Inside Housing
17/12/2010
View all stories from this issue.
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Boris gives green light to Battersea plans
24/12/2010
London mayor Boris Johnson has approved plans to redevelop Battersea Power Station, creating up to 16,000 homes.
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Catching up with subletters
23/12/2010
Earlier this month the government announced its latest crackdown on unlawful subletting. Here Emma Vick, counter fraud team manager in Newham, explains how her authority has been tackling the problem
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Cold weather help misses half of rough sleepers
24/12/2010
Half of the rough sleepers in London have not been offered emergency cold weather shelter during the current freezing temperatures, a survey has found.
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HCA chair on New Year Honours list
04/01/2011
The chair of the Homes and Communities Agency is among several senior social housing figures to be recognised in the New Year Honours list.
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Hyde chief exec to leave association
23/12/2010
Hyde chief executive David Eastgate is to leave the housing association at the end of the year.
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Mayor wins funding for rough sleeping
21/12/2010
The mayor of London has secured £710,000 of funding from the government for his ‘no second night out’ programme.
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Minister seeks stable house prices
04/01/2011
Grant Shapps has pledged to use government levers to encourage house building in a bid to stabilise house prices.
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Ministers mull zero carbon offset scheme
21/12/2010
Developers may be able to help meet the requirement to build zero-carbon homes by paying into local renewable energy schemes, the government has suggested.
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Overhaul to simplify planning policy
22/12/2010
The government has begun an overhaul of planning policy that will see existing guidance and statements subsumed within a new national planning policy framework.
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Public sector home registrations rise
24/12/2010
Registrations for new public sector homes in September to November increased by 4 per cent on the figure for the same period last year.
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Affordable housing ‘obsession’ under fire
23/12/2010
The housing minister has criticised the Labour government for focusing excessively on building affordable homes.
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ALMO race case employee dismissed
20/12/2010
An ALMO employee who is bringing a case of racial discrimination against a former colleague has been dismissed by his employer.
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Architecture body could escape quango cull
17/12/2010
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment could be saved after agreeing a deal with another design body.
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Authorities free to cut land prices
23/12/2010
The government has made it easier for local authorities to sell land and homes to private developers at less than market value.
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Bad weather drives construction decline
05/01/2011
House building activity dropped at its sharpest rate for over a year in December.
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Basildon ALMO could close
11/01/2011
Basildon Council is considering closing its arm’s-length management organisation.
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Benefit cuts to drive up child poverty
17/12/2010
The government’s cuts to housing benefit will push 100,000 children into poverty, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.
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Boris fights rent funding clash
15/12/2010
Boris Johnson is lobbying ministers over a clash between the government’s plans to cut housing benefit and the new affordable rent regime.
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Building regulations to be simplified
20/12/2010
The government is looking at making it easier and cheaper for builders to comply with regulation in England.
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Campaigners hit out at green deal caps
23/12/2010
Capping the amount that can be claimed per home for improvements through the government’s green deal efficiency scheme will severely limit its effectiveness, campaigners have warned.
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Campaigners stage cardboard city protest
21/12/2010
Campaigners staged a protest outside Downing Street last week to fight against a range of reforms to social housing.
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Cash back?
17/12/2010
A new ruling means overpayments of benefits are no longer recoverable unless the claimaint agrees, says Paul Hayes
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Christmas appeal smashes its £1,000 target to help charities
17/12/2010
Inside Housing’s Christmas Appeal has smashed its £1,000 fundraising target.
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Christmas quiz
17/12/2010
It’s a seasonal tradition to play games at Christmas so we decided to present you with our own festive puzzler. Lydia Stockdale puts your knowledge of the past year in housing to the test
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Class divide
04/01/2011
Last year saw a range of changes to laws governing houses in multiple occupation. Katherine Evans clarifies the situation
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Collaboration is the way forward
17/12/2010
Hardly a day goes by without the doom and gloom stories surrounding potential job cuts and loss of public services being featured in the national press.
