The Week in Housing: two arrests made by London police, and elsewhere housing secretary resigns

This comes less than a month after the homelessness minister resigned following reports that she had evicted tenants so she could increase the rent on her near-£1m town house. Rushanara Ali’s previous tenants claimed that the Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Stepney ended their fixed-term contract because the property was being sold.

However, Ms Ali’s east London town house was re-listed for rent within six months at a 20% mark-up. This would be illegal under the Renters’ Rights Bill being brought in by the government.

One of the most-read stories of the week was one about shared owners at a block in Battersea who could be left footing the bill for services provided to private flatowners on a large estate as Notting Hill Genesis seeks to challenge an earlier tribunal ruling.

Lobbying efforts have stepped up as sector bodies have one eye on the Autumn Budget. 

A cross-party group has asked the government to focus on preventive homelessness measures, such as unfreezing Local Housing Allowance rates and increasing the temporary accommodation subsidy.

The Local Government Association has pressed for reforming the rules on subsidies for supported housing and more investment in the sector to ease the pressure on health services.

This call comes after an analysis of Ofsted reports by Inside Housing found that nearly half of providers of supported housing services for 16 and 17-year-olds emerging from the care system are failing to meet required standards in routine inspections.

With the Autumn Budget being pushed until the end of November, several experts have explained how the uncertainty about government policy is spooking financial markets and leaving the sector to find ways to ride out another spike in borrowing costs.

However, this did not stop Sovereign Network Group from raising £250m under its sustainable finance framework following strong investor demand.

There was big news in Scotland as the country’s government revealed plans to invest up to £4.9bn over the next four years in a bid to deliver some 36,000 affordable homes by 2030. However, some sector groups said the funding and investment fall short of what is needed.

The funding was announced after a report found that almost half of social housing in Scotland was let to people experiencing homelessness last year after landlords implemented changes in responding to the housing emergency.

With Sally Thomas stepping down as chief executive of the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, reporter Ellie Brown caught up with her about her achievements, the differences between the Scottish and English sectors, and what she learned from lobbying ministers.

On development, the UK government said it has no plans to abolish Homes England after a thinktank called for it to be scrapped and its powers devolved to metro mayors.

Undeterred, the government’s housing and regeneration agency signed its latest strategic place partnership with the North Yorkshire Combined Authority.

For Inside Housing’s new Living newsletter, we reported how a European investment manager aims to build a £500m portfolio of student accommodation in the UK.

There was a flurry of appointments across the sector following Hightown Housing Association hiring a new chief financial officer from Origin Housing.

A new rail-led development company made two key leadership appointments ahead of its launch later this year.

Meanwhile, Bronwen Rapley announced her retirement as chief executive at Onward Homes after almost a decade at the helm.

You can read Inside Housing’s monthly round-up of top-level housing sector appointments in August 2025 here.

Following the conclusion of the consultation on rent convergence, a look at some of the responses from the sector showed some disagreement on the right level of reform.

Finally, Inside Housing published a joint investigation on new documents from the National Archives that shed new light on the UK’s first building safety crisis.

Have a great weekend.

Stephen Delahunty, news editor, Inside Housing

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

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