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A new report highlights the contribution of the social housing sector in Northern Ireland, plus all the rest of today’s housing news.
In the news
The social housing sector is worth £1bn a year to Northern Ireland’s economy, a new report says.
The ‘Benefits to Society’ study, produced by the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA), found that social or affordable housing accounts for one in six of all homes in the north, with about 1,700 new buildings each year.
Around 6,000 people are employed across the 20 associations and the Housing Executive. The Irish News has more.
Labour has announced that it would guarantee a nationwide network of youth clubs and other services for young people as a way of tackling problems such as mental ill-health and school exclusions, as well as involvement in knife and drug crime.
Announcing the pledge under the banner of Only Young Once, Labour said government figures showed the amount spent on youth services overall had fallen by more than £1bn a year in real terms since 2010-11, a drop of 73%, the Guardian reports.
Meanwhile, house prices are rising at the slowest annual pace for more than six years, according to the Halifax bank.
The mortgage lender, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said prices rose 1.1% in the year to the end of September, the slowest rate since April 2013, reports the BBC.
A third apartment complex in Wales has been found to have serious fire safety breaches in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.
Altamar, on Kings Road, in Swansea Marina, was issued an enforcement notice by Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, information obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request by WalesOnline has revealed.
The nine-storey tower block has a total of 149 apartments.
Altamar is the third tower block in Wales which had serious fire safety breaches – and all the fire safety deficiencies that were identified have now been addressed. Cladding which failed fire safety tests also had to be removed from 12 buildings in Cardiff.
In development news, one of the biggest single housing schemes in Northern Ireland has been given the green light by Derry and Strabane Council.
The Belfast Telegraph reports that developer South Bank Square plans to build around 750 new homes on a 37.5-hectare site in the Waterside area of the city in a £100m investment.
Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet has been recommended to stop placing low-paid workers higher up the list for housing as well as suspending people who have built up rent arrears from applying for a council house.
A report to cabinet members said there was also support for several other proposals, such as ending the policy of having an extra preference for people wanting to transfer from houses that were bigger than they need. The Northern Echo has the full report.
In South Oxfordshire, councillors have been warned they are putting tens of millions of pounds of government funding at risk by stalling the area’s Local Plan.
The plan, which outlines sites for 28,000 new homes to be built by 2034, was approved by the council earlier this year when it was controlled by the Conservatives.
However, a coalition of the Liberal Democrats and Greens took control following the elections in May and they have said they are considering revising or withdrawing the document, the Henley Standard reports.
And here’s an interesting comment from the Guardian’s economics editor Larry Elliott, who says a cut in stamp duty may be politically expedient for Sajid Javid, but it would be a big mistake.
On social media
There is much happening on social media for this year’s Housing Day:
Happy #HousingDay everyone! We have open Twitter Q&As with major #ukhousing figures throughout the day. Get thinking of your questions #ihchat Full details of our programme here t.co/4o6SC8yfIV pic.twitter.com/RplkwOBiu6
— Inside Housing (@insidehousing) October 8, 2019
Some housing professionals are attending a National Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour course:
Looking forward to a productive day at the National Anti-Social Behaviour Conference at Nottingham Trent Bridge @pa_housing #teampurple #tenancysolutions pic.twitter.com/32zrwj7Pdo
— Hannah @ PA Housing (@HannahPAHousing)Looking forward to a productive day at the National Anti Social Behaviour Conference at Nottingham Trent Bridge @pa_housing #teampurple #tenancysolutions pic.twitter.com/32zrwj7Pdo
— Hannah @ PA Housing (@HannahPAHousing) October 8, 2019
The full programme is below.
Tuesday 8 October is #HousingDay and Inside Housing is hosting a whole day of live Twitter Q&As with senior sector figures, including a live video conversation with Alison Inman and David Orr.
Tweet your questions to the panellists using the hashtag #IHchat at the times below:
8am – 8.45am: An introduction to #HousingDay
Leslie Channon, housing consultant and #HousingDay organiser – @LeslieChannon
Barry Malki, housing consultant – @barrybehaved
Chair: Carl Brown
9am – 9.45am: The next 100 years of council housing
Dominic Beck, cabinet member for housing, Rotherham Council - @Dominic_E_Beck
Emma Lindley, housing strategy lead, Ashfield District Council – @Emma_Lindley
Paul Smith, cabinet member for housing, Bristol City Council – @BristolPaul
David Renard, chair of the economy, environment, housing and transport board, Local Government Association – @CllrDavidRenard
Chair: Nathaniel Barker
10am – 10.45am: Providing the right homes in the right places
Alan Brunt, chief executive, Bron Afon Community Housing – @albrunt
Sheron Carter, chief executive, Habinteg Housing Association – @CarterSheron
Paul Hackett, chief executive, Optivo – @PaulHackett10
Tracy Harrison, chief executive, Northern Housing Consortium – @tjharrison1
Amy Nettleton, assistant development director – sales and marketing, Aster Group – @amynettleton1
Chair: Jack Simpson
11am – 11.45am: In conversation with Kate Henderson
Kate Henderson, chief executive, National Housing Federation – @KateNHF
Chair: Peter Apps
12am – 12.45pm: How can we tell a better story about social housing?
Victoria Dingle, tenant non-executive director, Soha Housing – @Victoria_Dingle
Steve Hayes, head of communications, Citizen – @SteveH_Citizen
Paul Taylor, innovation coach, Bromford – @PaulBromford
Boris Worrall, chief executive, Rooftop Housing – @BorisJWorrall
Chair: Carl Brown
1pm – 1.45pm: The homelessness and rough sleeping crisis
Faye Greaves, practice and policy officer, Chartered Institute of Housing – @FayeGreavesCIH
David Bogle, chief executive, Hightown Housing Association – @David_Bogle
Chair: Lucie Heath
2pm – 2.45pm: The regulatory landscape
Jonathan Walters, deputy chief executive, Regulator of Social Housing –@JonathanW_RSH
Jenny Osbourne, chief executive, Tpas – @TPASJenny
Steve Douglas, group chief executive, Aquila Services Group – @Steve_Altair
Chair: Gavriel Hollander
3.15pm - 4pm: IH Live video chat - the future role of social housing
Alison Inman, board member, Colne Housing, Saffron Housing and Tpas – @Alison_Inman
David Orr, chair, Clarion – @DavidOrrCBE
Chair: Nathaniel Barker