Inside Housing
13/01/2012
View all stories from this issue.
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Presidential hopeful dismisses allocation plans
17/01/2012
Plans to overhaul housing allocations are like ‘rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic’ according to one of the candidates for the role of Chartered Institute of Housing vice president.
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Taylor Wimpey forecasts 75% surge in profit
17/01/2012
Taylor Wimpey is expecting to report a 75 per cent increase in operating profit next month.
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Traveller site provision hit by lack of assessment
17/01/2012
The scrapping of regional assessments of housing need has worsened conditions for Travellers, an academic has claimed.
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Age matters
13/01/2012
The broken care system must be fixed now to prevent older people being left without the right to housing
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ALMO to be dumped after tenants back council
17/01/2012
Tenants have backed a council’s proposal to ditch its arms-length management organisation and take control of its housing stock.
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ALMO to take control of more council services
17/01/2012
An arms-length management organisation is to take control of housing services for the whole of a local authority area following an agreement with the council.
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Audit office to investigate affordable rent scheme
12/01/2012
Scrutiny will be cast over the financial viability of housing providers taking part in the Homes and Communities Agency’s affordable homes programme after the National Audit Office launched a probe into the £1.8 billion scheme.
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Bovis social housing completions up by a third
16/01/2012
A leading house builder has announced a sharp increase in social housing completions for 2011.
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British Gas: Government CERT targets unrealistic
24/01/2012
British Gas has warned the government that energy companies will not meet suppliers’ obligation targets – meaning they could be fined up to 10 per cent of its global turnover by watchdog, Ofgem.
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Caught out
13/01/2012
Social landlords should consider instructing investigators when they suspect fraud, say Samantha Darlington and Neil Lawlor
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Chief executive brought in to save association
13/01/2012
A trouble-shooting chief executive who has been drafted in to save Northern Ireland’s largest housing association has blamed failures in the senior management team for years of financial problems.
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Council calls for government rethink on rent
17/01/2012
The government is coming under increasing pressure to cap rent increases for council tenants after local authorities warned that 8 per cent hikes are likely to affect the most vulnerable residents.
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Council plans energy co-op to tackle fuel poverty
16/01/2012
A local authority is looking into creating an energy co-operative which would provide cheap power for council tenants.
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Council plans to scrap tower block children ban
16/01/2012
A council is proposing to overturn a decades-old restriction on households with young children living in a 17-storey tower block in an attempt to cut the cost of putting families into bed and breakfasts.
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Council rejects 116-home plan over affordable units
24/01/2012
A council has thrown out plans to redevelop a former factory into 116 new homes as the application did not provide enough affordable housing.
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Council taps pension fund for PRS scheme
12/01/2012
Manchester Council is set to tap into billions of pounds’ worth of institutional investment as it prepares to green light a programme to fund new private rented housing.
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Crossing the line
13/01/2012
The government should be putting its money into homes, not high-speed vanity projects, argues Stuart Macdonald
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Data overload
13/01/2012
Subjecting housing associations to freedom of information requests will do more harm than good
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Direct payment pilot landlords revealed
19/01/2012
The Department for Work and Pensions has announced the names of social landlords taking part in direct payment pilot projects.
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Dromey questions Cameron over rent claim
17/01/2012
Jack Dromey is considering asking questions in the House of Commons about David Cameron’s controversial claim that rents are falling.
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Fears councils will block community powers
13/01/2012
Communities could be barred from using new planning powers for years by local authorities that do not support government planning reforms.
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Figures show construction falling year-on-year
13/01/2012
Construction output flatlined in November and has fallen year-on-year, bleak figures published today reveal.
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Film star comes to aid of homelessness charity
17/01/2012
A homelessness charity threatened with closure has managed to raise enough funds to keep it running with a little help from Hollywood.
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Gerraint Oakley
17/01/2012
Coastal Housing has appointed Gerraint Oakley as its new director of development.
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Government has 'no plans' to change benefit cap
16/01/2012
The Department for Work and Pensions has said there are no plans to change the £26,000 cap on benefits despite calls from senior Liberal Democrats.
