Thursday, 09 February 2012

Inside Housing
14/05/2010

View all stories from this issue.

  • £700m HCA contracts on hold

    14/05/2010

    Revised purdah rules have prevented the Homes & Communities Agency from signing off approved contracts worth an estimated £700 million during the election period.

  • A whole new rule book

    14/05/2010

    ALMOs are now subject to the Tenant Services Authority’s regulations. Gareth Hall, partner at Devonshires, explains.

  • Action not words

    17/05/2010

    Justin Sumner sets out the key financial issues facing the new government, and their potential impact on the housing market.

  • ALMO secures two-star rating

    21/05/2010

    Rykneld Homes has received the inspection rating it needs to unlock its decent homes funding.

  • ALMOs

    14/05/2010

    Looking at how arm’s-length management organisations are adapting to a changing future.

  • Apollo wins £17m Plymouth contracts

    19/05/2010

    Apollo Group has been awarded two contracts worth a combined £17 million by Plymouth Community Homes.

  • Birmingham to build homes for intermediate rent

    20/05/2010

    Birmingham council is planning to set up a joint venture with private developers to build homes for intermediate rent.

  • BNP 'pitting Muslims against Sikhs'

    17/05/2010

    The British National Party has been siding with Hindus and Sikhs to create tension against Islamic groups and undermine community cohesion, an academic has claimed.

  • Bolton wanderer

    14/05/2010

    Last month, Jon Lord worked for Bolton Council’s housing department. Today he’s on the other side of town as boss of the council’s arm’s-length management organisation, facing another change as he prepares to transfer Bolton’s homes to a housing association. Lydia Stockdale met him.

  • Cameron promises green government

    17/05/2010

    Central government departments will cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent in the next 12 months, the prime minister announced on Friday.

  • Council accused of failing tenants

    20/05/2010

    Wiltshire council is failing its tenants, according to a damning report from the Audit Commission.

  • Council broke rules over medical checks

    14/05/2010

    An east London authority’s policy of outsourcing medical checks on housing applicants to a private company has been ruled unlawful by the High Court.

  • Council launches two week fraud amnesty

    18/05/2010

    An Essex council has started a two-week amnesty for council tenants committing fraud to come clean before a major crackdown.

  • Council suspends right to buy

    19/05/2010

    The right to buy has been suspended for five years in certain parts of an area of high housing need in Scotland.

  • Councils face HRA reform debt charge

    14/05/2010

    Several councils could lose hundreds of thousands of pounds as an unintended consequence of restructuring their debt under the planned reform of the housing subsidy system.

  • Councils face increased human rights burden

    14/05/2010

    Councils could be landed with a much more onerous legal duty to prove they have not breached the human rights of residents with introductory tenancies.

  • Courses saved from cash cuts

    14/05/2010

    A number of housing courses have been saved from the axe by changes introduced by the Chartered Institute of Housing.

  • Cracks are showing

    14/05/2010

    Employers must address rising work-related stress

  • Dispute Service to appoint chief executive

    20/05/2010

    The company that resolves complaints and disputes in the private rented sector is to appoint a chief executive for the first time.

  • Duty free?

    14/05/2010

    A recent case means councils could be held responsible for their ALMOs’ employees, says Stuart Jones

  • Ex-Peabody worker arrested at tribunal

    19/05/2010

    A one-time employee of a London-based housing association is awaiting deportation after coming back into the country to sue her previous employers.

  • Families left destitute by asylum system

    19/05/2010

    Increasing numbers of children and families are being left destitute because of the ‘chaotic’ asylum system, a charity has claimed.

  • Family left homeless by refurbishment fire

    19/05/2010

    A family were left homeless after a blaze broke out while contractors were revamping their housing association home.

  • First Wessex joins consortium after merger

    19/05/2010

    Housing association consortium Wayfarer Partnership has been strengthened by the addition of a new member.

