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Morning Briefing: councils warn the ‘worst is yet to come’ on cuts
County councils issue warning over funding, and the rest of the morning’s housing news
In the news
Council bosses in England have warned that the “worst is yet to come” in cuts to services as the government further reduces local authority funding, the BBC reports.
The County Councils Network predicted “unpalatable cutbacks” next year as councils are forced to make £1bn of savings to plug an estimated £1.5bn shortfall by 2020. It said that local government funding from central government will have been slashed by 60% by the end of the decade, meaning some councils will have to strip back their services to a minimum “core offer”.
The Manchester Evening News catches up on the Bolton at Home and Arcon Housing Group merger, reporting some details of the deal.
The story was covered by Inside Housing earlier this month.
Seven housing associations across South Wales have joined forces to help the Welsh Government to reduce the country’s housing shortage by seeking solutions to deliver more affordable homes, news site Wales 247 reports. The companies – Coastal Housing Group, Hafod, Family Housing, Linc Cymru, Pobl Group, United Welsh and Valleys to Coast – will conduct a six-month research project and will present their findings to ministers.
Funding to build more housing should go to councils – not just housing associations – and must be made available now, local authority leaders have urged. In a report in Public Finance, Lord Gary Porter, chair of the Local Government Association, hit out at Theresa May’s plans to hand a £2bn funding packing to housing associations, which was announced yesterday.
He made similar comments in an interview with Inside Housing.
Housing officials have said it will take five months to repair a block of flats in Plymouth damaged by a major fire earlier this month, according to Plymouth Live.
Sanctuary Housing is preparing a programme of works to restore the six-storey apartment block after the blaze tore through the ground floor of the building and spread to the central stairwell. Some residents have been unable to return to their homes.
Homes in the North West saw the biggest price rise of any area of the UK during the past year, according to official figures. Annual growth in property values in the region stood at 5.6% in July, said the Office for National Statistics. The BBC has more.
Work to build 37 homes on a former pottery site in Stoke-on-Trent has started more than five years after planning permission was first granted, the Stoke Sentinel reports. Your Housing Group will build a £4.6m affordable housing scheme with 37 homes on the site of what was once Simpsons (Potters) Elder Works.
Inland Homes has released its latest financial results this morning, reporting record plot sales in the last year. Insider Media has the full details.
Professor Nicholas Crowson has written a fascinating piece for BBC’s History Extra on the history of homelessness, tracing it from the Victorian era to the present day in order to explore how people without homes have been treated.
On social media
Blogger and digital activist John Popham submitted a complaint to the BBC after the broadcaster described housing schemes run by social landlords as ‘sink estates’ during a segment about Right to Buy yesterday:
My complaint to the BBC #ukhousing #NHF18 #NHF2018 #notasinkhole pic.twitter.com/rFw0FvMewv
— John Popham (@johnpopham)My complaint to the BBC #ukhousing #NHF18 #NHF2018 #notasinkhole pic.twitter.com/rFw0FvMewv
— John Popham (@johnpopham) September 19, 2018
He later had a response from the BBC:
Here’s the BBC response to my complaint about their slur on social housing tenants. Anyone feel this is adequate? I don’t. #ukhousing #NHF18 #NHF2018 #notasinkhole pic.twitter.com/jbWl5c4mrh
— John Popham (@johnpopham)Here’s the BBC response to my complaint about their slur on social housing tenants. Anyone feel this is adequate? I don’t. #ukhousing #NHF18 #NHF2018 #notasinkhole pic.twitter.com/jbWl5c4mrh
— John Popham (@johnpopham) September 20, 2018
What’s on
- The National Housing Federation’s Housing Summit continues, with shadow housing secretary John Healey due to speak today followed by housing secretary James Brokenshire later
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