Morning Briefing: councils back on the ‘frontline’ of housebuilding, says Brokenshire

In the news

James Brokenshire, housing secretary, has said local authorities will return to the “frontline” of housebuilding in a speech given to the Local Government Association Finance Conference this week.

Mr Brokenshire told the audience that the decision to lift the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) debt cap would pave the way for the return of housebuilding to town halls – many of which have been effectively dormant in terms of development since the late 1980s.

“The lifting of the HRA cap will put local government back on the frontline of housebuilding – local authorities can now borrow more to build more,” he said.

The speech was given on Tuesday, Mr Brokenshire’s birthday, and the transcript published yesterday.

In other news, Waltham Forest Council is in the spotlight for offering a family in temporary accommodation rehousing some 200 miles away in St Helens, Merseyside.

Laura Spooner told the East London and West Essex Guardian the offer was made five days before Christmas, and would have seen her forced out of her temporary housing. Waltham Forest said it is under pressure due to the “spiralling cost” of temporary accommodation in London and had assessed Ms Spooner as qualifying for out-of-borough housing.

Grimsby Live reports on North Lincolnshire Council’s decision to return much of its Discretionary Housing Payment budget to government, as it declines to pay out to residents who make lifestyle choices such as smoking and subscribing to Sky TV. This is a long-standing debate in the area.

In Glasgow, the Clydebank Post reports on the trial of a man who deliberately drove into a member of the public in a Glasgow Housing Association van after he shouted “your houses are rubbish”. Darren Clark, 24, was given a suspended sentence. A spokesperson for the association, which is part of the Wheatley Group, said none of its employees were involved and the van was not on company business.

In other local news, Stoke on Trent Live reports on a woman who says she was left ill after complaining regularly to her housing association about damp. Midland Heart said it had previously carried out work, which was due to an adjacent mill chimney, but would return to review the property.

For something a bit less close to home, The Financial Times reports this morning on a slow down in Australia’s house prices sparking worries about the economy.

And on our website we have two comment pieces, one from Mark Henderson, chief executive of Home Group, and one from Nigel Turner, director of the Future Housing Review, going head-to-head over the future of the Voluntary Right to Buy.