Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Inside Housing
19/12/2008

View all stories from this issue.

  • Wizard!

    19/12/2008

    Christopher Smith has joined Merlin Housing Society as director of housing and support.

  • ‘Help tenants to fully participate in society’

    19/12/2008

    ‘Fairness’ is an oft-used gauge to which the government refers when judging how well its welfare system performs.

  • 2009 Housing Forecast

    02/01/2009

    The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors gives its predictions for the development of the housing market in 2009.

  • A message to Boris: embrace space standards

    19/12/2008

    You report that London mayor Boris Johnson wanted to reintroduce Parker Morris space standards for all new housing including private housing (Inside Housing, 12 December).  

  • A year in arrears

    19/12/2008

    This has been the year of the downturn. Just what has the impact been, and what will 2009 hold? Simon Brandon finds out.

  • Acumus acquisitions

    19/12/2008

    Social housing insurance broker Acumus has appointed Claire Johnson as head of operations and Kate Sutton as account director.

  • Age-friendly building will be enforced

    05/01/2009

    The government has resisted calls to water down age-friendly housing standards, despite the problems facing the house building industry.

  • All he surveys

    19/12/2008

    BPP Regeneration has appointed Robbie Landsburgh as an assistant surveyor.

  • All tenants deserve to be defended

    19/12/2008

    It never ceases to amaze me that despite what political hue people are in this country, they often advocate segregation and apartheid.

  • An ownership ban will cure our ills

    18/12/2008

    Iain Duncan Smith (Inside Housing, 12 December) joins a long list of politicians who seek to shift the blame for the global economic crisis away from the corrupt system of capital that allows spivs and speculators to flourish.

  • Banks agree to compromise

    19/12/2008

    Banks have promised to act with ‘forbearance and compromise’ after being warned against attaching overly aggressive price tags onto housing association rescues.

  • Beckett warns 2009 will be tough for social landlords

    19/12/2008

    Social landlords should prepare themselves: 2009 is set to be an ‘equally challenging’ year, the housing minister has warned.

  • Bellway bosses attacked for accepting bonuses

    05/01/2009

    The directors of house builder Bellway Homes have come under fire for accepting massive bonuses despite a dire business year.

  • Bond tap nets Places for People £150m

    23/12/2008

    Places for People has raised £148 million with a bond issue in the midst of a storm of negative publicity for housing associations.

  • Bovis offloads 379 homes in £18m deal

    07/01/2009

    Housing associations are buying 379 unsold homes from house builder Bovis in an £18 million deal funded by the government.

  • Building rates threaten Welsh goals

    08/01/2009

    A massive drop in house construction in Wales is threatening the government’s home building targets.

  • Buy-to-let tenants turfed out as landlords default

    19/12/2008

    Buy-to-let tenants are coming home to find the bailiffs have changed their locks because their landlords have failed to make mortgage payments.

  • Chair to be ousted

    19/12/2008

    The chair of Lambeth’s arm’s-length management organisation is being removed from her post after she was arrested on suspicion of fraud.

  • Closing the door

    07/01/2009

    The first landlord to use a premises closure order to evict problem tenants explains how the powers work

  • Completions fall by a third at Persimmon

    08/01/2009

    Persimmon built over 5,000 fewer homes in 2008 compared with the previous year, a trading statement from the builder has revealed.

  • Construction needs a saviour

    19/12/2008

    Confidence in the construction sector is at rock bottom, with commercial transactions stagnating because companies are wary of placing orders.

  • Control of the board

    19/12/2008

    Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive Sarah Webb has been appointed chair of Black Country Housing Association’s board.

  • Corporation chair in New Year Honours List

    02/01/2009

    The former chair of the Housing Corporation has been given a knighthood in the New Year Honours List.

  • Council fined for failing to rehouse couple

    07/01/2009

    A council has been forced to apologise to a couple with a young daughter who were forced to sleep at a relative’s home after it failed to rehouse them.

