Morning Briefing: residents forced to move out of LPS blocks over structural concerns

In the news

800 residents in two large panel system tower blocks in Portsmouth will be moved out over safety concerns, the BBC reports.

The council has taken the decision after structural reports of the two 18-storey tower blocks revealed concrete used in Leamington House and Horatia House is not strong enough.

Inside Housing has previously written about the structural concerns over these types of blocks.

The two blocks have had aluminium composite cladding removed, which was identified as a fire risk in tests after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

A cross-party group of MPs has written to the home secretary urging a review of a controversial immigration policy forcing landlords to check whether tenants are legally allowed to rent, saying there has been no proper assessment of its impact, The Guardian reports.

The Financial Times reports on the growing call from thinktanks and charities for the government to reform the way land is valued. Civitas has estimated that local authorities are forced to pay up to 100 times as much for potential residential land – its so-called “hope value” – compared with what it might be worth if classed as agricultural land.

From the Grenfell Inquiry The Guardian reports that the manufacturer of the cladding used on the tower has denied responsibility for the fire. Arconic’s lawyers said the panels were “at most, a contributing factor”. They suggested no one would have died if the windows had been built with greater fire protection because they would have prevented the flames spreading. This contradicts evidence from two of the inquiry’s fire safety experts who said the panels were a substantial cause of the fire’s spread.

Here is our report from day two of the expert evidence hearings.

Rough sleepers in Edinburgh will be encouraged to go out on the streets and beg for money as calls have been made for a “hugely successful” pilot scheme for vulnerable homeless people to continue, Edinburgh News reports.
The high tolerance 90 day pilot allowed rough sleepers to be given a room before being assessed and residents were under no curfew during their stay – allowing them to go out and beg. The authority will now push forward plans to continue and extend the service.