You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Morning Briefing: 4.5 million children in poverty in UK, study finds
A total of 4.5 million children are among the 14 million people living in poverty, a new study has found.
In the news
The Guardian reports on a study using a new measure to track poverty. It says that families with at least one disabled person, single-parent families and households where no one works or they work on zero-hours contracts are especially at risk of falling into poverty.
The Social Metrics Commission, which produced the study, is led by right-wing figures, including two former advisers to Iain Duncan Smith, the former work and pensions secretary.
Meanwhile, the Telegraph has a story on the continued slowing of the British housing market. It says sales last month fell to their weakest August level in five years.
House prices, grew by a tiny 0.1% in the month, it reports, and are rising more slowly than the cost of living.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Times has run a piece by its regular columnist Annabelle Williams titled, ‘We all blame landlords for the housing crisis’.
Ms Williams argues that buy-to-let landlords have bought properties that could have been sold to first-time buyers.
In local news, the Manchester Evening News puts a northern spin on the latest figures on Right to Buy replacements, noting that not a single council home has been built in Greater Manchester using Right to Buy receipts since 2012.
READ MORE
It adds that numerous local figures have called for Right to Buy to be suspended in the region,
In the capital, the Evening Standard reports that Islington Council has found 35 people living in one house in Highbury.
Officers from the local authority described the conditions in the four two-bed flats as “sub-standard”.
Elsewhere, legal disputes concerning the Grenfell Tower Inquiry have found their way into The Law Society Gazette, which reports on a decision by the inquiry not to allow cross-examination.
The magazine reports that officials have refused a request from campaign groups asking that lawyers representing survivors and the bereaved be allowed to question witnesses directly.
In response, campaigner Seraphima Kennedy has written in the Guardian that the inquiry’s refusal to grant this and similar requests is damaging trust in the process.
And the same newspaper carries a piece jumping off from popular BBC drama Bodyguard. The titular protector lives in iconic Brutalist housing estate the Whittington.
Columnist Hannah Jane Parkinson takes the opportunity to run through some of the UK’s other post-war concrete blocks.
On social media
Anyone interested in the recent updates from Homes England on how they sell public land could do worse than check out their new interactive map of sites.
Ever found @HomesEngland’s Land Development Disposal Plan (LDDP) lacking in key info?
— Phil Collings (@HomesPhilC)
Well we’ve recently launched a new LDDP in an online interactive format – meaning it’s more informative and easier to use than ever before.
Take a look for yourselves...t.co/vWuTqxAsleEver found @HomesEngland's Land Development Disposal Plan (LDDP) lacking in key info?
— Phil Collings (@HomesPhilC) September 17, 2018
Well we've recently launched a new LDDP in an online interactive format - meaning it's more informative & easier to use than ever before.
Take a look for yourselves...https://t.co/vWuTqxAsle
What’s on
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry continues today, with more evidence from firefighters who attended on the night.
The big issues that impact the regeneration and delivery of social housingSPONSORED ARTICLE
