The Week in Housing: Housing 2026 offers chance to digest Keir Starmer’s resignation, plus this year’s Biggest Builders revealed

This issue was one of many hot topics this week as much of the sector braved the scorching temperatures to join us at Housing 2026 in Manchester. 

The conference was packed with sessions, with themes including partnership working, resident-led approaches to building safety and housing management, and the different priorities between landlords in London and those in the North. 

Delegates heard discussions on what could happen with a new prime minister and what the sector does not want to happen. You can read our summaries of the biggest talking points on day one, day two and day three.

Also, see if you can spot yourself in our round-up of pictures from days one, two and three of Housing 2026.

Amid this week’s heatwave, the NHF and the Chartered Institute of Housing published some concerning statistics: one in six babies in England lives in an overheated home. 

The housing bodies recognised the efforts of the government to address the issue, but said social landlords need more support to tackle overheating at pace. 

In some potentially good news for social housing development, the government launched a consultation on a new zero rate of VAT for the sale of land earmarked for social housing.

“The introduction of the new relief should bring forward the transfer of the title of the land and reduce the need for complex chain transactions, supporting faster delivery of social housing,” the document said.

Elsewhere, three London councils launched a legal challenge against the mayor of London’s decision to temporarily cut the affordable housing threshold from 35% to 20%.

Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Lewisham Councils are claimants under the judicial review claim, which is backed by seven other councils.

With the review likely to have huge ramifications for housebuilding in London, Inside Housing spoke to Syreeta Robinson-Gayle, Barratt London’s head of affordable housing, about how to fix the broken Section 106 system.

In other news for local authorities, councils will now be able to issue fines of up to £7,000 under the Renters’ Rights Act if private landlords fail to fix problems such as severe damp and mould. 

The fines will apply to 21 hazards assessed as the most dangerous, including freezing conditions, faulty electrics and fire hazards.

Four housing associations were handed the top consumer grade by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) in its latest round of judgements, while two landlords were upgraded from non-compliant.

Also at Housing 2026, Mr Washer of SNG urged the RSH to “proceed with caution” in its upcoming refresh of the economic standards.

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found fault with a London council after a disabled teenager could not use their wheelchair or access essential medical equipment following major surgery because of “avoidable” failures. 

In his only exit interview, housing ombudsman Richard Blakeway reflected on what the past seven years have been like leading the watchdog and the sector through massive regulatory change. 

As it allocated the first £10m of its funding to curb B&B use, the government published its response to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s report on housing conditions in temporary accommodation.

The funding is from the first year of its £30m emergency accommodation reduction programme, part of its overall plan to end homelessness. 

Its strategy, published last December, includes plans to reduce homelessness for prison and care leavers. Research published this week by Homeless Link showed that around a quarter of homelessness accommodation providers saw an increase in care and prison leavers needing support last year.

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) welcomed cross-party support for an amendment to the Social Housing Bill that would ensure domestic abuse survivors are not disadvantaged by debts that have arisen from coercion or financial abuse.

The amendment was tabled by Baroness Neate, former chief executive of Shelter, and is supported by the CIH, King’s College London and the Shared Health Foundation. It aims to protect domestic abuse survivors’ access to social housing when they have housing-related debt incurred as a direct consequence of abuse.

In health and housing news, residents in Liverpool will be the first in the country to have their living conditions integrated into official NHS records after a successful pilot by housing association Prima Group. 

At the same time, Greg Reed, chief executive of Places for People, spoke to us about the group’s partnership with walking charity the Ramblers, which aims to bring 60 new well-being walks to the UK.

In Wales, ahead of her session at Housing 2026, Akshita Lakhiwal, net zero engagement officer at Tpas Cymru, discussed how residents can access the full power of solar.

In Northern Ireland, it emerged that the biggest risk facing housing associations is constraints on new developments. 

And to end on a high note, Inside Housing Management revealed its 30 outstanding housing professionals, recognising the very best resident-facing staff in the sector, while the winners of the Women in Housing and Housing Heroes Awards 2026 were revealed on Monday. 

Have a good weekend.

Gráinne Cuffe, deputy news editor, Inside Housing

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