  • Council staff broke rules by renting sheltered housing

    06/01/2009

    Officials at Norwich City Council broke council rules by moving into vacant sheltered housing, an inquiry has found.

  • Credit crunch Christmas?

    23/12/2008

    Recession increases the need for homelessness charities while at the same time cutting their income. Beena Nadeem finds out how they are coping.

  • Culture capital plan to drive regeneration

    08/01/2009

    A competition to find a British city of culture is to be instigated to encourage urban regeneration.

  • Downturn hits executive bonuses

    23/12/2008

    Only 40 per cent of housing association directors who were eligible for bonuses received them this year, a survey has revealed.

  • DVD gives energy saving tips for tenants

    06/01/2009

    How housing association Derwent Living is encouraging its tenants to save energy, with the help of comedienne Jo Brand.

  • Empty homes could slash waiting lists

    22/12/2008

    The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has called on the government to do more to bring empty homes back into use.

  • End of an era as BME umbrella group closes

    19/12/2008

    Question marks loom over the future of the black and minority ethnic housing association sector, following the demise of its umbrella organisation after 25 years of activity.

  • Expert called in to check Norwich review

    07/01/2009

    Norwich Council has bowed to pressure to get a report into how council staff were able to rent recently-vacated sheltered housing independently checked.

  • Experts to address community divides

    05/01/2009

    The government is looking to address feelings of resentment and unfair treatment among white residents of working class estates.

  • Festive picture gallery

    23/12/2008

    Across the housing sector people have been queuing up to dress in silly outfits and do good works, and then sending us the pictures. Here are some of the results.

  • Fighting on two fronts

    19/12/2008

    Responding to the economic crisis while looking to the future will be worth the hard work

  • Final subsidy determination 2009/10

    06/01/2009

    Social housing consultancy Tribal sets out the key points of the latest subsidy determinations for local authorities that retain their housing stock

  • Finance director quits Genesis

    23/12/2008

    The finance director of one of England’s biggest housing associations has resigned from his job.

  • First UK homes meet German eco-standard

    08/01/2009

    Sunderland-based housing association Gentoo is planning to build the first houses in the UK to meet a highly energy efficient German eco-standard.

  • Flood insurance not guaranteed for new homes

    30/12/2008

    New homes built on flood plains will no longer be guaranteed renewed insurance cover under guidance given to insurers.

  • Freezing weather triggers support

    02/01/2009

    Freezing temperatures have triggered the opening of government-backed severe weather shelters for rough sleepers in London.

  • Further to fall

    06/01/2009

    So are house prices near the bottom or only part of the way down? 

  • Gateway for Hughes

    19/12/2008

    Tony Hughes has been confirmed as regional director for Southern Housing Group’s Thames Gateway region.

  • GHA expects to shift a third of its homes

    22/12/2008

    Glasgow Housing Asssociation is expecting to transfer around one third of its homes to local organisations within the next three years.

  • Gone too soon

    19/12/2008

    We marked the anniversary of the end of Ujima Housing Association with the closure of another landmark black and minority ethnic housing organisation.

  • Government speeds up mortgage support

    22/12/2008

    The government has changed its rules on mortgage interest support to alllow people who have already applied to get help faster.

  • Government urged to grab cheap land

    02/01/2009

    The government should take advantage of falling land prices to boost the amount of affordable housing, the Liberal Democrats have said.

  • Gypsy and Traveller sites to be set up

    23/12/2008

    The government has allocated more than a third of a £21 million fund for Gypsies and Travellers to creating new sites.

  • Happy new year

    05/01/2009

    Here’s a cheery quote to start off 2009: ‘I know of 22 associations that are in dire straits.’

  • Head above water

    19/12/2008

    In her final week as editor of Inside Housing, Kate Murray plots social housing’s course since the mid-1990s and finds that a return to the numbers game has come just at the wrong time.

  • Home starts expected to slump as prices fall

    02/01/2009

    Surveyors are predicting fewer than 80,000 new homes will be built in 2009 as prices continue to fall.