  • Fraud drive recovers 97 sub-let homes

    24/05/2010

    A government anti-fraud drive helped to recover 97 unlawfully sublet social homes in 2008/09.

  • Get involved

    14/05/2010

    Getting tenants involved in decision-making is one way that ALMOs can justify their existence, says Anita Pati

  • Getting housing out of a pickle

    14/05/2010

    For a time on Wednesday afternoon it seemed reasonable to consider Caroline Spelman, hitherto shadow minister for communities and local government, to be a shoo-in for the role proper in prime minister David Cameron’s new cabinet.

  • Going underground

    14/05/2010

    The residents of a Motherwell estate believe contaminated land under their homes is making them ill - and they’ve hired a lawyer to help them prove it. Emily Twinch reports.

  • HCA axes director posts to save £2m

    18/05/2010

    The Homes and Communities Agency is slashing its number of directors and closing a London office as part of moves to save £2 million a year.

  • House price rise nears double figures

    17/05/2010

    House prices have risen nearly 10 per cent in the last year, according to government figures.

  • Housework heads home

    14/05/2010

    So far two councils have moved quickly to hoover up their ALMOs as the decent homes programme nears its end and more could follow suit. But is it the right move and what does it mean for staff and tenants, asks Lydia Stockdale.

  • Housing finance reform among coalition priorities

    20/05/2010

    The coalition government has set out its housing priorities including a review of the housing revenue account subsidy system.

  • Housing Heroes Awards - Video Highlights 2010

    09/06/2010

    Video:Housing Heroes Highlights 2010

  • Housing Heroes Awards gallery and video

    18/05/2010

    The Housing Heroes Awards recognise unsung achievements in the sector. See video reaction from some of the winners here, plus a gallery of images from the event.

  • Housing Heroes named at awards

    14/05/2010

    The winners of awards set up to recognise the contribution of the unsung ‘heroes’ of the housing sector have been announced.

  • Kier reports healthy start to 2010

    17/05/2010

    Construction and maintenance group Kier has reported a strong start to the year.

  • Labour retains key housing seats

    14/05/2010

    The Conservative Party failed to capture a number of its key target seats in areas where Labour Party candidates campaigned heavily on housing.

  • Landlords warned over incorrect data

    14/05/2010

    The Scottish housing watchdog has uncovered widespread errors in performance data from landlords.

  • Maintenance jobs at risk in Birmingham

    14/05/2010

    A third of all maintenance staff working on England’s largest council-owned housing stock could lose their jobs under new proposals, union bosses fear.

  • Minister chosen to lead localism drive

    17/05/2010

    The Conservatives have underlined their commitment to localism by appointing a minister for decentralisation.

  • Most ALMOs will stay as they are

    14/05/2010

    The headline ‘Quarter of ALMOs want to transfer homes’ (Inside Housing, 30 April) given to the article on Baker Tilly’s survey was perhaps a little misleading. The survey attracted 37 responses, meaning this answer was given by nine out of 69 arm’s-length management organisations which represents 13 per cent of ALMOs.

  • Movers & shakers

    14/05/2010

    Orchard Information Systems, the housing management information and communication technologies provider, has appointed Ian Shard as managing director. He previously worked as professional services director for the organisation. Peter Hunt, Orchard’s current managing director, will take up the role of executive chair.

  • New builds given green assessment

    14/05/2010

    The Good Homes Alliance has launched a monitoring programme to assess whether new build homes are meeting sustainability targets.

  • New Liverpool leader steps up regeneration

    20/05/2010

    Liverpool council’s new Labour leader is to shake up the city’s housing policy and speed up regeneration.

  • Outspoken Pickles takes reins

    14/05/2010

    The Conservative Party has appointed one of the most vocal critics of Labour house building targets as Communities and Local Government secretary.

