Planning system faces overhaul

Wates Living Space 1000th Ra Build: Royal Berkshire Court

28 new affordable homes consisting of both separate semi-detached houses and one, three-storey block of flats. There will be two one-bed flats, four two-bed flats, 13 two-bed houses and nine three-bed houses, one of which will be made suitable for a wheelchair bound resident. The site is completed with 51 parking spaces and makes use of micro-renewable technology in the shape of solar roof tiles.

To the lighthouse

Sounding the alarm

New fire safety guidance is helping social landlords ensure their properties are as safe as possible. Here, Chloë Stothart finds out what they should do to minimise the risk of a blaze and how much it costs

Testing times

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

Performance review

The HCA’s new regulatory regime will focus on landlords’ governance and financial viability. Ian Davis and John Maton from Trowers and Hamlins explain.

From riches to rags and back

A Welsh landlord took on an ambitious project to refurbish a derelict Grade II listed mansion. Katie Puckett finds out how they managed to bring it back into use

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.

Solving the land puzzle

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

Hands-on approach

A new breed of customer-focused housing officers is giving tenants a lot more satisfaction. Emily Rogers meets one of them