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Community leader charged with fraud
06/01/2011
The former head of a Welsh regeneration scheme has appeared in court facing 13 fraud and theft charges.
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Concession over affordable rents
17/12/2010
The government has agreed to modify its new affordable rent regime to help northern landlords keep their home building programmes going.
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Council approves transfer despite opposition
22/12/2010
Wycombe Council has approved the sale of more than 6,000 council homes.
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Councils finish homes as HCA cash delivers
23/12/2010
Several councils have announced the completion of their first homes for years as Homes and Communities Agency funding begins to deliver results.
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Councils to raid Supporting People funds
16/12/2010
The Supporting People programme is likely to be plundered by councils hit by cuts in this week’s local authority budgetary settlement, a survey has indicated.
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Crisis criticises government
17/12/2010
The coalition government’s reform programme ‘presents significant challenges’ to progress made by the homelessness sector over the past decade, a report from homelessness charity Crisis has suggested.
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Critics hit out at winter shelters
17/12/2010
The rising number of winter shelters opening to help rough sleepers cope with freezing temperatures has sparked criticism from a homelessness charity.
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Demand for social housing to soar
05/01/2011
The government needs to distinguish between social and affordable housing and set out how demand for both will be met, an accountancy firm has warned.
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Deputy Labour leader backs high-rise register
17/12/2010
Labour party deputy leader Harriet Harman has backed Inside Housing’s pledge to create a tower block register following the social housing regulator’s decision to ditch the idea.
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Doncaster ALMO to shed 100 jobs
20/12/2010
Doncaster Council’s arm’s-length management organisation is expecting to lose around 100 jobs as a result of anticipated £2 million cuts to its budget.
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Ealing scheme given planning permission
05/01/2011
Detailed planning permission has been granted for the first phase of the regeneration of the South Acton estate in Ealing.
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EU migrants face destitution
10/01/2011
Migrants who come to the UK from within the European Union are more likely to end up destitute and in poor quality housing than other immigrants, a report has found.
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Experts express green deal funding doubts
17/12/2010
The government is not spending enough money on its flagship retrofit programme to hit 2050 carbon reduction targets, according to one of its green housing bodies.
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Ferrier tenant evicted from demolition area
11/01/2011
A council criticised for using court action to remove tenants from an estate scheduled for demolition has successfully evicted a tenant from one of the homes.
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Filling the emptiness
17/12/2010
There are thousands of empty homes in the UK but now three new solutions are at hand, says Sarah Lines, director at Cobbetts
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Flexibility needed to meet building goals
05/01/2011
Housing associations will need flexibility to use some of their stock for low-cost homeownership or outright sale to meet house building goals, a study has found.
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Fool’s gold
21/12/2010
Grant Shapps must have thought he’d got the Midas touch.
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Four associations face financial threats
06/01/2011
The Tenant Services Authority has warned of risks to the finances of four housing associations, in its latest set of regulatory reports.
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Funding to tackle loan sharks extended
31/12/2010
The government has announced it is continuing funding for operations aimed at tackling illegal money lending, but restructuring the teams.
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Ghost of Christmas past
17/12/2010
Should housing officers step in to help lonely and vulnerable tenants, asks Inside Housing’s anonymous columnist
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Going local
17/12/2010
The publication of the Decentralisation and Localism Bill this week neatly bookends a momentous year for social housing professionals - and gives them plenty of food for thought over the festive season.
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Government faces grilling over cost of Localism Bill
17/12/2010
The government is to be quizzed about the cost of neighbourhood plans following claims they will cost the Treasury a six-figure sum.
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Government urged to tackle dangerous dogs
20/12/2010
London’s deputy mayor for policing has urged the government to take action on dangerous dogs.
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Green bank could be scaled back
15/12/2010
Chris Huhne has admitted he may have to scale back plans for a £1 billion green investment bank after pressure from the Treasury.
