Homeless could live in boats and caravans

Shapps calls for boats to ease housing crisis

Councils which encourage people to live on boats to ease the housing crisis will be given financial rewards, the housing minister has said.

Shapps' boat plan attacked as 'gimmick'

A Government plan to tackle the housing crisis by giving cash incentives to councils which encourage people to live on boats has been dismissed as a desperate gimmick.

Mixed signals

Landlords: ‘We will kick convicted rioters out ’

Most social landlords in areas affected by last week’s riots will consider evicting tenants convicted of offences relating to the disorder.

The year of reckoning

Sentenced to life without a home

Imprisonment and homelessness are among the more traumatic experiences that can befall an individual. All too often, the two are inextricably linked.

Who cares, wins

Existing social care laws are too complex and reform is to be welcomed, says Linda Convery, partner at Lewis Silkin

Some food for thought

Landlords should assess their level of risk as the Bribery Act comes into force, says Kirsty Thompson, solicitor at Devonshires

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.

Brazil needs a new approach

Brazil needs a shift in attitude if it is to successfully tackle its growing housing crisis, says Ruban Selvanayagam