  • Honour bound

    05/01/2009

    Dennis Rees is among the names in the New Year Honours List. Clara Story finds out why

  • Housing bodies score well in equality index

    07/01/2009

    Housing organisations have made a strong showing in a list of top employers created by lesbian, gay and bisexual equality charity Stonewall.

  • Housing leads drop in construction work

    05/01/2009

    Activity in the construction industry fell by the sharpest rate ever recorded in December, according to figures.

  • Housing market slump to continue in 2009

    23/12/2008

    There will be no let up in the decline in the housing market next year, according to market intelligence agency Hometrack.

  • Housing workers urged to help safeguarding review

    22/12/2008

    Housing workers are being urged to feed into a review of government guidance on safeguarding vulnerable adults.

  • In control

    19/12/2008

    David Stevens has joined FHM West Midlands as financial controller.

  • Is the price right?

    07/01/2009

    So what exactly is the deal with unsold homes bought from builders through the national clearing house?

  • It’s been fun

    19/12/2008

    On a personal note, this is not only the last issue of Inside Housing for 2008, but my last as editor.

  • Joining Gedling

    19/12/2008

    Gedling Homes has appointed Helen Whittingham as director of business services and Jason Cannon as director of housing services.

  • Joint working to tackle anti-social behaviour

    29/12/2008

    Social landlords in Scotland could be asked to share office space with police and social workers to reduce anti-social behaviour.

  • L&Q has £20 million on the table for Genesis

    06/01/2009

    Genesis Housing Group has secured a promise from fellow mega-housing association L&Q Group to lend it up to £20 million, it has confirmed.

  • Landlords forced into new year recruitment freezes and job losses

    19/12/2008

    Recruitment freezes and job losses are on the cards for social landlords as building projects dry up in the economic downturn.

  • Landlords question accuracy of crime maps

    06/01/2009

    Social landlords have cast doubt on the accuracy of crime maps introduced by the Home Office.

  • Leeds to investigate decent homes work

    07/01/2009

    A council has promised an investigation after a whistleblower claimed electrical work on 1,600 homes was dangerously below standard.

  • Lenders anticipate 75,000 repossessions

    18/12/2008

    The number of repossessions will rise to 75,000 next year and the number of households more than three months in arrears will more than double, the Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned.

  • Let’s champion the right to choose

    18/12/2008

    Page 7 of your 5 December edition really brought into sharp focus a fundamental point about the tenancies for life debate.

  • Let’s get radical

    19/12/2008

    There will be many working in social housing who will be only too glad to see the back of 2008.

  • London’s rough sleepers to get individual budgets

    19/12/2008

    Rough sleepers in London could be given their own funds to help them get themselves off the streets.

  • Lost for words

    18/12/2008

    I’m not sure whether to describe this morning’s Council of Mortgage Lenders forecasts for the housing market next year as dreadful, appalling or awful.

  • National park body seeks land for homes

    06/01/2009

    Landowners in the Yorkshire Dales National Park are being urged to put forward sites for development to ease a severe affordable housing shortage.

  • Nationwide records 15.9 per cent fall in house prices

    06/01/2009

    House prices fell 15.9 per cent in 2008, according to the latest figures from Nationwide.

  • Needs study gets go-ahead

    19/12/2008

    The government has commissioned a new study on housing need that is intended to ‘go beyond’ the estimates in the influential Barker report.

  • Of no fixed abode

    19/12/2008

    Keith Cooper investigates how councils are handling the ‘politically fatal’ yet essential task of providing for Gypsies and Travellers.

  • Onsite help never more valuable

    18/12/2008

    I was grateful to Inside Housing for covering the view of Anchor and Housing 21 that sheltered housing should be removed from the Supporting People funding regime (Inside Housing, 12 December).

  • Pathfinder head expects more progress

    02/01/2009

    The chair of housing market renewal pathfinder Elevate East Lancashire has said its £317 million investment in the area is ‘starting to make a difference’.

