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Morning Briefing: McVey to ask tech firms to make buying houses easier

The housing minister is to host a round table with tech firms, and the rest of the weekend’s housing news

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Esther McVey wants homebuyers to do it on a computer (picture: Getty)
Esther McVey wants homebuyers to do it on a computer (picture: Getty)
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Morning Briefing: housing minister Esther McVey is to host a round table to ask tech firms to make buying houses easier, and the rest of the weekend’s housing news #ukhousing

Esther McVey has invited the technology industry round for a cup of coffee to try and figure out how tech can be utilised to make buying a home easier, a government press release has announced this morning.

She says she has tasked her team to “look at how we can release more of the local data held by local bodies to innovative companies to unleash a digital revolution in the property sector”.

She added: “We’ve had revolutions in the way that financial services, online banking and transport are provided, turning once unimaginable possibilities into everyday realities. Now it’s the turn of the UK property market.

“Whatever homebuyers prioritise, whether it’s the quality of local schools, the probability of getting a seat on a train or having easy access to leisure facilities, these technologies will transform the way we find and purchase homes.”

The release is unusual in announcing an intention to consider a policy area rather than any new policy but is still covered in some titles, including the I newspaper.

Elsewhere, The Observer has a long read about the 100-year anniversary of council housing which is available here. If marking the 100-year anniversary of council housing with editorial content is your bag, we have much more for you, most of which are available here.

The Bureau for Investigative of Journalism has the latest in its ‘Locked Out’ series, looking at how homeless families can lose support for missing a single letter.

On our homepage this morning, you can read our report that Treasury officials are mulling an exception for new housing schemes from the borrowing rate rise they announced earlier this month. Councils have warned this will put housing schemes at risk.

Also this morning, we carry the news that Terrie Alafat, the outgoing chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, will be joining Riverside as chair. You can read the details here.

The BBC covers plans to ballot tenants of Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership over a proposed merger with the Wheatley Group. You can read more about the proposed deal here.

In local news, there are calls in Dorset for councillors to “challenge” government housing targets. It comes amid concerns from local councillors that the targets are too high.

On social media

Paul Hackett has a warning about rising private rents:

And an insight, if anyone wanted one, into how various housing figures take their tea:

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