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Government warned green deal is at risk of failure
18/01/2012
Housing and building groups have warned the government the green deal is in danger of not succeeding unless a series of obstacles are dealt with.
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Group secures 100% of affordable rent bid
18/01/2012
A housing association has been awarded £10.7 million from the Homes and Communities Agency under the affordable homes programme.
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Group to call on Cameron to resolve FIT row
13/01/2012
An environmental campaign group will call on prime minister David Cameron to personally intervene to resolve the ongoing legal clash between the government and solar bodies over its early cut to solar subsidies.
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Guidelines issued to protect against rogue bailiffs
16/01/2012
Tenants are to be given extra protection from rogue bailiffs after new government guidelines were issued.
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House prices edge up in December
13/01/2012
House prices in England and Wales edged up slightly in December, according to a new survey from LSL Property Services.
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Housing benefit claims on the rise
18/01/2012
The number of housing benefits claimants in Great Britain has risen by more than 130,000 to 4.9 million.
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Housing co-op planning to tackle empty homes
18/01/2012
A housing co-operative is looking to remedy the problem of empty houses in its area by transforming unused buildings into affordable housing.
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Housing scheme launched for low wage workers
16/01/2012
A London council has launched a pilot programme for low wage workers who have not previously been prioritised for social housing.
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Hughes warns benefit cap will ‘break up families’
16/01/2012
The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has attacked the government’s plans to cap benefits as part of its overhaul of the welfare system.
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Huhne claims sector will benefit from ECO
19/01/2012
The energy secretary has rejected suggestions that social landlords will not get fair access to funding from energy companies to improve efficiency.
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Huhne defends Supreme Court appeal bid
26/01/2012
The government has defended its challenge to a High Court ruling that a decision to reduce payments to the feed-in-tariff was ‘legally flawed’.
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Illegal sub-letting will be hard to prove
13/01/2012
Landlords could struggle to prove sub-letting tenants are acting illegally, making proposed new powers difficult to enforce, sector figures have warned.
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KPMG defends earnings from Connaught collapse
18/01/2012
An accountancy firm has defended itself after it was reported to have earned £6.4 million from the collapse of failed contractor Connaught.
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Landlord signs £100m agreement for 500 homes
19/01/2012
A landlord and its development partner have signed a £100 million agreement with a council to build 500 new homes.
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Landlord submits revised plans for 3,600 homes
19/01/2012
A housing association has teamed up with a private property developer to provide 1,200 affordable homes as part of a £1 billion rail and road development in Chelmsford.
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Landlord to publish salaries and spending online
17/01/2012
A housing association has pledged to voluntarily publish the salaries of senior level employees along with greater detail of its expenditure.
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Landlord told failings caused by poor management
16/01/2012
Northern Ireland’s social development minister has denied that fraudulent dealings led to ‘serious failings’ in a housing association which was banned from building last year.
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Landlords await feed-in tariff ruling
13/01/2012
Social landlords and solar lobbyists will today find out whether the government has successfully appealed a High Court ruling that an early cut to solar subsidies was illegal.
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Make plans crystal clear
13/01/2012
Landlords face needless court action if they fail to consult tenants properly, says Robert Wassall, head of social housing at Blake Lapthorn
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Mayor questions future of affordable rent model
19/01/2012
The mayor of London has questioned how the government’s affordable rent model can be maintained in the long term.
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Merger set to go-ahead in February
16/01/2012
A merger between two contractors is expected to take place in February after it was given the green light by the Office of Fair Trading.
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Mother of rioter told to plead for her home
13/01/2012
A council has softened its stance towards a mother fighting eviction from her home after her son was jailed this week for burglary during the summer’s riots.
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MP urges Camden to fight high-speed rail project
13/01/2012
A former cabinet minister has pressed a London council to take action after the government unveiled plans this week to bulldoze hundreds of social homes to make way for a £33 billion rail project.
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MPs: Vulnerable risk losing out on smart meters
17/01/2012
A group of MPs has warned that the benefits of installing smart power meters in every home in Britain may not reach vulnerable people and could be kept by energy companies.
