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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: MTVH served notices on multiple Worcester Park blocks following post-fire inspections
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Three months after a fire destroyed a block of flats in south-west London, the London Fire Brigade has issued Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (MTVH) with enforcement notices on 16 buildings on the same estate.
The housing association will have until April 2021 to complete the repairs, which include installing or improving cavity barriers and correcting fire-stopping elements of the structure internally.
Some experts have previously told Inside Housing that buildings like the one at Worcester Park are incredibly vulnerable to fire if built without the correct fire-stopping measures.
Interim fire safety measures have been put in place across the estate.
Social landlords could face huge bills following High Court water charges ruling
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A High Court ruling is the latest development in a long-running saga regarding social landlords allegedly overcharging tenants for water bills.
The judge concluded that Kingston Council is liable to tenants for water overcharges dating back to 2002.
Law firm Deighton Pierce Glynn said this could mean that any local authority or housing association which acted unlawfully over the charges would have to pay millions of pounds in refunds to tenants.
The issue over water charges began in 2016, when Southwark Council was made to repay 41,000 tenants a total of £28.6m after a judge found the council had been buying water from Thames Water and reselling it to tenants without passing on its discount.
Lunchtime long read
Inside Housing is revisiting the national End Our Cladding Scandal campaign for the general election, setting out what the next government needs to do to help residents as well as prevent another tragedy.
Last week, residents living in blocks with dangerous cladding shared their stories via #MyCladdingScandal.
In case you missed it, we have collected their tweets and some of our other cladding stories in one place.
Quote of the day
Picture: Chris McAndrew
“Seven in 10 young people believe that the dream of ownership was over for their generation. That’s not fair, that’s not right and it is our responsibility to revitalise this dream.”
Eddie Hughes, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Walsall North, writes in Inside Housing about how the Conservative manifesto aims to restore the dream of homeownership.
In the papers
Picture: Getty
A former housing officer has written a piece in The Guardian about the difficulties of the job and how it has impacted their mental health.
The BBC has spoken to charities and developers for a video about what the next government can do to solve the housing crisis.
Marie Claire magazine is running a series on the plight of hidden homelessness in the UK, and has spoken to a 37-year-old mother who lives in temporary accommodation with her son.
Local news
Picture: Getty
Council tenants in Dundee have been told their rents could rise at least 3% every year for the next three years, in part due to rising housing costs and the need to give council workers a government-mandated pay rise, the Evening Telegraph reports.
According to the Construction Enquirer, Liverpool City Council will soon begin remediation work on a former festival site, which will pave the way for 1,500 eco homes.
Inland Homes’ plan to build a development of 350 homes on a former Ministry of Defence site in Beaconsfield has cleared the judicial review period, the Construction Index writes.
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