Closed circuit

Junior housing minister Ian Austin chose an unusual way of endearing himself to homelessness professionals last week.

As he reached the crescendo of his speech at a Crisis conference in Birmingham about using the private rented sector to house homeless people he told delegates the work they do has ‘never been important’.

A red-faced Mr Austin quickly reassured delegates that he had, of course, meant their work had ‘never been more important’. Let’s hope they’re a forgiving bunch.

The government announced the new police crime maps with much fanfare, but it looks as if the blues and twos mislaid their satnav.

One housing chief decided to check out how Nottinghamshire was performing. He clicked on the county only to get back data for the Leicestershire constabulary. Thankfully, that teething problem - along with the entire website going AWOL due to high demand - has now been fixed.

Jon Snow put on a good show when presenting the Sustainable Housing Awards last week - and not just because of his impressively colourful tie.

The journalist and Channel 4 newsreader also managed to incorporate a story from a conversation that he had over lunch into his speech.

Apparently, one of his his fellow diners had once done an energy audit on the venue (a prominent London hotel) - and discovered that one room’s air-conditioning was malfunctioning because the vents were stuffed with porn mags. Closed Circuit wishes that all environmental headaches could be solved so easily.

Your Homes Newcastle is the latest social landlord to embrace the homelessness agenda - but it’s taking a broad approach.

The arm’s-length management organisation is creating 36 boxes to house homeless bats in the eaves of some three-storey flats it is refurbishing. It has worked with students from Benfield School in Walkergate on the scheme. It is not clear whether the bats will be offered a secure lifetime tenancy.

Send your juicy housing gossip to closed.circuit@insidehousing.co.uk