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Morning Briefing: housing secretary warns ‘poor-quality’ builders must change their ways

Robert Jenrick calls on “poor-quality builders” to change their ways, MPs say more women are turning to “survival sex” because of Universal Credit payment issues, and all your other major housing stories of the day

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Housing secretary Robert Jenrick (picture: Chris McAndrew)
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick (picture: Chris McAndrew)
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Morning Briefing: housing secretary warns “poor-quality” builders must change their ways #ukhousing

Robert Jenrick calls on “poor-quality” builders to change their ways, MPs say more women are turning to “survival sex” because of Universal Credit, and all your other major housing stories of the day in today’s @insidehousing Morning Briefing #ukhousing

Housing secretary Robert Jenrick has warned that developers building “poor-quality homes” will have to change their practices in the future.

The Times covered a speech by Mr Jenrick at an event on Wednesday, in which he said that for too long there had been a misconception that “quality was the enemy of supply”.

He said that it is usually developments of the highest quality and most attractive designs that are “approved faster, sold faster” and “enduringly more popular”.

His comments were followed by a speech by housing minister Esther McVey, who used a visit to the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to call for a “housing green revolution in the North of England”.


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To drive this plan, Ms McVey announced plans to create a centre of excellence for modular housebuilding in the North to drive the industry in the country. It follows on from comments she made last week calling on Britain to be a world leader in offsite construction in the next 10 years.

The i newspaper today comments on a bid by a developer owned by former football manager Harry Redknapp to convert a buildings used to house homeless people into 14 flats and five houses. The plan was granted planning permission this week.

The paper calls it “galling” but says it is just another example of housing injustice currently in the UK and lists a number of other instances of housing injustice, such as housing homeless people in shipping containers.

A government report by the Work and Pensions Select Committee has found that an increasing number of women are being driven to sex work because of problems with Universal Credit, the BBC reports.

The committee heard evidence from a number of individuals and charities which found that the five-week wait for Universal Credit payments is forcing some women to rely on sex work.

The committee also accused the government of being dismissive of the issue previously. The government responded by saying it is taking the issue very seriously.

Scottish Housing News runs a piece on a report that has found a link between high housing costs and declining birth rates.

The study by GMB’s London region found that those living in boroughs with the highest costs were having fewer children.

Tracking a period of eight years since 2010, the study found that Kensington and Chelsea, where houses now cost an average of £1.4m, saw its birth rates drop by 26.9%.

This differs to outer-London boroughs, where average house prices are far lower.

In Bexley, where house prices average at £340,598, the birth rate increased by 1.27%. In Barking and Dagenham, where the average house price is £292,915, the birth rate decreased by just 0.78%.

On social media

A large housing association is celebrating the progress it has made in raising awareness for mental health:

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