Rent rises to be lower than expected

Forward thinking

This year’s UK Housing Review by the Chartered Institute of Housing takes a look at how coalition government policies are affecting housing trends. Here, Hal Pawson, Steve Wilcox and John Perry give the lowdown on the report

Cuts fail to halt £2bn rise in housing benefit costs

Housing benefit costs will rise by nearly £2 billion by 2016 despite government efforts to cut the bill.

Streets apart

After the housing market renewal programme was scrapped, regeneration schemes were stopped in their tracks. Despite this, a £35 million government rescue package has not been universally welcomed. Gavriel Hollander travels to Liverpool to investigate why

Rescue call

The new top dog

Councils are muscling in on the bond market, lured by attractive prices. Should housing associations be worried? Carl Brown investigates.

Doing it themselves

Help is at hand for low-income tenants keen to follow the Highland tradition of self-building. Clare Harris reports

Fairytale ending?

As the third sector’s Cinderella services struggle in the face of cuts social landlords have the opportunity to ride in like the proverbial prince and rescue them.

Bank on a big change

Housing revenue account reform means for the first time councils can decide how much to borrow, but they must be on the ball if they are to get the best deal, says Rachel Terry

Guarding empty homes

Landlords should seek legal advice before hiring ‘guardian’ services to protect their property, says Ben Halsey, senior associate at Lewis Silkin

Pepper potting problems

In mixed tenure estates landlords could struggle to recoup costs for upkeep of communal areas, says Simon Bagg, senior associate at Lewis Silkin