Thursday, 09 February 2012

Inside Housing
29/01/2010

View all stories from this issue.

  • 130 jobs in danger at Lambeth ALMO

    29/01/2010

    A London arms-length management organisation will have to cut more than a quarter of its jobs and close two area offices if its parent council goes ahead with plans to slash its management fee by £2.3 million.

  • Alarm at overcrowded Somali community

    29/01/2010

    The Somali community in London is living in conditions so disproportionately terrible that the situation should be investigated by the race equality watchdog, researchers have warned.

  • Allocations scheme reduces segregation

    04/02/2010

    Choice-based lettings have helped reduce ethnic segregation, according to Communities and Local Government department research.

  • Associations named in best employer list

    02/02/2010

    Housing associations Luminus and New Charter Housing Trust Group are among the best organisations to work for in the UK, a survey has found.

  • Beware boomerang bills

    28/01/2010

    Consult with leaseholders before charging for works - or pay the consequences

  • Bonds can beat inflation

    29/01/2010

    Two of the sector’s leading financial gurus turned forecasters in Inside Housing recently.

  • Builders protest over 40% affordable target

    03/02/2010

    House builders are warning development will cease if a council pushes ahead with plans to require 40 per cent of new homes to be affordable.

  • Burglars lose homes in council clampdown

    02/02/2010

    Council tenants who commit burglaries will face eviction from their homes as part of a clampdown by Barking and Dagenham council.

  • Charity sets out steps to end homelessness

    11/02/2010

    Umbrella group Homeless Link has issued a general election manifesto setting out 10 steps to end rough sleeping and homelessness.

  • Charity slams Kent’s homeless services

    04/02/2010

    Services for homeless people in Kent and Medway are ‘patchy’ and those with complex needs are served extremely badly, according to research. 

  • CIH backs direct benefit payments

    03/02/2010

    The Chartered Institute of Housing has sparked a war of words with homelessness charities and private landlords after insisting the new housing benefit system works well.

  • CIH issues ‘reform or bust’ warning

    29/01/2010

    Almost all of the housing revenue accounts of stock-owning councils will go into the red unless they get a good deal under council housing finance reforms.

  • Councils drop warden case appeals

    01/02/2010

    Two councils which acted unlawfully in the way they drew up plans for the removal of live-in sheltered housing wardens have decided not to appeal.

  • Decent homes cash released

    29/01/2010

    Half the councils threatening to take the government to court over delays to their decent homes funding have been handed some money after agreeing to drop out of the case.

  • Deputy chief executive to leave HCA

    02/02/2010

    The deputy chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, Eamonn Boylan, is to leave at the end of March.

  • Don’t derail us now

    29/01/2010

    Spending cuts threaten the north just as its regeneration is picking up a head of steam

  • Economists predict house price surge

    01/02/2010

    Analysts are predicting a 6 per cent rise in house prices for 2010, as the latest indices show continued growth.

  • Eco-obsession will stifle affordability

    29/01/2010

    The point made by property consultancy King Sturge (Green homes will constrain affordable housing, www.insidehousing.co.uk) that financial cuts and tight regulations on green housing will restrict the government’s ability to deliver affordable housing is absolutely on the mark.

  • Federations united in election demands

    03/02/2010

    The UK’s four national housing federations have drawn up a joint manifesto for the general election.

  • For the record

    28/01/2010

    In the second of a mini-series on the Data Protection Act 1998, we consider how you should maintain data under the act’s principles.

  • Gallery: Aylesbury clears the final hurdle

    03/02/2010

    As the £2.4 billion regeneration of the Aylesbury estate in south London gets the final go ahead, the latest images show how it could look. The pictures combine computer-generated imagery with photographs of existing areas to give an impression of different elements of the scheme.

  • Glasgow HA chief to cut stock levels

    29/01/2010

    The new chief executive of Scotland’s largest social landlord has indicated it will reduce to almost half its peak size, in his first interview since taking the job.

  • Government backs tenant protection bill

    01/02/2010

    The government has given its formal support to a backbench bill seeking to give greater protection to private tenants.

  • Government confirms HRA subsidy figures

    04/02/2010

    The government has published the final version of its housing revenue account subsidy determination, which covers council rents, management, maintenance and repairs funding.

  • Government must review retirement housing, says charity

    29/01/2010

    The UK’s largest charity for older people has called on the government to carry out a comprehensive review of its policies on retirement housing.

  • Healey plans more protection for private tenants

    03/02/2010

    Housing minister John Healey has announced plans for more help and protection for private tenants.

  • Home sweet home

    29/01/2010

    As Cadbury changes hands, Martin Hilditch asks what will become of Bournville, the company’s model village?

  • House Proud: Education

    29/01/2010

    In the latest of our House Proud campaign series, which aims to put housing at the heart of politics, Caroline Thorpe finds out why better housing means a better education and, ultimately, a better life

  • Housing costs divide families

    02/02/2010

    High housing costs mean 1.5 million adults cannot look after their elderly parents because they can’t live close by, research has found.

  • Housing providers cut out of £91m support system

    29/01/2010

    The government has overhauled the way it pays financial support to failed asylum seekers because of suspicions some unscrupulous housing providers were defrauding the system.

