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Morning Briefing: rents ‘fall for first time in a decade’
UK rents fell in 2018 for the first time in a decade, The Guardian reports this morning
In the news
The paper covers figures released by the Deposit Protection Scheme, a government-backed body which controls tenancy deposits, showing that the average rent edged down by 1.17% last year.
That is £9 over the year, from £774 to £765. Yorkshire and the Humber saw the biggest percentage fall at 3.63%, while in London rented homes fell in price by £30 a month to £1,294.
Meanwhile, the government faces a fresh High Court battle over Universal Credit, the Daily Mirror reports.
The Child Poverty Action Group, which brought forward the challenge, will argue the welfare system is having a “disproportionately adverse effect” on disabled people.
Several papers, as well as the BBC, reported yesterday evening that the $10bn sale of the firm which made the cladding on Grenfell Tower has fallen through.
Arconic’s shares tumbled on the news and the BBC said that protecting any buyer from liabilities connected to the Grenfell disaster had been a “key issue”.
In other news, Morgan Sindall Investments and ReSI Capital Management have entered into an investment partnership aimed at funding 1,500 new shared ownership homes, according to The Construction Index.
Elsewhere, the Belfast Telegraph reports that the Northern Ireland Housing Executive has withdrawn its repair and maintenance contractors from parts of Derry after one of their vans was hijacked.
A car bomb was detonated in the city during the weekend.
Sinn Féin councillor Kevin Campbell has since called for the housing authority to restore the services as soon as possible, per the Derry Journal.
In Scotland, Donald Trump’s property firm may pay a £5m fee to the council for refusing to include any affordable housing in a 550-home luxury housing estate, according to The Guardian.
The Guardian also published a letter by Brent Council’s cabinet member for housing calling for councils to be given more tools to prevent rogue landlords from accessing housing benefit.
And finally, City Metric has published a scathing response to yesterday’s report by the Adam Smith Institute which argued that micro-homes could solve London’s housing crisis.
On social media
Support for a petition to end the Right to Buy:
Signed in a heartbeat. Building social housing whilst still having Right to Buy legislation is like running a bath with no plug in it!🛁 t.co/YQK47jAtfR
— Cllr Ian Hawking (@IanHawking1)Signed in a heartbeat. Building social housing whilst still having Right to Buy legislation is like running a bath with no plug in it!\uD83D\uDEC1 https://t.co/YQK47jAtfR
— Cllr Ian Hawking (@IanHawking1) January 23, 2019
What’s on
- Prime Minister’s Questions will take place in the House of Commons at 12pm
- MPs will also consider the Lords’ amendments to the Tenant Fees Bill this afternoon
- Parliament will finish for the day with an adjournment debate on fire safety and cladding
- The National Housing Maintenance Forum will hold the second day of its conference at the Hilton Birmingham today
