fault’ evictions
17/05/2023 Local government leaders have welcomed the announcement of proposals to stop landlords evicting tenants without a good reason. |
Opportunities missed to help man who died of starvation
15/05/2023 A man with severe mental health problems died alone weighing four and a half stone after opportunities to help him were missed, a review of the case found. |
Ombudsman reminds councils to investigate renters’ concerns
11/05/2023 Councils reminded of their duties to investigate problems in private rented housing after concerns were raised about Worcester CC's complaint handling. |
Regulator criticises council for health and safety failures
10/05/2023 Adur District Council failed to meet a range of health and safety requirements in tenants’ homes, the the social housing watchdog has ruled. |
Estimated 700,000 households miss housing payments
09/05/2023 An estimated 700,000 households missed a housing payment in the last month, according to consumer watchdog. |
Risk of eviction higher among minorities
05/05/2023 The risk of eviction is a third higher among ethnic minority private renters than it is among white British or Irish renters, new research shows. |
Government launches £500,000 know-your-rights scheme
19/04/2023 Social housing tenants in seven cities are to be offered a place on a Government-funded training scheme aimed at helping them hold their landlords to account. |
Short-term lets to need planning permission
13/04/2023 The Government has announced new rules to give communities greater control over short-term lets in their areas which it says will strengthen tourism sector. |
London councils set out ‘shared vision’ to improve social housing
12/04/2023 London boroughs have vowed to do better for tenants in social housing after acknowledging the poor state of many homes. |
Private renters risk eviction if they complain, charity reveals
30/03/2023 Private renters risk being evicted if they complain to their landlords that repairs are needed in their homes, according to new research. |
Landlord criticised over toddler death ‘dismissive’ of residents
28/03/2023 The housing association criticised over death of toddler Awaab Ishak treated residents in ‘dismissive, inappropriate or unsympathetic’ ways, Ombudsman says. |
Cornwall Council scheme to help residents rent to homeless
27/03/2023 Cornwall Council has introduced a new scheme which would enable them to lease a property from a home owner before renting it out to an individual or family. |
Ombudsman warns councils ‘not getting it right’ on homelessness
21/03/2023 Vulnerable people are facing homelessness because some councils are ‘still not getting it right’, according to the local government ombudsman. |
Half of Ukrainian refugees face housing barriers
17/03/2023 More than half of Ukrainian refugees have struggled to find somewhere affordable to rent, according to new research. |
Rough sleeping numbers see record rise
28/02/2023 The number of rough sleepers has risen by 26% – the biggest increase since 2015 – in what one charity has branded a ‘collective failure’. |
Cambridge council highlights efforts to use empty properties
28/02/2023 Cambridge City Council is highlighting the support it can give to help bring long-term empty properties back into use. |
Housebuilding set to fall to lowest level since WWII
27/02/2023 Housebuilding in England is set to fall to the lowest level since the second world war, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF). |
Grant councils power to fight ‘exploitative lets’, think tank says
23/02/2023 Councils should be given more powers to set the rules about who can buy properties as one measure to tackle ‘exploitative lets’, think tank says. |
Torbay Council’s first temporary home ready
15/02/2023 The first home bought by Torbay Council as part of the local authority’s efforts to help meet the needs of homeless families is ready to move into. |
Tenant jailed for £200,000 housing fraud
14/02/2023 A tenant who lived in council housing in Dudley while renting out a flat she owned has been jailed for 32 months. |
Homelessness charity welcomes ‘Awaab’s Law’
10/02/2023 Homelessness charity Shelter has welcomed the Government’s announcement that landlords will be forced to deal with damp and mould in tenants’ homes. |
‘No-fault’ evictions up by over 140%
10/02/2023 Evictions by private landlords have increased by143% in a year according to the latest Government?figures. |
Ban on ‘no fault’ evictions at risk, MPs warn
09/02/2023 MPs have warned that Government risks undermining its own proposed policy of banning ‘no fault’ evictions for tenants unless it fixes delays in court system. |
