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Morning Briefing: young single parents ‘to lose out’ under Universal Credit
Two-thirds of young single parents see their income reduce after switching to Universal Credit, a thinktank has warned
In the news
The Independent reports today on research by the Resolution Foundation which found that parents under 25 are more than twice as likely to lose out than gain when moving over from the legacy benefits system.
It said the “young parents’ penalty” – equivalent to £15.20 a week less than older claimants – risks increasing child poverty.
In other news, The Guardian has an exclusive on London mayor Sadiq Khan’s intention to reject the government’s proposed changes to the London Plan.
Among the Planning Inspectorate’s suggested changes to the plan is a reduction on green belt restrictions, making alterations to the boundary in “exceptional circumstances”.
But Mr Khan is expected to write to housing secretary Robert Jenrick dismissing this idea, as well as refusing to withdraw his opposition to the expansion of Heathrow and fracking in London, meaning the government will have to consider whether to force the changes through a legal challenge.
Meanwhile, a government report has shown that the North West of England saw its green belt shrink by 3,410 acres over the past year, per Place North West.
In the North East, The Northern Echo reports that residents of a Middlesbrough high rise are facing bills to remove unsafe timber cladding from their building.
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Elsewhere, contractor Wates has been selected to kick off City of York Council’s biggest housebuilding programme since the 1970s with a 140-home scheme on an old school site, Construction Enquirer reports.
Northwards Housing has apologised to an unwell 87-year-old tenant who was told she was not eligible for an emergency repair after her boiler broke down, according to the Manchester Evening News, saying there was a “misunderstanding” about her vulnerable condition.
The BBC has spoken to a family in Kent who are living as three generations under one roof in a specially adapted home, as part of a council scheme aimed at regenerating deprived areas.
And The Guardian’s Owen Jones has written about the number of people applying to convert their vans into homes, warning against seeing it as a “romantic” trend.
Birmingham Live runs a story on criticisms of football manager and I’m a Celebrity winner Harry Redknapp, whose company Pierfront Properties plans to turn a building used as accommodation for homeless people into luxury flats.
Finally, a “community barber shop” has been set up in Greater Manchester aimed at preventing people from becoming homeless, the BBC reports.
On social media
The housing secretary is doing the media rounds this morning. Here was his response to a question about the government’s plan to speed up the process of buying a home:
Nick Robinson asks housing secretary Robert Jenrick if he would buy a house with WAB-style minimal scrutiny:
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE)
Jenrick: “If I had been thinking about buying that house for three years and debating it for 500 hours I’d like to think I could move fast when the opportunity arose.”Nick Robinson asks housing secretary Robert Jenrick if he would buy a house with WAB-style minimal scrutiny:
— Jim Pickard (@PickardJE) October 22, 2019
Jenrick: “If I had been thinking about buying that house for three years and debating it for 500 hours I’d like to think I could move fast when the opportunity arose.”
