Inside Housing
20/08/2010
View all stories from this issue.
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‘Social model’ under financial threat
20/08/2010
The viability of the social housing model is under threat because of the financial pressures facing the sector, according to a new study from leading academics.
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2011 launch for £1bn loan fund
20/08/2010
An innovative £1 billion vehicle to encourage pension funds to make loans to housing associations is expected to start lending in January.
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A breach in security
20/08/2010
Scrapping security of tenure will lead to a huge increase in litigation.
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A home for life
20/08/2010
In 1948 Dolly Wren moved to a new social housing estate in post-war London. Fiona Quirke finds out how the mix of general needs and sheltered housing means she’s still there today.
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Affinity Sutton posts £44m surplus
20/08/2010
Affinity Sutton has used its annual report to argue that housing associations need a ‘stronger financial base’ than ever before to cope with forthcoming spending cuts.
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ALMO ends contract with Connaught
23/08/2010
An arm’s-length management organisation has cancelled a £7 million repairs contract with struggling contractor Connaught.
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Another one bites the dust
20/08/2010
Another week and another quango is abolished by communities secretary Eric Pickles. So what does the demise of the Audit Commission mean for housing? Is it yet more bad news following on from the abolition of the regulator, cuts to development funding and curbs on the housing benefit bill?
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Battle to overturn decision on legal aid
20/08/2010
Sheltered housing campaigners are fighting to get 5,000 people to sign a petition in protest at their claim for legal aid being turned down on a technicality.
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Benefit reform to split London borough
23/08/2010
The proposed changes to housing benefit will split the London borough of Camden in two, with more than 2,000 claimants being affected, the local authority has said.
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Bids call for £400m deal
20/08/2010
London & Quadrant is inviting bids for a build and repairs framework deal worth up to £400 million.
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Bovis reports £3.5m half year profit
23/08/2010
Bovis has announced a pre-tax profit of £3.5 million for the first six months of the year.
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Bradford residents 'furious' at rat claims
20/08/2010
Residents at an estate in Bradford are angry with a story by The Sun newspaper saying giant rats are living on their estate, says their landlord.
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Building a new structure
20/08/2010
A revamped National Housing Federation could take over the Tenant Services Authority’s regulatory role
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Clegg unveils low carbon business programme
19/08/2010
Nick Clegg today claimed the government’s approach to sustainability was a ‘quiet green revolution’.
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Clegg: benefit cuts are hard to justify
20/08/2010
Nick Clegg has waded into the row over housing benefit reform by suggesting proposed cuts make it difficult to justify replacing the Trident nuclear weapon.
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Connaught deny executive departure linked to finances
19/08/2010
Troubled social housing contractor Connaught has denied the departure of a senior director is linked to its financial problems.
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Conservatives are breaking promises
20/08/2010
You are right to highlight David Cameron’s statement in Birmingham questioning security of tenure for council tenants.
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Council faces court over ‘contaminated’ estate
20/08/2010
North Lanarkshire Council is facing possible court action after being accused of allowing homes to be built on contaminated land.
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Decent homes goal missed by 10 per cent
26/08/2010
More than 10 per cent of social housing failed to meet the decent homes standard when the original deadline for compliance passed.
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Developer to build new almshouses
24/08/2010
Lewisham council has granted planning permission for 62 new almshouses to be built on an original almshouse site.
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DJ scheme targets anti-social behaviour
24/08/2010
Unruly Brighton residents have been offered a day out with a local DJ in a bid to reduce anti-social behaviour.
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Down and dirty
20/08/2010
Tenants who live in squalor need professional help not an eviction notice, says Inside Housing’s anonymous columnist
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Drug addicts could lose benefits
25/08/2010
Drug addicts who refuse treatment could lose their benefits under controversial plans being considered by ministers.
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English Housing Survey faces cuts
25/08/2010
The government is considering cutting the number of people it surveys on housing conditions by as much as 40 per cent.
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Government knocks back VAT cut demand
25/08/2010
The government has responded to a petition calling for the VAT on home repairs and maintenance to be cut.
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Growing the big society
20/08/2010
Everyone’s talking about the big society, but what does it mean in practice? Four local authorities are testing the ground with pilot housing projects. Chloë Stothart reports.
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Gypsy sites budget cut after £15m underspend
20/08/2010
The Homes and Communities Agency spent just under 5 per cent of its £32 million Gypsy and Traveller Sites grant last year.