  • Hyde secures first credit rating

    02/02/2010

    Credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has assigned housing association Hyde Group an Aa2 rating.

  • In from the cold

    29/01/2010

    Entrenched rough sleepers face serious dangers in temperatures this low, says Jeremy Swain

  • Locals reject large-scale development

    01/02/2010

    Respondents to a consultation on development in the east of England have overwhelmingly favoured the lowest scenario for housing growth that was on offer.

  • Making a stand

    29/01/2010

    Mill Group boss David Toplas controls an investment fund worth £500 million giving aspiring homeowners the chance to buy. He tells Jamie Obertelli why his home buying model is one others will follow.

  • Memorial service for top house builder

    01/02/2010

    A memorial service will be held in March to celebrate the life of Alan Cherry who died last month.

  • Movers & shakers

    29/01/2010

    Christopher Strickland has been named chair of Peabody, replacing Pam Alexander. Mr Strickland was previously chair of Peabody’s property committee.

  • MP attacks 'foolish' block of planning bill

    01/02/2010

    A London MP has accused the government of blocking the progress of his proposals to change planning law.

  • Mr Farrand needs a presidential look

    29/01/2010

    How interesting the photos with the article In the hot seat were (8 January, Inside Housing).

  • National Tenant Voice seeks board

    03/02/2010

    The recruitment process has begun to find six of the 15 board members for the National Tenant Voice.

  • Notting Hill staff to vote on strike action

    04/02/2010

    Staff at a London housing association will vote on strike action this month following proposed changes to terms and conditions.

  • Police suspect second fraud case at Ujima

    29/01/2010

    Police are investigating a second suspected fraud at Ujima housing association, prosecution barristers have revealed.

  • Probe into London grant rates

    29/01/2010

    The government’s housing agency will carry out research into why affordable grant rates are so high in London. It hopes such action will help it to bring them down.

  • Promising progress

    29/01/2010

    Inside Housing’s award-nominated Empty Promise campaign launched a year ago this week. There’s been plenty to celebrate since, says David Ireland, chief executive of the Empty Homes Agency

  • Santander lends to small HAs

    29/01/2010

    Banking giant Santander is retraining a number of former Alliance & Leicester staff to help deliver finance to smaller housing associations across the country.

  • Scots wha hae

    29/01/2010

    ‘O wad some power the giftie gie us, to see oursels as ithers see us!’. Robert Burns may not have had housing finance in mind when he wrote these words in his poem To a Louse, but for English local authorities there may well be an important parallel. Bear with me…

  • Scottish builders seek government support

    09/02/2010

    The Scottish Building Federation has come up with a seven-point recovery plan for the construction industry in the country.

  • Shared ownership lease seeks to reassure lenders

    02/02/2010

    A revised shared ownership lease has been introduced in a bid to encourage more lenders into the market.

  • Spaced out

    29/01/2010

    Demand for housing is high in the UK, so why aren’t we building homes the size people want and what is being done about it? asks Sir Bob Kerslake

  • Stagnant rents stifle investment

    29/01/2010

    I read with interest the article Rents climb by 5 per cent (8 January, Inside Housing), which highlighted the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research’s study and the assertion that average rents for most housing associations would be within 5 per cent of target rents by 2012.

  • Still an issue

    29/01/2010

    It is a year since Inside Housing launched its Empty Promise campaign, calling for action to bring the burgeoning number of empty properties back into use.

  • TCPA appoints interim head

    02/02/2010

    The Town and Country Planning Association has appointed an interim chief executive to lead the charity.

  • Tenants to vote on 16,000 home transfer

    03/02/2010

    The Scottish Government has backed plans to transfer 16,000 homes from Glasgow Housing Association to smaller organisations. 

  • Three line up for Carr Gomm

    29/01/2010

    Three supported housing organisations have been shortlisted to take over troubled housing association Carr Gomm.

  • Three Valleys’ Eastwood suspended

    29/01/2010

    Three Valleys Housing chief executive Paul Eastwood has been suspended by the association’s board after allegations of staff bullying.

  • TV show puts politicians in social housing

    01/02/2010

    A group of MPs have exchanged their constituency homes for a week in social housing as part of a new television series.

  • TVH to merge after being placed in supervision

    03/02/2010

    Three Valleys Housing has been placed under supervision and agreed to merge with another association following concerns about its governance and management.

  • Urban waiting lists rise by 80 per cent

    04/02/2010

    The number of households on social housing waiting lists in urban areas has risen 80 per cent in just over 12 years, according to a report.

  • Warden ruling may face appeal

    29/01/2010

    Two councils are considering whether to appeal court rulings which said they had acted unlawfully when planning to remove resident warden services in several sheltered housing schemes.

  • Watchdog appoints interim chief executive

    03/02/2010

    Audit Commission chief executive Steve Bundred will be replaced on an interim basis by Eugene Sullivan, when he leaves on 31 March.

  • Watchdog outlines sale and rent back regulation

    02/02/2010

    Firms that buy properties from struggling homeowners and rent them back to them are to be subject to tighter regulation.

  • Winter mental health warning

    29/01/2010

    Homeless people with severe mental illness who endanger their lives by sleeping rough during exceptionally cold weather should be assessed and possibly committed to psychiatric hospitals, according to two leading homelessness charities.