Morning Briefing: Haringey legal battle could resume

In the news

The legal battle over the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV) looks set to continue, after the campaigner who challenged it crowdfunded enough cash for an appeal.

North London newspaper the Ham & High reports that Gordon Peters has raised £27,000 through his crowdfunding platform to secure an appeal. He lost his first case last month.

Mr Peters told the paper: “We’ve got a very strong case. The HDV has got to be stopped on a legal level.”

It comes despite political changes in Haringey which have made progress of the HDV after local elections in May unlikely. Mr Peters said he felt “99% sure” there would be no HDV, but it had become “a matter of principle” to stop other councils striking similar deals. He said: “A judgement against the HDV will have implications for what’s happening in other parts of London and across the country.”

Elsewhere, reports from a housing scrutiny committee in Bath echo a familiar dispute between housing associations and local councils about whether or not to take on tenants in housing need.

The Bath Chronicle reports Graham Sabourn, the council’s head of housing, saying: “People tend to be in a more perilous state when they come to us and it’s harder for us to turn them around.

“A key issue for us is that housing providers – both housing associations and private landlords – are now less likely to take a chance these days. They’re keen to ensure that people can keep a tenancy.”

There are also warnings about the level of consumer debt, reaching levels close to before the credit crunch in 2008.

The Independent reports Jonathan Davidson, executive director of supervision for retail and authorisations at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said credit levels were close to a peak seen in 2008.

More can be done to pre-empt future harm to customers, he said, warning: “There are a significant number of households that are in so deep that the slightest sign of rough weather could see them in over their heads.”

Also in the news this morning, estate agent and housing consultancy Savills has reported boosted profits, despite an awkward central London property market.

And a brief note on the rumblings in the news about Northamptonshire County Council getting into financial trouble: county councils are of course not involved in housing, so there are no real housing implications from the story.