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Morning Briefing: Portillo takes on housing crisis
A new documentary on the housing crisis has caused a stir in the sector, while fire safety experts have gone directly to the prime minister to plead for changes in the wake of the latest Grenfell revelations
In the news
Michael Portillo’s documentary on the housing crisis aired on Channel 5 last night, prompting a mixed response from the sector on Twitter, with some criticising his negative portrayal of social housing.
A piece in the New Statesman provides a useful summary of the programme for anyone who would rather not sit through the whole thing.
Vice’s coverage is predictably more combative. The website carries an interview with the former defence secretary, in which Mr Portillo gets rather upset when the interviewer suggests he’s a political figure.
Meanwhile, ITV News reports on the continued pleas of fire safety experts, who have written to the prime minister asking her to ban combustible cladding following a leaked report which blamed the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower for the rapid spread of the fire.
Tower block residents in Coventry are set to receive up to £10,000 in compensation due to fire safety concerns, the BBC reports.
Meanwhile, the UK housing market is looking as broken as ever, with homes becoming even less affordable in relation to wages. The Times has crunched the numbers.
Existing homeowners, however, are extracting more value than ever out of their homes, with The Telegraph reporting a huge increase in baby boomers using equity release.
The trend, the paper says, could lead to risks for lenders trying to provide funds to younger borrowers.
And after a sting operation from the Daily Mirror claimed that an aide to housing minister Dominic Raab was selling sex to ’sugar daddies’, The Guardian is reporting that the woman in question has been suspended, with the department investigating the paper’s claims.
Finally, with local elections just around the corner, the website Public Finance has an interesting piece on the growing trend of councils ’insourcing’ their public services.
On social media
Did you shout answers at the telly during last night’s #OurHousingCrisis? Share your thoughts with us @Shelter instead! The Big Conversation - because social housing is worth it 👇 t.co/HF19cv8zum
— Polly Neate (@pollyn1)Did you shout answers at the telly during last night’s #OurHousingCrisis ? Share them with us @Shelter instead! The Big Conversation - because social housing is worth it \uD83D\uDC47 https://t.co/HF19cv8zum
— Polly Neate (@pollyn1) April 27, 2018
We might not immediately see it but this AI sector deal could ultimately have as much if not more impact on property & construction as construction’s own sector deal! Important this world leading opportunity is joined up as part of our overall national industrial strategy t.co/aAIzYY4hfV
— Mark Farmer (@MFarmer_Resi)We might not immediately see it but this AI sector deal could ultimately have as much if not more impact on property & construction as construction’s own sector deal! Important this world leading opportunity is joined up as part of our overall national industrial strategy https://t.co/aAIzYY4hfV
— Mark Farmer (@MFarmer_Resi) April 26, 2018
What’s on
The private landlords (registration) bill will today have its second reading in the House of Commons.
