Inside Housing
Keith Cooper Editorial
Stories by this author.
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Girl’s murder sparks tightening of procedures
16/03/2012
The horrific murder of a teenage girl by a serial sex attacker in Leeds has prompted a national shake-up of measures which track the movements of dangerous ex-offenders.
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Revealed: councils’ new borrowing power
16/03/2012
The government’s social housing finance revolution will boost the borrowing power of English councils by a whopping £2.9 billion, analysis of government figures reveals.
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Haringey warned about gang risk
12/08/2011
The London borough where this week’s riots started pressed ahead with major youth service cutbacks despite official warnings they could lead to an increase in gang activity and anti-social behaviour.
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Threat of violence closes rough sleeping service
09/08/2011
A London homelessness charity has been forced to close early and abandon its late night rough sleeping rescue service as the city braces for another night of violence.
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Council admits failing mentally ill woman
05/08/2011
Cardiff Council has apologised to the mother of a young mentally ill woman who was left destitute because of ‘manifest failings’ in its handling of her case.
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HCA drops £200m single agent plan
05/08/2011
The Homes and Communities Agency has ditched plans to raise £200 million for affordable homes by creating a single agent to manage shared ownership products next year.
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Planning minister backs Inside Housing campaign
29/07/2011
The planning minister has pledged support for Inside Housing’s campaign to free up extra housing land, by helping to pinpoint suitable public sector plots.
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Lenders defend Firstbuy mortgage hikes
25/07/2011
High street lenders have defended their right to charge higher mortgage rates for people buying homes in the government’s £500 million homeownership scheme.
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Draft planning framework calls for council action
25/07/2011
Councils will have to detail the size, type and tenure of new homes they want built in their areas, under government proposals to streamline the planning regime.
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Inspections of private landlords are failing
08/07/2011
Councils are failing to pinpoint dangerous, damp and overcrowded private rented homes, research by a leading environmental health officer has discovered.
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Landlords fear delays over affordable rents
08/07/2011
Social landlords fear the government’s £1.8 billion affordable rent programme will be delayed because contracts have not yet been issued.
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TSA fails to engage tenants
08/07/2011
Just one tenant responded to a consultation on the future of housing inspection, prompting fears not enough was done to involve people.
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Co-op’s finances in peril after Notting Hill hike
01/07/2011
The financial future of a north London housing co-operative has been threatened by huge fee hikes imposed by one of the capital’s biggest housing associations.
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TSA sets out inspection role
01/07/2011
The Tenant Services Authority has rejected all of the Audit Commission’s suggestions on how social landlords should be policed.
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Warning re-issued over housing association's financial health
30/06/2011
The Tenant Services Authority has re-issued its warning about a social housing provider’s financial health.
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Gallions upgraded in regulatory judgement
30/06/2011
Gallions Housing Association has improved its financial health, the Tenant Services Authority has said.
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Council calls for local authorities role in new regulator
30/06/2011
Complaints from councils concerned about poorly performing landlords should spring the new social housing regulator into action, a major London authority has urged.
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WM merger talks with Optima
24/06/2011
WM Housing Group looks set to swell 10 per cent in size following successful early merger talks with Optima Community Association.
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Abandoned pathfinder tenants take legal action
24/06/2011
Residents left abandoned in half-finished housing market renewal schemes are preparing to launch compensation claims against their council.
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Audit Commission chief hits out at TSA
24/06/2011
The head of the Audit Commission launched a valedictory attack on the Tenant Services Authority’s proposals for social housing regulation, a letter from the axed inspectorate revealed.
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Cambridge Lib Dems in affordable rent row
24/06/2011
A flagship Liberal Democrat council has reacted furiously after it was told to price poor people out of a new 16,000-home scheme.
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Norfolk considers barring low-priority applicants
24/06/2011
South Norfolk Council could automatically kick low-priority housing applicants off its waiting list after a year, under proposals outlined at the Chartered Institute of Housing’s annual conference this week.
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Threat of harm will trigger TSA action
23/06/2011
Landlords which put residents in harm’s way will face tough action under the new stripped-down social housing regulatory regime, the head of the Tenant Services Authority has warned.
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HIAs turn to green deal in face of cuts
10/06/2011
Home improvement agencies in England are eyeing the health and environment industries to help replace the £300 million of funding to upgrade private sector homes, which has been axed by the government.
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Housing inspection stopped in its tracks
10/06/2011
Serious concerns have been raised about the effectiveness of social housing regulation after it emerged that not a single landlord inspection has been requested in almost a year.
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Landlords to quiz tenants about salary
10/06/2011
Social landlords will increasingly quiz tenants about the size of their pay packets, the head of a major housing association has admitted.
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London council pact to protect children
10/06/2011
Councils in London are drawing up an agreement to stop vulnerable families in social housing being placed outside their home boroughs as town halls try to save money.
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Extra funding ruled out for pathfinders
06/06/2011
The government has ruled out extra funding for authorities left to deal with the aftermath of the housing market renewal pathfinders, a Homes and Communities Agency paper reveals.
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Housing inspectorate preparing to close
06/06/2011
The Audit Commission’s housing inspectorate began winding down on Friday after almost a decade as the sector’s watchdog.
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Charity wins fight to take government to court over benefit reforms
03/06/2011
The government will be forced to fight for its controversial housing benefit reforms in court, after a child poverty charity won the right to challenge their legality.
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Labour: coalition’s £30m is peanuts to pathfinders
03/06/2011
Labour has launched a campaign to secure extra cash for councils dealing with the aftermath of the axed housing market renewal programme.
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Rogue landlord regime ruled illegal
03/06/2011
A Lancashire council has been forced to ditch a regime to root out rogue landlords after the High Court ruled it illegal.
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Housing officer in jail threat over ant infestation
27/05/2011
One of the England’s highest paid housing officers is being threatened with jail for contempt of court for allegedly failing to carry out agreed pest control work on a tenant’s home.
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Welfare reforms could lead to extension of child abuse safety net
27/05/2011
An information-sharing system set up to protect children from abuse after the death of Victoria Climbié could be extended because of the government’s controversial welfare reforms.
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Landlords targeted by electronic con
20/05/2011
The social housing regulator has issued an urgent warning after a sudden jump in the number of electronic frauds targeting landlords.
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Meeting affordable homes target will cost £14 billion
20/05/2011
The capital’s most powerful housing associations could exhaust their capacity to fund new homes by 2015 unless the government finds an alternative way of funding affordable housing.
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Jobs axed at National Housing Federation
01/02/2011
The National Housing Federation has announced plans to close its Birmingham base as part of a major restructuring to cut costs.
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Benefit reforms 'will make 200,000 homeless'
23/07/2010
The coalition government’s controversial housing benefit reforms will push homelessness figures up to the worst level in three decades, the National Housing Federation predicts.