DLUHC to miss housebuilding target by 32,000
07/12/2022 The Government looks set to miss its house building target by over 30,000, a new PAC report published today has revealed. |
One million private renters at risk of eviction
01/12/2022 One in 12 private renters in England – or nearly one million people – are currently under threat of eviction, housing charity reveals. |
Social housing tenants group launched
28/11/2022 Over 250 tenants met on Saturday to launch a group aimed at directly influencing the Government’s plans on improving social housing conditions. |
Landlords warn against plans to cap social housing rents
07/10/2022 Landlords have warned that the Government’s plans to cap rents for social housing will undermine efforts to make homes safer and greener. |
Landlords call for cost-of-living plan
30/09/2022 Landlords have urged the Chancellor to adopt a cost-of-living plan for the private rented sector. |
Cost-of-living crisis to have ‘catastrophic’ impact
21/09/2022 The cost-of-living crisis is likely to have a ‘catastrophic’ impact on homelessness and so should be treated with the same level of urgency as the pandemic. |
Council announces ‘largest’ selective licensing scheme in UK
20/09/2022 Birmingham City Council has been granted permission to introduce a Selective Licensing Scheme for all private rented properties in 25 wards across the city. |
Renters paying ‘stubbornly high’ rents for smaller homes
20/09/2022 Private renters are forced to pay ‘stubbornly high’ rents for accommodation with increasingly less floor space per person, new research has revealed. |
Poor quality housing ‘ticking time bomb’, think tank warns
12/09/2022 Tens of thousands of residents in the Greater Manchester region are living in unsafe, poor quality homes with inadequate insulation, think tank finds. |
Landlords warn against end of ‘no fault’ evictions
07/09/2022 Government plans to stop landlords from being able to carry out ‘no fault’ evictions will encourage anti-social behaviour, landlords claim. |
Consultation on standards in private rented sector launched
02/09/2022 Council chiefs have welcomed a consultation on improving standards in the private rented sector, but cautioned that councils should be sufficiently funded. |
London councils warn of ‘devastating’ homelessness spike
26/08/2022 The cost-of-living crisis and increases in private rents are set to cause a homelessness spike in the coming months, London boroughs have warned. |
Grant worth £500,000 launched to help social housing residents
16/08/2022 Social housing residents are to be given more access to training and support to help them raise issues with their landlord thanks to a £500,000 grant. |
Right to Buy-back scheme helps councils buy over 1,500 homes
10/08/2022 The Mayor of London’s flagship Right to Buy-back scheme has brought more than 1,500 homes back into public ownership. |
Council office move to save £200,000 a year
08/08/2022 Gloucester City Council is relocating to new offices in the city centre in a move aimed at saving the local authority hundreds of thousands of pounds. |
Record high rents and bills ‘tipping thousands’ into homelessness
28/07/2022 Homelessness in England increased by 11% over the first three months of 2022 due to high private rents and rocketing household bills, charity warns. |
Councils need more funds to provide affordable housing, report says
27/07/2022 Councils should be funded to buy and upgrade homes to be let out at affordable rents as part of a wider shake up of the private rented sector, think tank says. |
Leaseholder protections ‘insufficient’, council chiefs warn
28/06/2022 Council leaders welcome measures protecting leaseholders from being landed with unfair bills to make their homes safe but warn protections are ‘insufficient’ . |
Two thirds of private renters unaware of new rights
23/06/2022 Two thirds of renters are unaware that their local authority can help them when they experience problems with a landlord, letting agent or home, report finds. |
Council launches review into HMOs in Northampton
22/06/2022 West Northamptonshire Council yesterday launched a review into houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) in Northampton after complaints by local campaigners. |
Council chiefs cautiously welcome new private renting protections
16/06/2022 New measures aimed at protecting the rights of renters are welcome but local authorities must be properly funded to support implementation, council chiefs say. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.