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Morning Briefing: Liverpool Council blocks major house builder over leasehold saga
Major house builder Countryside Properties will be effectively blocked from building developments in Liverpool due to its selling of leasehold properties, and other housing news
The revelations came in an interview with the Liverpool Echo in which Joe Anderson, Liverpool mayor, said that the authority would no longer assist Countryside with projects in the city or sell land to it.
Countryside said it was surprised by the mayor’s move and said that it no longer sold properties under leasehold. It added that for those properties that were sold under freehold they had offered owners the opportunity to buy the freehold at cost.
However, Mr Anderson said that the company’s involvement in the “leasehold scandal” was the reason for the decision.
He said: “We will not be making any deals or working with any developers that put people at risk.
“I am appalled that we have entered into agreements in good faith only to see companies turn against people and use this situation to their advantage.
“This scandal means that people can’t sell their properties and are ending up in debt – it is completely outrageous.”
Elsewhere, The Guardian reveals that Labour plans to fit solar panels to 1.75 million homes if it is elected into government.
The programme is set to be announced today by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and would involve panels being fitted to millions of social housing properties. Another 750,000 low-income homes would have the opportunity to have panels fitted through interest free loans.
Southwark News reports that residents living in an L&Q block have been forced to move out after fire safety issues, including unsafe cladding, were discovered on their block.
The paper writes that residents living at the Arch Street development in Elephant and Castle will need to be moved out as soon as possible so work can be carried out.
The housing association has said that residents will be offered alternative housing, but the paper claims that this would see tenants continuing to pay rent and there is no commitment to suspend the service charge.
Birmingham Live reports on residents that will be forced to move out of their homes to make way for a £43m revamp of the Druids Heath Estate in the city.
Yesterday the council approved the decision to move out 1,500 homes over the next 10 years as part of the regeneration plan for the area.
And finally, the government has missed its deadline to access the EU’s £2.9bn poverty relief fund after a series of errors by the Home Office, The Guardian reports.
The paper reports that a catalogue of errors means that the UK will not be able to access £600,000 of EU funds earmarked for the most deprived people in the country.
The Home Office said that it had worked hard to secure funding from the EU to access support for victims of modern slavery and trafficking but because of time restrictions it was not able to claim all the funding before the deadline.
On social media
Yesterday was the UK Housing Fast to raise awareness of UK food poverty and support food banks. Here are some tweets from the day:
19 hours into my 24 hour fast for #ukhousingfast. Feeling this hungry is not a nice experience but I know I have food in my cupboards to have later. Others aren’t so lucky. Please remember to support your local food bank or donate here t.co/bStlyb5jnb
— Matt Lewer (@HousingMatt)19 hours into my 24 hour fast for #ukhousingfast. Feeling this hungry is not a nice experience but I know I have food in my cupboards to have later. Others aren't so lucky. Please remember to support your local food bank or donate here https://t.co/bStlyb5jnb
— Matt Lewer (@HousingMatt) May 15, 2019
Today’s the day we come together for #UKHousingFast - thanks you for all your #platepledges showing your support. Together we can eliminate food poverty. Let’s collect lots of donations for our local fooodbanks and donate generously to the @TrussellTrust 🎈link in bio 😍 pic.twitter.com/8ry4T6G6mQ
— Faisal Butt FCIH (@Fizz77a>Today’s the day we come together for #UKHousingFast - thanks you for all your #platepledges showing your support. Together we can eliminate food poverty. Let’s collect lots of donations for our local fooodbanks and donate generously to the @TrussellTrust \uD83C\uDF88link in bio \uD83D\uDE0D pic.twitter.com/8ry4T6G6mQ
— Faisal Butt FCIH (@Fizz77) May 15, 2019
We’re supporting #UKHousingFast by collecting for local foodbanks and raising money for @TrussellTrust because we want to help eliminate food poverty. Here’s our Community Trust Panel with their #PlatePledge 😀 pic.twitter.com/cxHoDduwe1
— Incommunities Hsg (@IncommunitiesH/a>We’re supporting #UKHousingFast by collecting for local foodbanks and raising money for @TrussellTrust because we want to help eliminate food poverty. Here’s our Community Trust Panel with their #PlatePledge \uD83D\uDE00 pic.twitter.com/cxHoDduwe1
— Incommunities Hsg (@IncommunitiesHA) May 15, 2019
The big issues that impact the regeneration and delivery of social housingSPONSORED ARTICLE
