Inside Housing
12/12/2008
View all stories from this issue.
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A battle that runs and runs
12/12/2008
After 20 years, most political campaigns have drifted away into the history books. Not so the battle over stock transfer.
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A divisive and poisonous report
12/12/2008
No one pretends that there are not serious problems on some social housing estates, mostly created by the failure of investment and inadequate policies on poverty over 30 years.
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A job well done
12/12/2008
Now more than ever, it is crucial that landlords help to tackle worklessness. Helen Cope sets out the best approach
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A question of privilege
12/12/2008
Emily Twinch investigates tenants’ rights and finds that, although security of tenure continues to be divisive, lawyers agree that simplifying the laws surrounding tenancies would be a good thing.
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A world turned upside down
12/12/2008
John McCain lost any chance of becoming president when he told the American people that ‘the fundamentals of the economy are strong’ just as the banking system was collapsing around his ears.
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Availability of mortgages is key
12/12/2008
I was interested to read Adie Fox and Paul Stagnell-Howe’s letter (Inside Housing, 28 November) regarding homebuy and the article about the significant numbers of new homes standing empty (Inside Housing, 14 November).
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Avoiding eviction
17/12/2008
Shelter Scotland has accused housing associations of evicting too many tenants. Here Ore Valley housing association explains how it avoids taking such action.
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Backbenchers demand council-led building
15/12/2008
Backbench Labour MPs are pressing housing minister Margaret Beckett to accelerate the review of the housing finance system to help councils build again.
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Bankers put housing associations at risk
18/12/2008
Bankers are using any opportunity to push up the prices of existing housing association loans, the head of the National Housing Federation has claimed.
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Beckett unveils £400m plan to get first-time buyers back
15/12/2008
The government has beefed up its drive to get first-time buyers back into the market with an extra £100 million.
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Boris makes Parker Morris stance clear
12/12/2008
London mayor Boris Johnson backed away from imposing minimum space standards on private house builders because advisers warned him against the move, he revealed this week.
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Burden of proof
12/12/2008
A refusal to grant an anti-social behaviour injunction could have long-term consequences, writes Peter Marcus of Arden Chambers
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Campaigners fight legal aid changes
12/12/2008
Protestors from union Unite joined campaigners for private tenants’ rights this week to object to funding changes that have plunged legal and advice centres into a struggle for survival.
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Cash calls hit social landlords
12/12/2008
Housing associations have been hit by calls for tens of millions of pounds at short notice to provide security for complex financial agreements.
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Catalyst for change
12/12/2008
Transfer revolutionised the way homes are managed and regenerated
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Charity card banned for showing cheek
11/12/2008
Housing charity Shelter has been left with a bulk lot of unsold Christmas cards, after a distributor deemed the illustration ‘inappropriate and offensive’.
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Chief execs’ pay to be probed by TSA
12/12/2008
The Tenant Services Authority will examine whether increasing salaries of housing association chief executives has become a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’.
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Choice-based lettings get £1m extension
15/12/2008
A scheme to give social tenants more choice about where they live is being extended to five more areas.
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CLG to trust landlords’ version of number of homes that are decent
12/12/2008
The government has dropped the method it uses to check the number of social homes that meet its decency standard, after discovering that landlords’ monitoring showed faster progress.
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Collateral calls explained
12/12/2008
Sue Harvey from Campbell Tickell and Howard Webb from Sector Weedon Grant explain the latest crisis to hit housing association finance
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Comic timing
12/12/2008
Junior housing minister Iain Wright relived his comic book days last week when he visited a transformed area of Manchester.
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Complete spectrum
12/12/2008
Fred Carter has joined Spectrum Development Partnership as framework manager.
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Connaught picks up social housing work
17/12/2008
Maintenance contractor Connaught has picked up £320 million of social housing contracts since 1 September.
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Eco rules changed to meet carbon goal
17/12/2008
Stringent requirements on the energy supply to zero carbon homes are to be relaxed, under government proposals.
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For today’s tenants, social mobility is dead
12/12/2008
It’s a simple truth, but the government doesn’t get it: poverty is not just about how little you earn; it’s also about how little you own.
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Friction at ALMO damages services
18/12/2008
The viability of an arm’s-length management organisation is being put at risk by disputes with the council, an inspection has found.
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Full circle
15/12/2008
As stock transfer celebrates its 20th birthday, are we any nearer to resolving the contradictions that lie at the heart of the policy?
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Getting what you pay for
12/12/2008
A few years ago, housing association boards were full of well-meaning volunteers who spent their time debating how they could best serve their communities.
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Good intentions
12/12/2008
The right skills are needed to fight climate change, writes Gill Taylor
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Government rethinks ownership demand
16/12/2008
The government has commissioned a major study of housing need to determine whether people want to rent, buy, or are interested in shared ownership.
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House of Lords verdict on tolerated tresspassers
15/12/2008
Robert Latham, of Doughty Street Chambers, examines how a House of Lords ruling has affected the concept of tolerated tresspassers
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Inside Housing - Display Advertising mediapack home 2012
12/12/2008
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Journey south
12/12/2008
These are two of the children who benefited when staff from a housing association swapped Somerset for South Africa.
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Land value shock for large landlords
12/12/2008
Viability of over-exposed associations threatened by write-downs and cost of mothballing sites
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Landlords taken to task as evictions skyrocket
17/12/2008
Scotland’s largest homelessness charity is on a collision course with the country’s social landlords, after it accused them of resorting to ‘Dickensian’ methods of management.