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New ventilation system brings 'best of both'
20/01/2012
An ‘intelligent’ approach to domestic ventilation is overcoming the intrinsic failings of conventional techniques.
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Peers launch second benefit plans rebellion
13/01/2012
The government is facing a second battle inside a month to get housing benefit reforms agreed by the House of Lords.
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Plans for 1,800 homes move closer
13/01/2012
The first stage of the North East’s biggest housing re-development has been given the go ahead, paving the way for 1,800 homes to be built in Newcastle.
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Private landlords snubbing tenants on benefits
16/01/2012
More than half of private landlords are refusing to accept tenants on benefits with many claiming people not receiving welfare support were more reliable.
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Rent cap hampers affordable homes scheme
13/01/2012
A major private landlord has criticised the Homes and Communities Agency after a council capped the amount the landlord could charge tenants on a new scheme being developed under the affordable homes programme.
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Romanian Big Issue seller wins benefit fight
18/01/2012
A Big Issue seller has won the right to claim housing benefit after winning a landmark court case.
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Rough sleeper threats force winter shelter to close
13/01/2012
Rough sleepers in Cornwall were forced back on to the streets after a winter shelter shut its doors following violent threats from users.
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SALE! (while stocks last)
13/01/2012
The government hopes a renewed push on the right to buy will trigger a building boom. Gavriel Hollander examines the latest proposals and asks whether they can deliver
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Shapps outlines plans for elderly downsizing
17/01/2012
Councils should help elderly people downsize in order to free up family homes, housing minister Grant Shapps has said.
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Social housing PV unviable unless FIT rates double
13/01/2012
Incentive payments for electricity generated from solar panels need to be set at nearly double the proposed rate for installations to remain viable for social landlords, according to research.
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Stalled homes get underway after mayor intervenes
18/01/2012
A scheme to build 1,350 homes on Homes and Communities Agency land in east London is to go ahead after a deal was agreed between the various partners.
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Telling it like it is
13/01/2012
Boredom, social inequality, education, lack of opportunity. Were these the causes of August’s English riots? Ahead of next month’s publication of The Riot Report, members of the study’s sounding board give their verdicts to Lydia Stockdale
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Tenant lay dead in flat for one year
13/01/2012
A tenant lay dead in his housing association flat for up to a year until his remains were discovered by electricians.
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Tenants evacuated as blaze hits tower block
17/01/2012
A total of 130 people were evacuated during a blaze in a 22-storey tower block last night.
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Tenants face 8 per cent rent hike
13/01/2012
Just four of England’s 50 largest social landlords are planning to protect tenants from significant rent increases next year.
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The fight against fraud
13/01/2012
Grant Shapps is not the first housing minister to take aim at unlawful sub-letters in social housing.
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Time for change
13/01/2012
Regulating private landlords will help tenants and reduce housing benefit and health care costs, says Richard Kemp
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Time to make your move
17/01/2012
For the first time this year members of the Chartered Institute of Housing are being asked to vote for who they want to be vice president of the body in 2012, and subsequently president in 2013.
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TMO rejected at third time of trying
27/01/2012
A Tenant Management Organisation which had hoped to take control of 1,842 homes has had its bid to manage the properties rejected.
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Welfare amendments face government fight
19/01/2012
The government will seek to overturn all amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill when it returns to the House of Commons later in the year.
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Welfare reforms 'undermine' rights of children
13/01/2012
The government’s welfare reforms undermine the rights of children, the children’s commissioner has said.
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Welsh social housing standards 'will not be met'
13/01/2012
The Welsh Government will not meet its target for improving the quality of social housing, according to a report.
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White House advisor calls for housing investment
16/01/2012
A top US homelessness advisor has praised Scotland’s efforts to tackle the problem and called for further investment in social housing as a ‘number one priority’.
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Wilson & Cooke
17/01/2012
Wilson Cooke is an integrated marketing agency with extensive experience in digital media, branding, design, annual reports, tenant leaflets, email marketing, newsletters, signage and stationery.