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Morning Briefing: Brokenshire apologises to Roger Scruton for Building Beautiful commission sacking
The housing secretary has apologised to Sir Roger Scruton for sacking him from this role as chair of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, and other housing news
In the news
James Brokenshire, housing secretary, has written to Sir Roger Scruton to apologise for sacking him as chair of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission following a controversial interview in the New Statesman.
The interview included some quotes about Jewish people in Hungary and Chinese people, which caused a storm when released. The New Statesman has now apologised to Sir Roger for the way the quotes were presented.
And in a letter published in The Spectator, Mr Brokenshire wrote: “As you know, I regret that the decision to remove you from your leadership role within the commission was taken in the way that it was. I am sorry – especially as it was based on a clearly partial report of your thoughts.”
The first report of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission – which looks to impose standards of ‘beauty’ on new housing developments through the planning system – was published last week.
Sir Roger had been the chair of the commission up until April, when he was removed.
In the letter, Mr Brokenshire said he would “like to invite you to meet to discuss this work and what part you might be prepared to play in advancing this important agenda”.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has confirmed the letter is genuine.
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A Channel 4’s Dispatches programme due to air tonight will raise some questions about the quality of homes being built by major house builder Persimmon. The documentary-makers claim that they have found homes with 295 defects, according to write-up in the Daily Mail.
A spokesperson for the builder said: “We have fallen short on customer care and we can and will do better. We apologise without reservation to the customers featured in this programme.”
Half of all law centres and not-for-profit legal advice services have closed over the past six years, a parliamentary question reported by The Guardian reveals. Difficulties for tenants accessing legal aid can leave them unable to challenge social landlords and slow down legal action as they are often unrepresented.
Britain’s smaller towns are set to swell as older people struggle to find homes in big cities and increasingly move out, according to a new report by the Royal Institute of British Architects and thinktank the Centre for Towns. Reported in The Guardian, the report says the biggest increases are likely to be in small towns in the South of England.
In a bizarre story in the Daily Star, a private resident of a new housing development is afforded column inches for complaining that there is affordable housing on the scheme “devaluing” her home. The paper describes her in the headline as a “moaning mum” and quotes her as saying: “I’m not a snob, I just didn’t want to live in a housing association estate, which is what it’s become.”
Carmarthenshire Council is planning to protect the Welsh language through the planning system, noting that “bats and butterflies had more status than the Welsh language”, Wales Online reports.
From now on developers of homes of five or more houses in rural areas and 10 or more in urban areas will have to consider the impact their development will have on the Welsh language. Developers will also have to consider Welsh language in their schemes with the aim of addressing the decreasing number of Welsh speakers in Carmarthenshire.
On social media
Last night was the 25th monthly silent vigil marking the Grenfell Tower fire:
this evening, a group of people will gather, for a #SilentWalk.
— Anas al-Rawi (@AnasRawi
for the twenty-fifth time.
that’s over two years.
because #Grenfell demands it.
because seventy-two people lost their lives as a result of an avoidable fire. 😥
truth. justice. accountability.#GrenfellTower 💚 t.co/HjaIq9UpyJa>this evening, a group of people will gather, for a #SilentWalk.
— Anas al-Rawi (@AnasRawi) July 14, 2019
for the twenty-fifth time.
that's over two years.
because #Grenfell demands it.
because seventy-two people lost their lives as a result of an avoidable fire. \uD83D\uDE25
truth. justice. accountability.#GrenfellTower \uD83D\uDC9A https://t.co/HjaIq9UpyJ
And former G15 chair Paul Hackett on why he is taking a stand against office to resi conversions:
This is why I co-signed a letter to Secretary of State calling for an end to #PermittedDevelopment for office conversions. Not unreasonable to require developers to obtain planning permission and prevent creation of slums of tomorrow #ukplanning #ukhousing t.co/VnjKUsuqjI
— Paul Hackett (@PaulHackett10a>This is why I co-signed a letter to Secretary of State calling for an end to #PermittedDevelopment for office conversions. Not unreasonable to require developers to obtain planning permission and prevent creation of slums of tomorrow #ukplanning #ukhousing https://t.co/VnjKUsuqjI
— Paul Hackett (@PaulHackett10) July 14, 2019
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