Inside Housing
22/01/2010
View all stories from this issue.
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Action needed to tackle social housing inequality
27/01/2010
A major study into economic inequality has said more must be done to tackle the wealth gap between social tenants and the rest of the population of the UK.
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ALMO secures £9m after dropping legal challenge
26/01/2010
A London borough has secured £9 million of decent homes funding after withdrawing from a judicial review against a government decision to defer the cash.
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An age old problem
22/01/2010
Social landlords should be helping older residents access the £5 billion in unclaimed benefits they deserve and need
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Armed forces offered homes discount
27/01/2010
Members of the armed forces are to be offered a 50 per cent discount on homes, in a £20 million pilot administered by the Homes and Communities Agency.
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Associations fear post-election cutbacks loom for entire sector
22/01/2010
Housing associations expect housing to plummet down the list of government funding priorities after the general election, an auditor has warned.
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Barnet considers warden ruling appeal
25/01/2010
A London council which was ruled to have acted unlawfully when it planned to end its resident warden service is applying for leave to appeal the decision.
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Boris faces 'housing time bomb'
26/01/2010
A member of the London Assembly has warned the mayor will be unable to meet his housing targets if he continues to rely on funding from government and developers.
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Clear the high hurdles
22/01/2010
Avoid being tripped up by new pension rules which come into force in 2012
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CLG sparks funding row
22/01/2010
Sheltered housing providers have rounded on the government after it insisted it will not hold councils responsible for the amount they spend on supported housing.
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Consultation is ‘too late’
22/01/2010
Housing organisations have accused the government of lacking commitment to the private rented sector after it failed to publish a consultation on its reform.
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Countryside chair Alan Cherry dies
25/01/2010
The founder and chairman of Countryside Properties, Alan Cherry, has died aged 76.
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Debt deal must be done
22/01/2010
‘If we don’t get a deal on housing revenue account reform soon, a child will die due to the poor state of some housing in our borough which we cannot afford to do anything about.’
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Denham gives £20m to community scheme
25/01/2010
Communities secretary John Denham has pledged an extra £20 million to support traditional working class areas of England worst hit by the recession.
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Don’t be alarmist over timber frame
22/01/2010
Catching up on some reading over the Christmas break, I was dismayed to read one of your front-page stories (Inside Housing, 4 December).
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Extra funding for decent homes work
27/01/2010
The decent homes programme in Northern Ireland has received a £6 million funding boost.
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Funding to help anti-social families retain homes
26/01/2010
The government has announced the creation of 88 projects to help families who risk eviction due to their anti-social behaviour.
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Generation gap
28/01/2010
Eighteen-year-old social tenant Richard Rossington quizzes Tenant Services Authority chief executive Peter Marsh on the relevance of the regulator to young people.
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Growth continues for mortgage market
26/01/2010
The number of mortgages approved for house buying rose slightly in December, according to the British Bankers’ Association.
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Homeless targeted to vote in general election
22/01/2010
Homelessness charities are to launch a nationwide campaign to encourage homeless people to vote in this year’s general election.
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House building up 64 per cent
25/01/2010
Applications to build houses across the UK rose dramatically in the last quarter of 2009.
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House proud: Health
22/01/2010
Last week, we launched House Proud, our campaign to put housing at the heart of the general election debate. In the first of a series of articles showing how housing benefits all the main policy areas, Lydia Stockdale looks at the links between housing and health
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Housing officers given recession training
27/01/2010
Housing skills body Asset Skills is launching an apprenticeship designed to help housing officers cope with the challenges posed by the economic downturn.
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If you’re not on the list...
22/01/2010
Procurement has entered a new era with the advent of the Homes and Communities Agency’s delivery partner panel. Jamie Obertelli investigates why the idea is causing such a buzz
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Indecent proposal
22/01/2010
Financial reform is essential if stock retaining councils are to secure the future of their already under funded decent homes programmes, argues John Lines
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Jobs zone - London
22/01/2010
Although the economic environment in London has been challenging, social housing remains a comparatively resilient sector with steady demand for staff in temporary and permanent roles, says Donna Bowden
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Landlords ask for rent cut exemption
22/01/2010
Three housing associations have asked the Tenant Services Authority to waive their rent cuts amid fears they would not be able to implement them effectively.
