You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
The ongoing debate between the mayor of Greater Manchester and the housing minister, comment on the forthcoming Conservative leadership election and more reaction to the government’s proposals on private rented sector evictions
In the news
The Manchester Evening News has published a detailed summary of recent clashes and tensions over housing between Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham and housing minister Kit Malthouse.
The piece details disputes over the green belt, the number of homes the region should produce under its new spatial framework, and what set of statistics housebuilding targets should be based on.
It follows Mr Burnham telling Inside Housing last month about his objections to an intervention by Mr Malthouse on housing targets.
Is housing set to become a “pawn” in the forthcoming Conservative party leadership election? The National Federation of Builders (NFB) thinks so. In a piece for Politics Home, Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, voices cynicism about ideas for housing policies outlined by likely contender Dominic Raab, saying: “I don’t remember Dominic Raab having any of these ideas when he was housing minister.”
Inside Housing has published a handy guide to the likely leadership contenders and their views on housing. You can read it here.
Also check out our podcast episode, in which we discuss which of the frontrunners are likely to be the best for the housing sector:
Conservatives in Ipswich have been criticised by a former councillor over their local election slogan ‘Local houses for local people’, the Ipswich Star newspaper reports. Introducing a local residency requirement into an allocation policy is of course not that unusual following changes brought in under the Localism Act 2011. But former Liberal Democrat councillor Andrew Cann believes that the use of the slogan is “dog whistle politics” and says he will refer it to a local commission on racial equality.
Yesterday’s big announcement that the government proposes to scrap ‘no-fault’ evictions in the private rented sector continues to generate debate.
Darren Baxter of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation welcomes the move but says the government must tackle high rental costs to really make a difference. The I newspaper has a summary of the proposed changes here, and notes concerns that landlords may still seek to get tenants to move out by hiking rents instead.
Our blogger Jules Birch also wrote a piece for Inside Housing yesterday in which he described the government’s move as the “the quickest change in housing policy” that he can remember.
Simon Jenkins in The Guardian, meanwhile, cautions against “unintended consequences” of too much private rented sector regulation.
The Guardian also reports that no private landlords have been issued with new ‘banning orders’ a year after the new power was launched.
And finally, Bristol Council is aiming to eradicate homelessness by 2027, the BBC reports.
On social media
Former housing association chief executive Gordon Perry responds to Jules Birch’s blog on the government’s evictions announcement:
Good reflective and well researched blog which for me confirms the answer to @jules_birch is simple, there is no place for Fixed Term tenancies and these proposals should be championed by #UKHousing t.co/35YRqOIyjO
— Gordon Perry (@gordonphousing)Good reflective and well researched blog which for me confirms the answer to @jules_birch is simple, there is no place for Fixed Term tenancies and these proposals should be championed by #UKHousing https://t.co/35YRqOIyjO
— Gordon Perry (@gordonphousing) April 15, 2019