Derbyshire councils commit to fitting sprinklers in schools
Thousands of social homes to be decarbonised in Wales
Two-thirds of school rated ‘poor’ for fire protection measures
Mayor confirms relocation of City Hall
Tackling our SEND challenge
Peter Whitmore explains why collaboration and knowledge sharing are crucial to tackling the SEND challenge.
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. |
Oldham Council buys shopping centre to 'kickstart' town centre recovery
20/10/2020 Oldham Council has bought the Spindles Town Square Shopping Centre to provide a catalyst for town centre recovery. |
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. |
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. |
Hancock announces £400m to remove dormitories from mental health facilities
12/10/2020 More than £400m will be committed over the next four years to remove dormitory accommodation from mental health facilities, the Government says. |
Government unveils £1bn funding to improve energy efficiency of public buildings
01/10/2020 Local authorities are being urged to apply for a share of £1bn to improve the energy efficiency of publicly owned buildings. |
Community ownership is key to revival of high street, says report
01/10/2020 Councils have been urged to help local communities take ownership of empty buildings in order to secure the future of Britain’s high streets. |
Corporate property generates £5m for Ashford BC
25/09/2020 Corporate property generated £5m for Ashford Borough Council in the past year, an annual review has revealed. |
Northampton BC buys M&S building for £1.45m
23/09/2020 Northampton Borough Council has bought a former Marks and Spencer building for £1.45m as part of an effort to transform the town centre. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
Schools at double the risk of fire than other buildings, data shows
04/09/2020 School buildings are twice as likely to be in a blaze compared to other non-residential buildings, new research has found. |
Mayor of Liverpool quashes zip wire plan
03/09/2020 The mayor of Liverpool has intervened to stop a plan to build a zip wire that would have ended at Liverpool Central Library. |
Fast-tracked funding to improve school buildings
05/08/2020 The Government has fast-tracked £580m of funding to improve school buildings across England. |
Unsafe mental health wards are a 'disaster waiting to happen'
23/07/2020 Old and overcrowded mental health wards are putting patients at risk, new research has warned today. |
Changing Places toilets to be installed in every new public building
20/07/2020 Toilets for severely disabled people will be mandatory in all new public buildings from next year, the Government has confirmed. |
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. |
Planning changes to protect theatres and music venues
13/07/2020 New planning rules to protect theatres, concert halls and live music performance venues from being demolished or redeveloped will come into effect next week. |
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. |
Jenrick extends affordable homes scheme
06/07/2020 Councils will have a year longer to build affordable homes after construction stalled during the pandemic. |
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. |
Sadiq Khan proposes City Hall move to save £55m
25/06/2020 The Greater London Authority (GLA) could soon be moved to a new headquarters in East London, under proposals put forward by mayor of London Sadiq Khan. |
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. |
Three quarters of fire doors inspected ‘not fit for purpose’
18/06/2020 More than three quarters (76%) of the fire doors inspected in 2019 were condemned as not fit for purpose, new data reveals. |
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). |
Council planning powers under threat
08/06/2020 Planning powers could be shifted from local authorities to development corporations as part of an economic stimulus package to be announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson later this month. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
Launch of £1bn building safety fund
27/05/2020 The Government has outlined the details of its £1bn building safety fund. |
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. |
More councils sign pledge to continue with building safety work
07/05/2020 The leaders of 25 councils have signed a pledge to continue with vital building safety improvements during the pandemic. |
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 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. |
Schools minister outlines funding for school estate
23/04/2020 The Government has confirmed £2.2bn of capital funding will be provided to improve the condition of the school estate and create new school places. |
Cladding remediation work to pick up pace
23/04/2020 Vital building safety work to replace unsafe cladding on high-rise buildings that had ‘significantly slowed down’ as a result of the coronavirus pandemic will resume, it has been announced. |
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. |
Sunderland landmarks lit blue as ‘mark of gratitude’ to health workers
25/03/2020 Landmarks across Sunderland are being lit blue in a symbolic show of support for the NHS and social care workers. |
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. |
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. |
Budget 2020: £1.5bn boost to improve FE college estate
11/03/2020 The chancellor has unveiled plans to invest £1.5bn over five years to improve the condition of the further education college estate. |
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. |
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. |
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). |
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. |
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.