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HCA map to pinpoint location of England’s 652,000 empty homes
20/08/2010
The Homes and Communities Agency will map every empty home in England in a bid to dramatically reduce their number - an estimated 652,000.The map will be used to pinpoint empty homes ‘hotspots’ and provide information on their surroundings.
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Home adaptation group calls for support
26/08/2010
A consortium of national organisations has called for the government to make good on a commitment to continuing support for home adaptations for disabled people.
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Home to roost
20/08/2010
Money destined for the development of authorised Gypsy and Traveller sites has been slashed by £30 million. Lydia Stockdale reports on the effect of cash cuts on travelling families and the councils charged with accommodating them.
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House starts up 13 per cent
20/08/2010
House starts in England are up 13 per cent in the last quarter to 28,590.
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Housing associations preoccupied with growth
25/08/2010
Housing associations have allowed business concerns and government influence to over-ride their broader social purpose as voluntary organisations.
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Involving people
20/08/2010
For the new regulatory system to work, we must involve well-informed tenants
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Labour launches bid to save the ASBO
25/08/2010
The Labour Party has claimed government plans to scrap anti-social behaviour orders would ‘leave communities helpless and vulnerable’.
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Landlords seek answers
20/08/2010
Social landlords are appealing to the government for clarity on the future of housing inspection after the Audit Commission’s closure.
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Liverpool in talks over £30m bond
20/08/2010
Liverpool Council hopes to raise £30 million on the UK bond market to fund the building of new homes.
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London mayor is committed to CLTs
20/08/2010
Jenny Jones is slightly disingenuous about the mayor’s approach on Community Land Trusts (Inside Housing, 30 July).
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Mixed inspection for south east landlord
26/08/2010
Audit Commission inspectors have delivered a mixed report on a 10,000-home social landlord.
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No meetings to end lifetime tenancies
20/08/2010
The Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation have held and continue to hold meetings with all political parties at which various subjects are discussed.
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No single solution for homelessness
24/08/2010
People’s experience of homelessness and their paths out of it can vary greatly, a charity has found.
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Opinion
20/08/2010
The new homes bonus is merely redistribution of old local authority grants
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Persimmon profits soar to £101.4m
24/08/2010
House builder Persimmon has seen its pre-tax profits rise to £101.4 million in the first six months of 2010, ten times the £9.8 million recorded in 2009.
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Planning row nets Barnet £4m
20/08/2010
Barnet Council has been awarded £4 million for affordable housing and community facilities after a property developer breached its planning permission.
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'Regressive' Budget will hit poor hardest
25/08/2010
Cuts announced in the emergency Budget will hit families and the poor hardest, a leading think tank has found.
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Sector plans as Connaught struggles
20/08/2010
Housing associations that hold contracts with beleaguered contractor Connaught are drawing up contingency plans in case the firm collapses.
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Shocked inspectors mount rescue mission
20/08/2010
Audit Commission staff could set up an independent consultancy to carry out housing inspections following the quango’s shock abolition.
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Supporting People cuts could leave thousands vulnerable
20/08/2010
Thousands of vulnerable people could be forced to fend for themselves under expected cuts to the Supporting People programme, the National Housing Federation has warned.
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The cuts run deep
20/08/2010
The goverment’s programme of public spending cuts are proving devastating for many of society’s most vulnerable people. One such example is the proposed reform of housing benefit which Inside Housing is highlighting though our What’s the Benefit? campaign, which this week received its 1000th backer.
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The smell of burning
20/08/2010
First it was the Tenant Services Authority and now the Audit Commission is ‘toast’. Martin Hilditch asks what housing regulation and inspection will look like once the smoke has cleared
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Timber frame site destroyed by fire
23/08/2010
Firefighters were called to a blaze at a half-constructed timber-framed block of flats in Glasgow last week.
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Timber-frame homes are greater fire risk
24/08/2010
The timber-frame construction method popular in new social housing places homes at greater risk from fire than other building techniques, government figures have suggested.
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Transfer council fails to justify methods
26/08/2010
A Welsh council faces an appeal over a positive stock transfer ballot after failing to justify a decision to withhold data from anti-transfer campaigners.
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Wates secures £400m framework deals
24/08/2010
Affordable housing construction firm Wates Living Space has agreed £400 million of framework contracts with supported housing providers.
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Who will succeed?
20/08/2010
If a tenant dies, the tenancy vests in the surviving joint tenant regardless of where they live, says Yetunde Dania