Sunak outlines £3bn green investment package
Jenrick extends affordable homes scheme
Landlords urged to factor pandemics into future business plans
Sadiq Khan proposes City Hall move to save £55m
Why recovery will bring a new healthcare estate
Gareth Banks explains why Covid-19 will create a new impetus to revise healthcare estates and build a health infrastructure that can support new demands.
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. |
Environment Agency chief executive calls for more flood resilience
25/02/2020 A new ‘twin track’ approach focused on better flood protection and resilience is needed to deal with the climate emergency, the chief executive of the Environment Agency says. |
Club used in the film The Full Monty ‘temporarily’ saved
20/02/2020 The planned demolition of the working men’s club used in the film The Full Monty has been temporarily postponed. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
Auditors raise concerns over councils spending £6.6bn on property
13/02/2020 Councils have spent £6.6bn on purchasing commercial property in the past three years, the National Audit Office (NAO) has revealed today. |
Permitted development ‘doesn’t work’ and needs an overhaul, architects say
10/02/2020 Permitted development requirements should be extended to ensure new buildings contribute to the wellbeing of residents, an architectural firm has said. |
Aberdeen council considers selling buildings for £45m
04/02/2020 Aberdeen City Council is considering selling off hundreds of public buildings in an attempt to find millions of pounds of funding. |
UK ‘haemorrhaging’ social housing, charity warns
28/01/2020 A homelessness charity has warned in response to new Government figures that the UK is ‘haemorrhaging’ social housing each year. |
Nearly half of councils unsure of their carbon footprint, research finds
28/01/2020 Nearly half of councils in England do not know their own carbon footprint, new research has revealed. |
Councils call for £500m to upgrade outdated leisure centres
27/01/2020 A quarter of all council-run leisure centres have not been refurbished in more than 20 years, new figures have revealed. |
Boroughs in GP estate devolution call
24/01/2020 London Councils has called for more devolution to boroughs of decisions on the GP estate. |
Councils 'coming up short' in helping self-builders, say campaigners
22/01/2020 Campaigners have accused some councils of using 'dirty tricks' to stop people from building their own home. |
Scottish councils granted powers to regulate short-term lets
09/01/2020 Local authorities in Scotland are to be given new powers to regulate short-term lets where they decide this is in the interests of local communities. |
Councils still being held back from building more homes finds report
07/01/2020 Local authorities are still being held back from providing more homes, a new report examining the future for council housing has argued. |
Welsh government bans combustible cladding
23/12/2019 Welsh government has banned the use of combustible cladding on high rise buildings following the Hackitt review into fire safety after the Grenfell tragedy. |
Council leases library to Holocaust education project
23/12/2019 Cumbria County Council has agreed to provide a Holocaust education project with a long lease to a library building in memory of the Windermere Children. |
Liverpool to host ‘first permanent’ city zip line
20/12/2019 Liverpool could be host to the ‘first permanent’ city zip line in the UK, the city council has announced. |
Council’s homelessness service suffers ‘serious weaknesses’
09/12/2019 A housing regulator has launched an inquiry to investigate ‘serious weaknesses’ in Glasgow City Council’s service for people who are homeless. |
London council sues contractors for £130m over ‘fire safety failings’
29/11/2019 Camden Council has launched legal action against a group of contractors over ‘multiple fire safety failings’ that led to the evacuation of the Chalcots Estate two years ago. |
Launch of world’s first ‘gender-lens’ property fund
26/11/2019 The first gender-lens property fund to support women at risk of homelessness has been launched, aiming to raise £100m. |
Asbestos still ‘serious’ threat to public heath
25/11/2019 Asbestos can be still be found in 1.5 million public buildings putting people at risk of exposure, a think tank has warned. |
Council buys town centre in £43m property deal
25/11/2019 Knowsley Council has completed a £43.8m deal to acquire 87 shops and over 12 acres of land from St Modwen. |
Sunderland receives £100m ‘vote of confidence'
22/11/2019 Sunderland City Council’s city centre masterplan has received a massive boost from a £100m deal with Legal & General. |
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.
