You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Short on time? Tuesday’s housing news in five minutes
A round-up of the top stories this morning from Inside Housing and elsewhere
Top story: Sprinkler and combustible thresholds to be cut to 11 metres, Jenrick reveals
It was an afternoon of momentous announcements in terms of building safety in the House of Commons yesterday. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick called a special session in the chamber to announce a raft of fire safety announcements, which saw him confirm that a new buildings safety regulator could be set up “immediately” and that the thresholds for sprinklers and combustibles would be likely reduced from 18m to 11m.
For the full list of the announcements, Inside Housing has the story below.
Croydon’s housing company forced to become registered provider as mortgages refused on shared ownership properties
Brick By Brick, Croydon Council’s housing company, is seen as one of the more mature housing companies in the sector after being set up a number of years ago. However, Inside Housing reveals today that the organisation will now have to get itself signed up as a registered provider with the regulator as soon as possible due to issues with the sale of some of its shared ownership properties. Several potential buyers of Brick By Brick shared ownership homes have been unable to obtain mortgages due to lenders requiring the provider of these shared ownership homes to be a registered provider.
Lunchtime long read
Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase two preview: the testing and certification of materials
Tuesday brings the second instalment of deputy editor Peter Apps’ preview of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase two that is set to start next week.
Today he looks at the government’s testing regime and the certification of materials on high rises before and after the fire.
Quote of the day
“Only a combination of deep retrofitting of existing social housing, raising the standards of all new builds and encouraging rapid market growth of low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, can be successful in achieving an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050.”
Samantha Crichton, policy advisor at the Sustainable Energy Association, outlines the only way the country can get close to hitting its target of reducing carbon by the middle of the century.
In the papers
Picture: Getty
A number of national media outlets have followed up on the government’s building safety announcements yesterday. The Guardian and The Mirror has focused on Mr Jenrick’s promise that he will start naming owners of the apartment blocks who refuse to remove dangerous cladding from their high rises.
The BBC follows up on a report by the University College London which has found that the majority of new developments in the country are dominated by roads. According to the report, three quarters of the 142 developments surveyed should not have been given planning permission due to the dominance of roads in the plans.
The author of the report Prof Matthew Carmona said that the approach was out of the 60s and “far too many developments were dominated by the car”.
Local news
Picture: Getty
The South London Press runs a piece warning that developers could be hit with increased infrastructure levy bills in Lambeth after planning chiefs voted to increase charges.
The paper, which covers the south London boroughs, said that the levy would increase for the first time since 2014 and could see developers paying double what they do now.
The Manchester Evening News picks up on three new developments in Salford consisting of 1,000 homes which are set for planning approval this week but will include only one affordable home.
According to developers of the three sites, the schemes would be unviable if they met the council’s requirements around affordable housing targets and have instead agreed to pay millions towards ‘public realm work’ in the Greengate district where the developments are planned.
The big issues that impact the regeneration and delivery of social housingSPONSORED ARTICLE