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Halifax data shows empty homes decline
21/12/2010
The number of homes in England empty for more than six months has fallen to 296,000, according to Halifax.
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Have you got 2020 vision?
17/12/2010
Housing associations’ board members must start looking to the future if they are to be ready for the challenges they face
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High society
17/12/2010
An east London high-rise resident has honoured his home by turning it into art
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Hometrack records 1.6% price fall for 2010
27/12/2010
House prices fell by an average of 1.6 per cent across England and Wales during 2010, according to Hometrack.
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House price rise slows downward trend
04/01/2011
Nationwide has reported a slight increase in house prices for December.
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House prices drop
20/01/2011
House prices decreased slightly in November from the month before, according to department for Communities and Local Government figures.
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Housing advice is vital for the elderly
17/12/2010
There’s been very little written about how the coalition’s unflinching focus on downsizing will affect older people.
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Housing demand to cost £1.2bn a year
30/12/2010
Meeting demand for new homes would cost the government £1.2 billion a year over the next two decades, research has found.
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Housing sector rejects fixed-term tenancies, says report
20/12/2010
Almost three quarters of housing professional said they do not support the government’s plan for fixed-term tenancies, a report has suggested.
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Housing services given one-star ratings
06/01/2011
Audit Commission inspectors have given the housing services of three councils one-star ratings, in inspections published this week.
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Hyde takes on stalled Medway development
23/12/2010
Hyde Housing Group is set to step in and develop the first phase of a 2,000-home project in Medway.
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Improvement rights axed from tenancies
06/01/2011
Tenants given the new-style fixed term tenancies will face restrictions on how much they can improve their homes, government papers reveal.
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Labour loses housing benefit fight
21/12/2010
Labour’s bid to derail the government’s controversial housing benefit reforms has ended in failure.
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Land Registry finds prices down 0.6%
31/12/2010
House prices fell 0.6 per cent between October and November, according to the Land Registry.
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Landlord embarks on £23m solar scheme
05/01/2011
A social landlord has unveiled a £23 million programme to fit solar panels to its housing stock.
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Landlord takes action after pet microwaved
06/01/2011
A housing association has issued a demotion order to a tenant for cooking a hamster in a microwave.
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Lenders predict rise in repossessions
17/12/2010
The umbrella body for mortgage lenders expects 40,000 homes to be repossessed in 2011.
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London associations to pilot mobility scheme
31/12/2010
A group of the largest 15 housing associations in London is planning to set up a mobility scheme to allow social tenants to move across the capital.
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Low-cost home ownership sales plummet
20/12/2010
Sales of low-cost homes by housing associations fell by 11 per cent in the last quarter, according to new figures from the Tenant Services Authority.
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Minister says benefit cuts ‘unsupportable’
22/12/2010
A Liberal Democrat minister has been caught describing cuts to housing benefit as ‘deeply unacceptable’.
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Minister vows to help self builders
05/01/2011
The housing minister has promised to make it easier for people to build their own homes.
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MPs question housing benefit savings
22/12/2010
A cross-party group of MPs has questioned whether the government’s housing benefit reforms will deliver the intended savings.
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New fund to attract £1.4bn for retrofit
17/12/2010
A £5 million revolving fund will attract a further £1.4 billion to retrofit more than 62,000 homes in the south east of England by 2050, a housing association has claimed.
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Nine in the running for Olympic homes
21/12/2010
Nine organisations including Chelsea Barracks developer Qatari Diar have been shortlisted to buy the private homes on the Olympic Village site.
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Pickles plots probe into spending
17/12/2010
Ministers are looking to force housing associations to publish details of expenditure over £500 if they want to access development grant.
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Pickles scraps car parking rules
04/01/2011
Limits on the amount of car parking spaces for new homes will be scrapped, the government announced yesterday.
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Pitch targets referred to human rights body
29/12/2010
A Labour London Assembly member has asked the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to investigate the mayor’s scrapping of Gypsy and Traveller pitch targets.
