Morning Briefing: a call for gas hob and boiler ban as housing emissions climb

News21.02.199.08 AM by Jack Simpson

Government body calls for a gas ban by 2025, the number of homeless people in hospital rises, and all the rest of your top housing stories this morning

gas safety.jpg

Sharelines

MPs calls for gas hob and boiler ban by 2025 #ukhousing

The number of homeless people in hospital rises #ukhousing

The majority of newspapers this morning have reported on calls from MPs for the banning of gas hobs and boilers by 2025.

Papers, including The Telegraph, have all picked up on a report by government advisors which claims emissions from housing has gone up in the past year, and that greenhouse gas emissions from heating boilers and hobs is contributing to climate change.

The report called for all new homes built after 2025 not to be connected to the gas grid, and argued that changes to close the performance gap between design standards and what is achieved could save homeowners between £70 and £260 a year.

It said councils should be given better funding to help enforce building standards and enforce stiffer penalties for non-compliance.

The report also warned that many UK homes were not fit for the future and were at risk of flooding and overheating.

The Guardian runs a piece looking at the increasing numbers of homeless people in England arriving at hospitals with “Victorian-era diseases”, such as tuberculosis, liver disease and cancer.

Data obtained by the paper found that there were 10,259 hospital visits from people with no fixed abode in 2017/18, a seven-fold increase from 10 years ago when the number was 1,539.

Austerity cuts and an ageing homeless population have been blamed for the dramatic surge in people being admitted with largely preventable illnesses. The figures also show a rise in deaths in hospital of homeless people.

A feature in the BBC looks at the unusual places which people who are unable to afford to get on the property ladder are choosing to live in.

The piece focuses on a family that live in a van fitted with a stove and makeshift kitchenette, a couple that lives in a converted shipping container and a surfer who has just bought a “tiny home” worth just £15,000.

Enfield Council has vowed to make more than £41m available to make upgrades to its to its housing stock next year, the Enfield Independent reports.

The north London council will take advantage of the government lifting the Housing Revenue Account borrowing cap to make the money available to carry work out on up to 7,000 homes.

The beleaguered retail giant Intu has set its eyes on moving into developing homes after setting out plans to build more than 1,000 homes near its Lakeside shopping centre in Essex.

Construction Index reports that the developer, which reported a loss of more than £1.1bn this week, has eyed up six sites for more than 5,000 homes, with the Lakeside scheme the most advanced.

On Social Media

Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, follows up on its pledge to make housing association boards accountable to tenants:

Many thanks @JohnHealey_MP for welcoming @natfednews draft plan #TogetherWithTenants “The distinctive value of the best housing associations is their strong social purpose, and these commitments rightly recognise that this must include greater accountability to residents.” t.co/4n7jr0Umj7
— Kate Henderson (@KateNHF)
Many thanks @JohnHealey_MP for welcoming @natfednews draft plan #TogetherWithTenants “The distinctive value of the best housing associations is their strong social purpose, and these commitments rightly recognise that this must include greater accountability to residents.” https://t.co/4n7jr0Umj7
— Kate Henderson (@KateNHF) February 20, 2019

Labour MP Carolyn Harris discusses how the lack of secure housing from women leaving prison can lead to re-offending:

What hope do female offenders have of rehabilitation when they are released from prison without secure housing? More needs to be done to prevent women being recalled to prison for being homeless. pic.twitter.com/eQ8pQ9s3I2
— Carolyn Harris (@carolynharris24)
What hope do female offenders have of rehabilitation when they are released from prison without secure housing? More needs to be done to prevent women being recalled to prison for being homeless. pic.twitter.com/eQ8pQ9s3I2
— Carolyn Harris (@carolynharris24) February 20, 2019