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A round-up of the top stories this morning from Inside Housing and elsewhere
Top story: Almost 90% of £1.1bn spent on temporary accommodation went to private companies
A joint investigation from charity Shelter and the BBC’s Panorama programme has revealed that almost 90% of the £1.1bn spent on temporary accommodation by English councils last year went to private companies.
The research comes one week after the Local Government Association revealed that seven in 10 councils are overspending on their homelessness budgets due to the skyrocketing costs of placing homeless families in B&Bs.
Shelter compiled a list of the top 25 providers which earned the most providing temporary accommodation last year – a number of housing associations have made the list.
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Council extends loan to ALMO-owned housing company as delivery exceeds forecast
Stockport Council has laid out plans to extend a rolling loan facility to its housing company, Viaduct Housing Partnership, after it achieved a 25% increase in delivery compared to initial forecasts.
The news comes as many developing housing associations and council housing companies, including one owned by Bexley Council, have had to cut their development pipelines due to challenging market conditions in London and the South.
According to the council, reasons for the spike in delivery include additional Homes England grant being secured, a number of larger schemes coming forward and the success of sales programme.
As the sector eagerly awaits news of the new government’s plans for housing, Anne McGurk, chair of 6,000-home Phoenix Community Housing, reflects on the decline of social rent and discusses whether the sector could raise the tenure’s profile again.
“It is an ongoing myth to say that planning is a barrier to housebuilding, and one that we are constantly having to rebut.”
David Renard, leader of Swindon Borough Council, writes in Inside Housing about how permitted development rights are getting in the way of councils providing affordable homes and vital infrastructure for their communities.
Picture: Getty
The BBC has learned that the roll-out of Universal Credit is being delayed until September 2024, adding £500m to its overall cost. The system was originally supposed to be fully live by April 2017.
Also in the BBC is an investigation into Templefields House in Harlow, which reveals that homeless families being sent to live in the converted office block by councils are being forced to live alongside ex-prisoners and drug addicts.
ITV News has covered the latest Labour leadership hustings, during which all candidates expressed views on housing. It leads with the comments of leadership hopeful Emily Thornberry, who called for landlords to be stripped of empty properties.
Picture: Getty
Lancashire County Council is to review its provision of supported housing following the news that 225 properties are currently vacant, the Lancashire Telegraph reports.
Meanwhile, Colchester Council is set to buy 100 former council homes to let to those on the housing register as part of a £22m project, the Daily Gazette reports.
Finally, the BBC reports that council chiefs in Wrexham have hit back at the Welsh government’s planning inspectors who say the council’s local plan is not ambitious enough and are calling on it to add an additional 3,000 homes.