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Plumber pleads not guilty over gas death
16/12/2010
A plumber has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of a young woman who died of carbon monoxide poisoning in a shared ownership flat.
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Reaching out
17/12/2010
Last Tuesday homelessness charity Thames Reach was kind enough to invite me to join one of its London street rescue outreach teams for the night.
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Report calls for tougher fire rules
17/12/2010
Fire regulations for timber frame and high-rise buildings should be tightened urgently, a London Assembly committee has warned.
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Right to buy fails the fairness test
17/12/2010
It’s true right to buy gave those lucky enough to be allocated a tenancy a chance at homeownership which might have otherwise been elusive.
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Rok owed £360m at time of collapse
24/12/2010
Stricken contractor Rok owed at least £360 million at the time of its collapse in November, a report by administrator Pricewaterhouse Coopers has revealed.
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Room at the inn
17/12/2010
Inside Housing’s Christmas appeal is raising money for some of the most vulnerable people across the United Kingdom. In our final instalment, Lydia Stockdale focuses on a charity in Wales which prevents homeless families from being split up
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Second ALMO becomes housing association
21/12/2010
A north-east council has become the second to convert its arm’s-length management organisation into a housing association.
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Services in London to lose £13.1 million
17/12/2010
London Councils will withdraw funding from all but five of the 33 front line homelessness services it commissions next year.
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Shapps launches crackdown on subletting
16/12/2010
Housing minister Grant Shapps has today launched the government’s latest crackdown on the unlawful subletting of social housing.
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Starr’s home halts regeneration plans
04/01/2011
The regeneration of the Welsh Streets area of Liverpool has been delayed because one of the homes scheduled for demolition is the birthplace of Ringo Starr.
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Surveyors predict fall in repossessions
22/12/2010
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has predicted repossessions will fall in 2011.
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Task group waters down emissions targets
22/12/2010
The task group advising the government on zero carbon standards has watered down emission cuts for new homes.
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Tenure split for £4.5bn building fund
21/12/2010
The government intends to split its development funding between homes for social rent and its new affordable rent product.
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The price of life
17/12/2010
Strong alcoholic drinks do far more damage to the homeless than hard drugs and should be made more expensive
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The year that changed social housing forever
17/12/2010
With a new government, massive reforms and brutal cuts, the past 12 months has seen unprecedented change to the social housing landscape. Inside Housing looks back at the major events of 2010
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There is an alternative
17/12/2010
In July, Inside Housing launched What’s the Benefit? to campaign against housing benefit cuts that risk driving thousands of vulnerable people from their homes and into poverty. To meet our third and final aim, here we invite a panel of industry experts to come up with alternative solutions to present to the government. Isabel Hardman reveals the results
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Third sector cuts threaten big society
04/01/2011
Cuts to public spending could undermine the big society initiative, the prime minister has been warned.
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Time to take your repairs in house
17/12/2010
Lydia Stockdale’s article on the impact of the collapse of Rok and Connaught on three housing association clients (Inside Housing, 26 November) was fascinating and thought provoking.
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Town & Country inquiry into bullying claim
17/12/2010
Kent landlord Town & Country Housing Group has launched an internal investigation into allegations that its chair bullied a former board member.
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TSA seeks views on new rent regime
17/12/2010
The Tenant Services Authority has launched a consultation into modifying its standards to suit the new affordable rent regime.
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Warm wishes
22/12/2010
The mayor of London explains why he is backing work to help rough sleepers over Christmas, and what he is doing to ensure housing benefit reforms don’t drive more people onto the streets.
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Welsh investment plan is scrapped
17/12/2010
A plan to use Welsh housing association properties to attract £100 million of private funding for house building is set to be ditched after concerns from the sector.
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Work starts on major east London development
10/01/2011
This is what one of London’s biggest regeneration schemes will look like, where work has just started on the first phase.