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Short on time? Thursday’s housing news in five minutes
A round-up of the top stories this morning from Inside Housing and elsewhere
Top story: Councillor told temporary accommodation residents of squalid London block to ‘move someplace cheaper’
Inside Housing has obtained a recording that includes a councillor in a north London borough accusing a woman living in a squalid flat of “living for free”.
Councillor Helene Richman also tells the resident to “move to someplace cheaper”.
The resident lives at the Marsh Drive block in Barnet, which has been left in disrepair and with unsanitary conditions for its occupants.
Ms Richman told Inside Housing that she was sorry for any offence caused and that the comments did not reflect how seriously she took the concerns of residents at Marsh Drive.
Click here to read the full story
Hyde reveals contractors appointed to £2bn housing framework
Housing association Hyde has chosen more than 40 contractors for its new major £2bn framework that will support its development of new homes in the coming years.
The 50,000-home housing association plans to build around 11,000 new homes in London and the South East in the next five years, and has selected construction companies and developers to help it do so.
Inside Housing’s article lists the successful winners.
Lunchtime long read
The story of a neglected block
Last October, Marsh Drive – a block in Barnet, north London – went viral for all the wrong reasons. Coverage of the block found it in very poor condition, and complaints from residents were often horrific. In one instance a baby living in the block was bitten on the eye by a cockroach.
Nathaniel Barker, Inside Housing’s deputy news editor, investigates the problems at the block and assesses what lessons could be learned by social landlords.
Quote of the day
“I’ve spent much of the day looking at housing association websites, trying to get a sense of how housing organisations describe themselves. Several hours later and I’m not really any the wiser.
“Having grown up calling a spade a spade (if not a shovel) I do sometimes struggle with the tendency of the housing sector to spend so much time looking inwards and, dare I say, navel-gazing.”
Alison Inman, former president of the Chartered Institute of Housing and co-founder of SHOUT, calls for associations to focus on the substance of the service they deliver for residents, rather than the style in which they describe it.
In the papers
Picture: Getty
An investigation by the BBC today shows that 139 former council home tenants made collective profits of £2.8m after buying their Right to Buy homes and selling them within a month.
The Chartered Institute of Housing said the findings were shocking and called for the Right to Buy to be suspended.
The BBC also runs a story reporting a sharp uplift in the housing market following the general election.
The website uses data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, which surveyed estate agents and found that house sales rose for the first time in seven months. This was mainly boosted by more activity in London and South East England.
Local news
Picture: Getty
Wales Online has a story this morning which reports that residents living in the country’s tallest tower block will not have to pay the costs to correct issues with fireproofing throughout the block.
It was understood that the total bill for work on Swansea’s Meridian Quay tower development would be more than £5m, and that leaseholders would have to pay the costs. However, a deal has been agreed with the insurers of the block which means they will not have to pay the costs.
The Northern Ireland Executive is set to get a £1bn cash boost from the UK government following its return to Stormont earlier this week, the BBC reports. The government said there will be “a rapid injection of £550m to put the executive’s finances on a sustainable footing”.
However, some politicians have said that the deal still leaves the Executive with a shortfall of cash for public services.
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