The Week in Housing: insight on AHP top-ups, construction insolvencies rise and annual starts projection below 150,000

The government has pumped nearly £3bn into the current Affordable Homes Programme to ramp up delivery ahead of the expected new scheme in June, dubbing it a “down payment” on the next programme. Inside Housing asked development bosses: is this funding enough to bridge the gap for development?

A big problem for realising the government’s ambition is contractor bankruptcy. This is because construction remains the industry with the highest number of insolvencies across all recorded sectors in England and Wales – a trend that has continued across the past decade.

Another metric of the success of the government’s housing policy is the number of homeless children living in temporary accommodation in England. This has increased 14% in a year to 165,510. At the same time, nearly one in three homeless households (32%) are stuck in temporary accommodation out of their area.

However, there is a glimmer of hope in this data release in that the number of households staying in a B&B for longer than the statutory six-week limit has fallen.

But this slight improvement was followed by a separate set of figures that recorded a 38% rise in the number of people living on the streets across London in the first three months of 2025.

Shelter published an analysis in which it warned that without urgent investment in social housing and council budgets, the housing crisis will leave 206,000 children homeless in England by the end of this parliament.

Councils have been looking how they can relieve some of the pressure in their areas with different approaches.

Emergency action was taken by Edinburgh Council to suspend its current lettings policy in a bid to tackle the mounting crisis of people experiencing homelessness in the area.

In Salford, the council approved a new allocation policy based on need that will aim to reduce the number of people living in temporary accommodation.

There was a mixed bag of consumer judgements from the English regulator as three local authorities were rated non-compliant for consumer standards, and four housing associations were given the top grade.

Another landlord fell foul of the Health and Safety Executive and was fined £140,000 following a prosecution relating to two employees who were diagnosed with hand-arm vibration syndrome.

In an attempt to provide some clarity to flatowners who need an External Wall System 1 form to sell their home, trade body UK Finance has updated its guidance for forms that have an invalid signature or are over five years old.

The End Our Cladding Scandal campaign group described the news as a step forward, but one that still leaves “too many unanswered questions”.

On sustainability, there was a big report from the Climate Change Committee which revealed that there are currently 6.3 million homes in England at risk of flooding due to the UK being unprepared for the effects of climate change.

This followed an interesting discussion by a group of regional mayors at the Innovation Zero World Congress about why retrofitting homes is the link between climate and social justice.

There were some senior job moves in the sector this week, beginning with the chief executive of Livv Housing Group stepping down after nearly seven years in the role.

The boss of Red Kite Community Housing is also stepping down to retire after 13 years at the helm.

Two housing associations in the South East of England have revealed senior designate appointments ahead of their merger.

A Scottish landlord appointed a new director to oversee its multimillion-pound investment plan.

Two new members were appointed to the executive leadership team at an association in Wales.

In London, Islington and Shoreditch Housing Association appointed a director from Notting Hill Genesis to be its chief executive.

Not to be outdone, the Northern Housing Consortium named a new deputy chief executive and made a number of other appointments to help deliver its corporate strategy.

Despite all the data this week reinforcing the challenges that people working in the housing sector face, we know there are numerous hard-working staff doing their best to support residents and help alleviate the crisis. This is why Inside Housing Management has launched a survey asking frontline social housing staff about the aspects of their work that they enjoy and how it adds value to society.

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing

Say hello: stephen.delahunty@oceanmedia.co.uk

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