  • Planning shake up to aid rural homes

    05/01/2009

    The government is expected to throw its weight behind calls for a shake up in planning policy to make homes in rural areas more affordable.

  • Reality bites

    19/12/2008

    A council has teamed up with a contractor to make life easier for young people leaving care. Simon Brandon reports.

  • 'Reckless' council missed budget hole

    07/01/2009

    Lambeth Council was ‘reckless’ when it failed to predict a massive hole in its homelessness accommodation budget, an investigation has found.

  • Regeneration leader dies aged 45

    06/01/2009

    A leading figure in regeneration and planning, Jon Ladd, died on Sunday aged 45 after a short illness.

  • Rental areas changed to duck Lords ruling

    08/01/2009

    The government has changed the definition of rental areas used to set housing benefit levels, to avoid a House of Lords decision that would have forced them to redraw the boundaries.

  • Repricing warning

    19/12/2008

    Housing associations might have to accept repricing of loan facilities if they cannot meet the huge cash calls hitting the sector, the Tenant Services Authority has warned.

  • Rules of engagement

    19/12/2008

    Mark Lupton and Samantha McGrady test the strength of the new regulator’s powers

  • Santa’s little helpers

    19/12/2008

    Santa came early to scores of South Liverpool Housing tenants this year.

  • Scientist, teacher, activist

    19/12/2008

    Steve Staines explains his role as planning officer for Friends, Families & Travellers

  • Scottish federation criticised for stance on development

    07/01/2009

    The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations has been attacked for not being critical enough of the Scottish Government’s affordable housing development plans.

  • Seasonal messages for us all

    19/12/2008

    The other night I dozed off in front of the TV. As Strictly Come Dancing faded into the background I was visited by three ghosts - from housing’s past, present and future.

  • Services are in imminent danger

    19/12/2008

    Was I the only one to wonder if your headline ‘Support services given  a year to persuade councils of their worth’ (Inside Housing, 5 December) belonged to a different story?

  • Six associations on regulator’s at-risk list

    19/12/2008

    The social housing regulator has a ‘watch list’ of six housing associations facing threats to their financial health which must be tackled within six months.

  • Slip and slide

    19/12/2008

    Bradford residents got into the festive spirit during a special winter activity day. The council’s integrated youth support service organised the Snow Play event at Bradford Ice Rink last Friday.

  • Smash and grab

    22/12/2008

    If you think 2008 has been a tumultuous year for housing, spare a thought for what’s happening across the Irish Sea.

  • Still worse than the Tories

    19/12/2008

    New figures out this morning confirm that the supply of new affordable housing is still below the level that the government inherited from the Conservatives.

  • Stuck in the middle

    19/12/2008

    Dave and Elisa Hynes own their ex-council home, but are being told to move. Not without a fight, they tell Keith Cooper

  • Subscribe to Inside Housing

    22/12/2008

  • Tackling homelessness at Christmas

    23/12/2008

    Jeremy Swain, chief executive of homelessness charity Thames Reach, explains how his organisation is facing Christmas and the New Year.

  • Taylor Wimpey scraps affordable housing team

    06/01/2009

    Home builder Taylor Wimpey has laid off its entire national affordable housing team, Inside Housing has learned.

  • Tenants fear rent payments in 2009

    05/01/2009

    Nearly half of social housing tenants are worried about meeting their rent payments in 2009, according to a report on housing security from the Conservative Party.

  • The bleak midwinter

    23/12/2008

    There’s precious little Christmas cheer around today with a clutch of surveys pointing to a New Year that could be even worse than 2008.

  • The new regulator should intervene

    19/12/2008

    I am shocked to read that Chiltern Hundreds Charitable Housing Association has evicted two hostel dwellers for challenging their charges (Inside Housing, 12 December).

  • Tories demand action on homelessness

    24/12/2008

    The Conservatives have called for more action across government departments to tackle homelessness due to its ‘multi-faceted nature’.

  • Use of temporary housing for children soars in London

    23/12/2008

    The number of children living in temporary accommodation in London has soared despite a decline in most other parts of England.