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Morning Briefing: more on DCLG’s rebranding
Further reaction to Theresa May’s reshuffle and concern over affordability of homes on former NHS sites
In the news
In case you missed it yesterday, the Department for Communities and Local Government is being rebranded to include the word ‘housing’ in its title. It will now be known officially as the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Times notes that the “department already has housing policy in its portfolio” and is “understood to be getting no new powers or responsibilities”.
Its report quotes shadow cabinet office minister Jon Trickett, who says the changes are a “rebranding exercise on a failing enterprise”.
The Guardian today has a report about nurses being priced out of developments on former NHS sites. The Huffington Post has also covered the story here.
Persimmon has released a trading update to the stock market today. The house builder reports a 9% year-on-year increase in turnover to £3.42bn in 2017, and says its selling prices have increased 3%. This appears to be slightly above inflation; the Consumer Price Index rose 2.8% for the 12-month period to November 2017.
It says its pre-tax profits for the year will be “modestly ahead of market consensus”.
Empty homes have been in the news over the past couple of weeks, following Liberal Democrat research showing 11,000 homes have been empty for more than a decade.
Sociologist Lisa McKenzie, writing for The Guardian’s Housing Network yesterday, calls for people to occupy the homes if they are left empty.
Check out a piece on Inside Housing today by Helen Williams, chief executive of Empty Homes, calling for long-term solutions to tackle the problem.
Finally, a BBC documentary to be aired tonight follows an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community as it relocates from Stamford Hill in London to Canvey Island in Essex, due to soaring rents.
The programme, which is called Canvey: The Promised Island, features BME association Industrial Dwellings Society and is on BBC One at 10.45pm.
On social media
There were cautious welcomes aplenty in #ukhousing for the DCLG name change:
Good to hear that housing has such high profile in the new Ministry for Housing, Communites and Local Government and good to have continuity with @sajidjavid. Time now for a step change in delivery #ukhousing
— David Orr (@natfedDavid)Good to hear that housing has such high profile in the new Ministry for Housing, Communites and Local Government and good to have continuity with @sajidjavid. Time now for a step change in delivery #ukhousing
— David Orr (@natfedDavid) January 8, 2018
Some really positive news for #ukhousing coming out of the #cabinetreshuffle - a seat for Housing in the cabinet t.co/2dUVwPGGxz
— Susie Rogers (@SusieRogers12)Some really positive news for #ukhousing coming out of the #cabinetreshuffle - a seat for Housing in the cabinet https://t.co/2dUVwPGGxz
— Susie Rogers (@SusieRogers12) January 9, 2018
Lawyer Tim Miles drew parallels with everybody’s favourite housing minister Harold MacMillan:
So DCLG become @mhclg (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government which is pretty much the same name of the ministry when Harold McMillian was Housing Minister in the #Churchill post war government #Ukhousing #Cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/rnYtZSsJLF
— Tim Miles (@The_SH_Lawyer)So DCLG become @mhclg (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government which is pretty much the same name of the ministry when Harold McMillian was Housing Minister in the #Churchill post war government #Ukhousing #Cabinetreshuffle pic.twitter.com/rnYtZSsJLF
— Tim Miles (@The_SH_Lawyer) January 8, 2018
Although others, such as journalist Robert Peston, were less than impressed:
So the new housing minister is actually the old housing minister. It is a radical rebranding of a department but no structural change. Yawn pic.twitter.com/ftuUb7Lzcy
— Robert Peston (@Peston)So the new housing minister is actually the old housing minister. It is a radical rebranding of a department but no structural change. Yawn pic.twitter.com/ftuUb7Lzcy
— Robert Peston (@Peston) January 8, 2018
Meanwhile, economist Noble Francis linked Persimmon’s rising share price to Help to Buy:
Apropos of nothing, Persimmon’s share price from the day before Help to Buy (19 March 2013) was announced till 8 January 2018. A 183% rise.#ukhousing#housing pic.twitter.com/a61tI8fEim
— Noble Francis (@NobleFrancis)Apropos of nothing, Persimmon's share price from the day before Help to Buy (19 March 2013) was announced till 8 January 2018. A 183% rise.#ukhousing#housing pic.twitter.com/a61tI8fEim
— Noble Francis (@NobleFrancis) January 9, 2018
What’s on
A public inquiry into Southwark Council’s plans to compulsorily purchase homes on the Aylesbury Estate for regeneration begins this morning at 10am.