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Lenders raise concerns over tenant protection bill
27/01/2010
The umbrella body for mortgage lenders has called for amendments to a bill that would give greater protection to private tenants if their landlord defaults on payments.
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Lenders threaten local lifetime homes plan
22/01/2010
Lenders are derailing a drive to build homes in rural areas that will remain affordable in perpetuity.
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LGA ditches debt demand
22/01/2010
The Local Government Association has dropped its call for all housing debt to be written off as part of the government’s council housing finance reforms.
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Lincolnshire tenants receive 'fair' service
28/01/2010
Housing association North Lincolnshire Homes gives a ‘fair’ service to tenants, according to inspectors.
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Lord leads fight for tower block sprinklers
01/02/2010
A member of the House of Lords is hoping to push through a bill to ensure sprinklers are fitted to buildings less than 30 metres high
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MPs positive about housing associations
26/01/2010
The perception of housing associations among London MPs has significantly improved over the past year, according to research by pollsters ComRes.
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Needs must
22/01/2010
Research shows that the choiced based lettings system offers very little choice at all
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No regrets?
22/01/2010
For some time now, the Homes and Communities Agency has been working on revolutionising the way affordable housing is built in England. Its new delivery partner panel of 28 contractors and house builders is the first step in getting more builders into the market.
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Parties pledge manifesto commitment to housing
22/01/2010
The three major political parties have signed up to Inside Housing’s new House Proud campaign and promised to make housing a key part of their manifestos.
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Private landlords face tougher controls
28/01/2010
The government has unveiled plans to crack down on substandard properties in the private rented sector, and houses in multiple occupation.
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Record HCA grant secures £1bn scheme
28/01/2010
Work on a £1 billion regeneration scheme in Hackney is set to proceed after the council secured a £27 million grant from the Homes and Communities Agency.
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Regulator cuts 10% from its budget
28/01/2010
The Tenant Services Authority has outlined plans to cut 10 per cent of its running costs over the next year.
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Repossession help extended
26/01/2010
The housing minister has extended the government’s campaign to help struggling homeowners get a grip on their finances and avoid repossession.
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Scotland can do its bit for carbon cuts
22/01/2010
I fully endorse the WWF’s call for every house in Scotland to be given free loft and wall insulation to help meet the ambitious targets for cutting carbon emissions laid down in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act.
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Spending cuts hit plans for half a million homes
25/01/2010
Planned cuts in public spending would see more than half a million affordable homes axed, the National Housing Federation has warned.
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Staff criticised in race case leave Aldwyck
22/01/2010
Two senior members of staff criticised in a ruling over the dismissal of a housing officer have left Aldwyck Housing Association.
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Street art
22/01/2010
Swinging on ‘the gate of fear’, throwing leaves in wind tunnels and doing the moonwalk on gravel: these were just three of the ways in which young people living on Southwark Council’s Sceaux Gardens estate in Camberwell found that they could enjoy their surroundings while working with the artist Lottie Child last summer.
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The real good life
22/01/2010
While world leaders squabble over making a meaningful commitment to climate change, one group of activists is already leading the zero-carbon life. Simon Brandon visits the Kew eco-village in London to find out how.
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Three Valleys staff are content
22/01/2010
I wish to comment on the series of articles in Inside Housing over recent weeks, which seem to paint a negative picture of Three Valleys Housing.
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Two star ALMO secures funding
25/01/2010
An arm’s-length management organisation has managed to secure £5 million off the back of a positive Audit Commission inspection, despite delays to the payouts.
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Ujima fraud case to be heard in 2011
25/01/2010
A trial into fraud at failed housing association Ujima won’t be heard until 2011, after two of the suspects pleaded not guilty to nine counts of money laundering.
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White areas lack community groups
28/01/2010
White working class areas are struggling to deal with the recession because of a lack of community groups, according to a charity report.
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Work should not affect social rents
22/01/2010
Howard Farrand, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, has made the suggestion that new social housing tenants should be charged more for their rent if they start to earn above the higher rate of tax (Inside Housing, 8 January).