Government launches benefit fraud crackdown

Mark their words

Family values

OK computer?

The government has a bad reputation when it comes to implementing new IT systems. So can its plans to deliver the universal credit online work or are critics right to be concerned? Carl Brown investigates

Guiding light

Former Ujima boss in court as £3.5m trial begins

The former chief executive of Ujima Housing Association, Keith Kerr, has appeared in Southwark Crown Court, charged with three counts, ‘a theft, a fraud and a forgery’ amounting to £3.5 million.

Not a sticking plaster

Efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour can seem like fire fighting. It’s expensive to take a more comprehensive and long-term approach by working with a single family to get to the root of their problems. But, as Tony Powell, executive director of neighbourhoods at New Charter Housing Trust, explains, the effect can be transformative.

Root of all evil

Is there evidence that board members perform better if they are paid? Steve Gough, board member at Magma Housing Association and Magna Group, and housing lecturer, is still to be convinced.

Open-door policy

Allowing private landlords to validate local housing allowance claims can help councils simplify their procedures and cut their housing waiting lists. Neil Merrick heads to Derbyshire to find out how

The mental health maze

Landlords seeking to evict tenants with mental disabilities must tread carefully, says Robert Wassall, head of the social housing sector group at Blake Lapthorn

Casting the net for a home

A website aimed solely at local housing allowance claimants is helping people find homes. Lydia Stockdale logs on