Thursday, 09 February 2012

Inside Housing
26/02/2010

View all stories from this issue.

  • ‘Betrayal’ over lifetime homes pledge

    26/02/2010

    The government has been accused of reneging on a pledge to make new housing accessible to disabled people by a new campaign group.

  • A cruel squeeze

    26/02/2010

    Scotland’s housing will suffer unless we work to counter government cuts

  • A Fawlty sense of rights

    26/02/2010

    Housing applicants need a reality check, says Inside Housing’s anonymous columnist

  • Adding years

    26/02/2010

    Landlords need to get to grips with lease extensions if they don’t want to lose out, says Simon Bagg

  • An inspector calls

    26/02/2010

    Over the past 18 months a new warning has echoed through the offices of more than 50 English social landlords: ‘The inspectors are here, the inspectors are here’.

  • Benefit reforms 'will increase arrears'

    03/03/2010

    Housing benefit reforms will leave private tenants struggling to pay their rent, according to research carried out by Crisis.

  • Birmingham slams ‘unfair’ rent rises

    02/03/2010

    Birmingham council has hit out at the government for ‘forcing’ it to raise its tenants’ rents.

  • Board aims to end rough sleeping

    26/02/2010

    It is extremely misleading to claim that the London delivery board is seeking to redefine rough sleeping (‘Bar lowered on 2012 rough sleeper figures’, Inside Housing, 19 February).

  • Bond market boom attracts new player

    26/02/2010

    A new entrant in the social housing bond market will compete with Trade Risks and The Housing Finance Corporation when it launches next month.

  • Boris seeks 9,000 homes to meet goal

    02/03/2010

    Councils across London have been asked to deliver 40,917 affordable homes by 2011, leaving the mayor 9,083 short of his original goal.

  • Brown to crack down on ASBO breaches

    02/03/2010

    The prime minister has promised to take tougher action against people who breach anti-social behaviour orders.

  • Campaigners fight Welsh transfer plans

    08/03/2010

    Protesters have hit the streets of the Welsh town of Port Talbot to fight plans for three ‘super’ residential care homes and stock transfer.

  • Charity mourns TV presenter patron

    03/03/2010

    A youth homelessness charity has said it is saddened by the death of its patron, TV presenter Kristian Digby.

  • Conservative plan is financially sound

    26/02/2010

    I was disappointed to see Nick Raynsford’s criticism our plans to build more homes (Inside Housing, 15 January). Since 1997 Labour’s centrist housing targets have comprehensively failed. It only takes a quick glance at the low levels of house building, even during the boom years, and the all time high social housing waiting list to confirm that taking power away from communities has been catastrophic.

  • Court rules Somali woman has right to housing

    26/02/2010

    A court has ruled a Somali woman is entitled to a council house and other state benefits, even if she is a ‘burden on the state’.

  • Energy companies to fund efficiency work

    02/03/2010

    Government plans for a new decent homes-style standard for energy efficiency in social and private rented housing are set to cost £19 billion.

  • Everyone indoors

    26/02/2010

    The government pledged to end rough sleeping on England’s streets by 2012. With less than two years to go, Emily Twinch finds out how it’s going

  • First NI housing award winners announced

    01/03/2010

    The winners of the first Chartered Institute of Housing Northern Ireland Housing Awards have been announced.

  • Green guidance

    02/03/2010

    Places for People’s Nicholas Doyle explains how the association is using a series of short films to help its residents improve the way they use energy

  • HCA picks private sector sites

    26/02/2010

    The government’s housing agency has selected its first sites for a scheme to get institutional investment into private rented housing.

  • Help me help you to save the planet

    26/02/2010

    Housing providers hold the key to meeting UK climate change obligations. Policy makers ignore it at the planet’s peril. Caroline Thorpe delivers the latest instalment in the House Proud series

  • Housing groups among best small employers

    01/03/2010

    Five housing organisations have been praised for being among the best small companies to work for in the UK.

  • Housing market slows in February

    01/03/2010

    Housing market activity was ‘sluggish’ in February, with increases in the number of homes for sale and buyer registrations below seasonal averages.

  • Housing services receive zero stars

    04/03/2010

    Two councils have received zero-star ratings for their housing services from the Audit Commission.

  • Jobs zone - South

    26/02/2010

    Housing associations in the south of England are on track to meet their decent homes targets and so are now focusing on retrofitting, writes Andrew Lambert.

  • Lack of homes threatens future of countryside

    04/03/2010

    The future of the countryside is in jeopardy because young people are being forced out by a lack of affordable housing, the government’s rural advisor has warned.

  • Levy with an escape route

    26/02/2010

    Developers face a new tax, but local authorities are not obliged to charge it, explains Neil Cohen

  • Lib Dems challenge affordable homes claim

    03/03/2010

    The Welsh Liberal Democrats have disputed assembly government claims that it is on track to reach its target of building 6,500 affordable homes by 2011.

  • Mortgage lenders seek reassurance over TSA scrutiny of landlords

    26/02/2010

    Lenders have warned the Tenant Services Authority that the tight timescale for its new regulatory regime poses ‘significant’ risks.

  • MPs slate decent homes programme

    18/03/2010

    A committee of MPs has slammed the way the decent homes programme has been run, and called for clear proposals on its future.

  • North Lincolnshire’s bullying probe stalls

    26/02/2010

    An investigation into claims of bullying and harassment at a Lincolnshire housing association has stalled, eight months after its chief executive was suspended on full pay.

  • Notting Hill staff vote to strike

    26/02/2010

    Trade union members at Notting Hill Housing Group have voted to go on strike.

