Evictions soar in buy-to-let centres

Turned back

Housing association saves £1 million from boiler theft with SitexOrbis

An alarm solution from vacant property protection specialist SitexOrbis is saving a Liverpool social housing provider an estimated £1 million by preventing the theft of boilers from its empty properties.

Universal challenge

Six pilot schemes will test direct payment of housing benefit to tenants. Here, Nick Duxbury leaps into the future to reveal to welfare reform minister Lord David Freud what the results might be

‘Who will want to live here now?’

Housing professionals and their residents have watched in horror as rioters burned and looted their communities. Alex Wellman gets their reactions to the week that shook England to its core

Falling through the cracks

A large amount of tenant complaints to the housing ombudsman are related to repairs. So what is going wrong? Jess McCabe investigates

The legal aid lifeline

Cuts to legal aid and new spending restrictions mean tens of thousands of tenants will no longer be eligible for free housing advice. Jess McCabe visits a law centre to investigate the likely impact of the changes

A friend in need

Edinburgh’s Homelessness Prevention Service is making a big difference to vulnerable residents in the city. Sam Thorp finds out how the council-commissioned service works

Going spare

The government’s contentious ‘bedroom tax’ on under-occupying tenants is set to become law this month. Alex Turner looks at the disproportionate effect it’s likely to have in the north

Solving the land puzzle

If organisations share buildings the leftover sites can be pieced together for development, says Alan Stokes

Colour charts

As voters across England, Scotland and Wales prepare to go to the polls, we assess the key battlegrounds for housing