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Leasehold enfranchisement
12/12/2008
Should social landlords be looking at leasehold extension, asks James Driscoll of Trowers & Hamlins
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Lesson learned
12/12/2008
These north London schoolgirls were given the opportunity to ask questions on how new homes could regenerate communities.
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London ALMO buys in to property market
17/12/2008
An arm’s-length management organisation in London is to become the first to buy homes.
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Lords reassert rights of assured tenants
12/12/2008
The highest court in the land has reinforced the rights of thousands of tenants subject to possession orders, overturning two previous rulings.
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Lords to rule on legal status of refuges
12/12/2008
A woman refused council housing because she had been thrown out of a refuge is taking her case to the House of Lords.
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Lords to rule on legal status of refuges
15/12/2008
A woman refused council housing because she had been thrown out of a refuge is taking her case to the House of Lords.
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Malevolent sniping at tenants’ rights
12/12/2008
Some time ago, Iain Duncan Smith styled himself as the ‘quiet man’ of British politics.
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Ministers urged to tackle unemployment
17/12/2008
A charity has warned that there will be a surge in homelessness unless the government takes action to tackle unemployment.
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Move for Mead
12/12/2008
Hammersmith & Fulham Council has promoted Gareth Mead to the new post of assistant director for housing.
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Moving on up
12/12/2008
Peter Fletcher Associates has appointed Ken Davies as a director and Denise Gillie as managing consultant.
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Network news
12/12/2008
Network Housing Group has appointed Tom Titherington as its new chief executive.
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New grant will avert bad practice
12/12/2008
As a manager of support services, the inevitable transition from Supporting People grant to an area-based grant, in my view, can’t come soon enough (Inside Housing, 5 December).
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On special offer
12/12/2008
Neil Merrick tracks the progress of the government’s £200 million scheme to encourage social landlords to snap up private developers’ unsold homes
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Pathfinder makes progress after mediocre rating
16/12/2008
The Birmingham and Sandwell housing market renewal pathfinder has been rated as ‘performing well’ by the Audit Commission after a previous lukewarm inspection.
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Planning investment has limited effect
17/12/2008
Attempts to speed up planning applications for large housing developments have met with limited success, a study has found.
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Pledge to revolutionise housing benefit regime
12/12/2008
The government has committed to sweeping reforms of the housing benefit regime, as part of a radical shake-up of the welfare system.
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Poor mental health blamed on magic
15/12/2008
Members of some communities in Birmingham are blaming mental health problems on ‘black magic’, a study has found.
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Promotions at Tribal
12/12/2008
Tribal Group has promoted Angela Lomax to director of strategic services. Judy Wayne and Susan Kane have also been made directors.
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Provisional license
17/12/2008
Houses in multiple occupation licensing was meant to take out the shoddiest and most dangerous housing in England, but has it worked?
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Rattigan regenerates
12/12/2008
Rochdale Development Agency has appointed Pat Rattigan as director of physical regeneration.
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Red tape threatens participation
12/12/2008
A key member of the group charged with creating a tenant advocacy organisation has suggested that tenants could withdraw their support should their favoured model be changed.
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Rent challengers forced out
12/12/2008
A housing association has come under fire for evicting two hostel tenants who challenged the level of rent they were being charged.
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Single group funding guidelines abandoned
16/12/2008
The Communities and Local Government department has ditched efforts to prescribe how single identity community groups are funded, saying it is up to local authorities to decide.
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Sink or swim
12/12/2008
A recession might bring about a change as fundamental to social housing as the right to buy, argues Mark Lupton
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Skills in strategic housing
16/12/2008
A report from local government best practice body IDeA looking at skills in strategic housing, and what progress has been made in the last year.
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So many memories
12/12/2008
Barbara Southern’s home may be gone but it won’t be forgotten, she tells Emily Twinch
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Supporting People fails older tenants
12/12/2008
Two of the biggest supported housing providers have called for sheltered housing to be removed from the Supporting People funding regime.
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Taking a bite
12/12/2008
If security of tenure is a hot potato it’s one that is fast becoming the dish of the day.
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Talk talk
12/12/2008
The Bridge Group has appointed Ian Hill as senior communications consultant.
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The bottom line
12/12/2008
It’s time for Alistair Darling to take his head out of the sand, says Bill Randall
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The Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme
15/12/2008
The government has announced it is prepared to help struggling homeowners avoid repossession. Our quick guide explains the details
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Traveller families give up way of life
12/12/2008
The majority of Traveller families in Northern Ireland have given up their nomadic lifestyle, a study reveals.
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Triumph over adversity
12/12/2008
From unsold homes and mortgage rescue to employment and governance, Philippa Ward finds that the credit crunch is keeping lawyers busy
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Two more ALMOs turn to transfer
12/12/2008
A new wave of stock transfers looks set to be driven by major funding problems for arm’s-length management organisations.
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Warden sacked for being 'human' wins employment case
15/12/2008
A sheltered housing manager who lost her job for visiting a dying resident out of hours has won her tribunal against housing association Home.
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We are the good guys
12/12/2008
Why do MPs’ perceptions of housing associations matter? They matter because your local MP might be a backbencher or a member of the opposition now, but one day they may be a government minister.
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Within the law
12/12/2008
To launch this week’s legal focus, Victoria Madine profiles some of the leading social housing practices across the country - and looks at where business is booming
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Wright praises progress on homelessness
12/12/2008
The number of homeless households has gone down 13 per cent from the same period last year and 60 per cent since 2003.
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Youth homelessness in Harrogate
16/12/2008
Harrogate Council has commissioned a youth-led film on young people and homelessness. Here’s a preview of the production.