  • Plan for change

    14/05/2010

    Localism must not be an excuse for NIMBYism but a way to contribute towards new homes and better communities

  • Repairs body to produce fire guidance

    14/05/2010

    Social housing maintenance providers will be issued with detailed fire safety guidance, following Inside Housing’s Safe as Houses campaign.

  • Royal intervention triggers legal fight

    18/05/2010

    A developer of London’s Chelsea Barracks has launched an £81 million legal claim following the withdrawal of a planning application for the controversial £3 billion scheme.

  • Sanctuary secures strong credit rating

    19/05/2010

    One of the largest housing associations in the country has had its Aa2 credit rating confirmed.

  • Sector backs Shapps appointment

    14/05/2010

    The appointment of Grant Shapps as housing minister has been greeted enthusiastically by organisations in the sector.

  • SHA Mini Profile - NHBC

    13/05/2010

  • SHA Mini Profile - Resourcing Group

    13/05/2010

  • Shapps set to be new housing minister

    13/05/2010

    The Conservatives’ former shadow housing minister Grant Shapps is to be the new minister for housing.

  • Shelter offers help to new MPs

    18/05/2010

    Shelter is to write to all new MPs offering advice on housing after research showed it is the chief concern of constituents.

  • Shelter was wrong in its comparison

    14/05/2010

    Rob Cogings of Derbyshire Dales Council was absolutely right to highlight the flaws in his letter on Shelter’s Housing League Table (Inside Housing, 16 April).

  • Social housing bill tops list of new laws

    14/05/2010

    A scheme to help social housing tenants move to new homes elsewhere in the country could be one of the first pieces of legislation tabled by the new government.

  • Staying alive

    14/05/2010

    Arm’s-length management organisations were always about the money. A New Labour brainchild, they launched in 2002 as a way for councils to land decent homes funding while retaining ownership of their stock.

  • Struggling homeowners still need support

    13/05/2010

    The Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned the Government against complacency as the number of repossessions goes down.

  • Taylor Wimpey appoints new chairman

    18/05/2010

    Taylor Wimpey has appointed Kevin Beeston as non-executive chairman.

  • Teather secures education role

    14/05/2010

    Former Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman Sarah Teather has landed a job at the newly renamed Department for Education.

  • The big issue

    14/05/2010

    The prevention of homelessness is better than cure, says John Lines

  • The day job

    14/05/2010

    Janice Bell, a senior housing officer for the income management unit at arm’s-length management organisation Sheffield Homes, explains her role

  • The future looks bleak for housing

    14/05/2010

    I used to be an optimistic ‘glass half full’ sort of chap. However, during the past couple of years as the aftershocks of the economic recession are starting to have a major impact, I’m worried there won’t be a glass left.

  • Thousands ripe for intermediate rent

    14/05/2010

    Thousands of tenants allocated general needs housing last year could have moved into intermediate tenures, a new report has claimed.

  • Union demands pay review for all publicly funded bodies

    20/05/2010

    A new government commission on public sector pay must review wages in all organisations which receive government funding, a trade union has said.

  • Wates wins £1.6m Bracknell contract

    17/05/2010

    Wates Living Space has won a £1.6 million contract with Thames Valley Housing for developing a shared ownership scheme.

  • We are small but very effective

    14/05/2010

    It should be noted that the way data is collected and published by the Tenant Services Authority is not only meaningless at a local level for larger providers (Inside Housing, 16 April), it is non-existent for small providers.

  • Welsh launch £30m retrofit scheme

    18/05/2010

    Welsh social housing providers have been allocated £30 million to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes.

  • What lies ahead?

    14/05/2010

    Two leading figures from the arm’s-length management organisation world go head to head to debate whether ALMOs should break away from the local authority or maintain the status quo

  • What type of ALMO are you?

    14/05/2010

    As more and more arm’s-length management organisations face up to life after decent homes, now is the time for staff, board members and tenants to decide where their future lies. Stumped? Fear not, Inside Housing’s handy quiz is here to help