  • Number 10 rejects overcrowding petition

    04/03/2010

    The government has rejected calls to update the definition of overcrowding despite strong support for a petition on the Number 10 website.

  • Opportunity knocks

    26/02/2010

    Tough times notwithstanding, the south east’s housing associations remain committed to keeping their apprenticeship schemes open. Lydia Stockdale looks at what the willing will find on offer

  • Origin transfers 12 per cent of stock

    26/02/2010

    Origin Housing Group is to shed 632 homes and narrow its focus to just North London and Hertfordshire.

  • Pilot allows high-rise tenants to keep dogs

    03/03/2010

    Edinburgh council is piloting a scheme to allow pet owners to keep their animals in high-rise flats.

  • Planning system faces overhaul

    02/03/2010

    Planning in Northern Ireland will undergo its biggest reform in 30 years, the environment minister announced last week.

  • Plastic homes firm targets social housing

    03/03/2010

    A company that has developed a way of building homes from recycled plastic is hoping the social housing sector will be its core market.

  • Prince’s portrait to help the homeless

    26/02/2010

    Prince William has turned photographer and subject in aid of homelessness charity Crisis.

  • Reform of private sector is welcome

    26/02/2010

    We welcome the announcement from housing and planning minister John Healey to increase local powers to protect communities and improve standards in the private rented housing sector.

  • Release drives Persimmon back into black

    02/03/2010

    Leading house builder Persimmon has reported a £77.8 million pre-tax profit for the year ending 31 December.

  • Renewal pathfinders make good progress

    04/03/2010

    Housing market renewal pathfinders have made good progress over the past year despite difficult economic circumstances, according to the Audit Commission.

  • RIP ALMOs?

    26/02/2010

    What future do politicians see for England’s 69 arm’s-length management organisations? This is not the first time this question has been posed and, unfortunately, none of the main parties is any closer to answering it.

  • Safety campaign reaches Downing Street

    01/03/2010

    Inside Housing has handed a petition with the names of 100 landlords to Gordon Brown calling for safer social homes.

  • Scots target private rented sector

    08/03/2010

    The Scottish Government is consulting on legislation to improve the standard of the private rented sector.

  • Second index reports house price fall

    04/03/2010

    House prices fell 1.5 per cent in February, after rising for seven months in a row, according to the Halifax.

  • Shared ownership schemes ‘preferable’ to open market

    26/02/2010

    More than a third of people who want to buy a new home hope to enter the intermediate market as shared owners because it is their only option for getting onto the property ladder.

  • Shelter chief executive Campbell Robb explains why he is backing the campaign

    04/03/2010

      

  • Slough opens talks on ALMO closure

    26/02/2010

    Slough Council has launched talks with tenants about becoming the latest council to close its arm’s-length management organisation.

  • Social housing target of £17m retrofit scheme

    26/02/2010

    The government has announced a £17 million fund to test low-carbon technology in social housing.

  • South east

    26/02/2010

    Our south east special includes a profile of Aldwyck chief executive Harj Singh, plus features on homes targets, inspections, and what voters think of shadow housing minister Grant Shapps

  • Steady as he goes

    26/02/2010

    Within weeks of taking over as chief executive of Aldwyck Housing Association, Harj Singh found himself having to calm an organisation rocked by a race storm. Kicking off our special focus on the south east, Martin Hilditch talks to the man with his eyes firmly on the horizon.

  • Surprise surprise

    26/02/2010

    Short notice Audit Commission inspectors can pop up any time, anywhere. And the south east has had the lion’s share of snap visits. Neil Merrick sifts through the evidence

  • Target practice

    26/02/2010

    Last month London Mayor Boris Johnson announced the capital is on track to deliver 50,000 new affordable homes by 2012. But is his delivery policy really working? Here, Tory and Labour representatives go head-to-head over the controversial targe

  • Taylor Wimpey sees sharp fall in profits

    03/03/2010

    Operating profit in Taylor Wimpey’s UK housing business fell sharply in 2009, dropping from £53 million in 2008 to £14.3 million.

  • The proof’s in the eating

    26/02/2010

    He has used his constituency to talk up the Conservatives’ ideas on national housing policy, but are the voters in shadow housing minister Grant Shapps’ back yard impressed with his ideas? Lydia Stockdale went to meet them.

  • Tories fail to block right to buy bid

    03/03/2010

    An attempt by the Welsh government to gain the power to end the right to buy has moved a step closer to success, despite Conservative opposition.

  • TSA issues benefit bill warning

    26/02/2010

    Social landlords have been warned that plans to slash the UK’s huge housing benefit bill could undermine their financial stability.

  • TV show has shamed us all

    26/02/2010

    Anyone working in the housing sector who has seen the TV show Tower Block of Commons in which MPs living in social housing, cannot watch with comfort. Some of the homes are a disgrace, but why do we accept this standard and how come we have an inspection regime that can grant three stars to one of the landlords?

  • Union claims Tory plans threaten secure tenancy

    01/03/2010

    Conservative housing policies threaten the security of tenure of eight million tenants and Britain’s house building programme, a union leader has warned.

  • Wanted: your views on the general election

    10/03/2010

    As part of our general election coverage Inside Housing is looking to recruit a panel of readers to tell us what you think.

  • Welsh commit £4.9m to support for elderly

    10/03/2010

    The deputy minister for housing and regeneration in Wales has pledged £4.9 million to help older and disabled people remain in their own homes.

  • Working tenants get help to move home

    04/03/2010

    Social tenants who have an offer of employment will get help to move nearer their intended place of work, under a government pilot.

  • Worthy mentor

    26/02/2010

    Housing’s unsung heroes deserve to be celebrated by the sector