Planning and Housing

Newcastle's 'twin cities'

18.02.19: Climate change is forcing cities to approach emergency situations differently – and Newcastle University, in partnership with Northumbrian Water, are looking at innovative methods to predict how a city will react in the future. Leading min...

Leeds council proposes £85m investment in 10,000 new homes for the city centre

07.02.19: A proposed £85m investment in bringing 10,000 new homes to Leeds city centre is set to be discussed by councillors. Leeds City Council intends to submit a bid for the government’s housing infrastructure fund (HIF) for £85m...

Brokenshire orders government intervention at two councils over ‘consistent failures’ to publish local housing plans

05.02.19: Wirral Council and Thanet District Council are to face government intervention after James Brokenshire wrote to the authorities regarding their “lamentable” failure to draw up a local housing plan. All of England’s 338 pla...

Mother appeals to Supreme Court after Birmingham City Council declared her ‘intentionally homeless’

04.02.19: Birmingham City Council is being taken to the Supreme Court by a woman who claimed she was forced into homelessness by the council. The mother-of-four was declared “intentionally homeless” after the city council said she should...

Flagship £400m leisure centre development for Brighton and Hove council hangs in the balance over Brexit uncertainty

25.01.19: Brighton and Hove City Council has been told its flagship £400m leisure centre development project cannot go ahead because of the chaos caused by Brexit and the absence of a deal agreed by government. Hours before councillors were due...

Tees Valley votes in favour of mayor Houchen’s airport purchase as £588m investment plan approved

24.01.19: The five local authority leaders in Tees Valley and mayor Ben Houchen have officially approved a £588m investment plan for the region, giving the go-ahead for Houchen’s bid to bring its local airport back into public ownership. ...

Southend council to gamble £20m on commercial property purchases in bid to replace government funding cuts

14.01.19: Southend council has put forward plans to stake £20m of its budget on the property market in order to replace the lost funding from central government. In its draft budget proposal for 2019-20, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council unveiled...

Northern Powerhouse minister confirms land transfer deal to unlock major metalworks in Tees Valley

09.01.19: A deal to secure more than half of the developable land at the former Redcar Steelworks has been announced by Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry and Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen, with investment expected to bring over 500 new jobs. Ho...

Nottingham council to rollout ultra-low energy homes using Dutch model to half energy bills

08.01.19: Nottingham has become the first city council to pioneer the “Energiesprong” initiative which has upgraded the energy efficiency of thousands of homes in the Netherlands and will aim to cut UK tenants’ energy bills by half. ...

Greater Manchester councils to ban fracking as Burnham makes ‘radical’ statement

07.01.19: Leaders of the 10 local authorities in Greater Manchester have set out plans to ban the practice the fracking across the region. Greater Manchester will effectively stop companies from extracting underground shale gas in the region, althoug...

Wrexham councillors defend delay to homeless shipping container plans

03.01.19: Wrexham council have defended plans to house rough sleepers in shipping containers after the project was delayed until after Christmas.  Four converted shipping container units were due to open in time for Christmas, but senior members...

Councils ‘ripped off’ by private landlords spending £1bn on homeless accommodation

02.01.19: Private housing providers are “ripping off” struggling councils as new figures show that local authorities’ spending on temporary accommodation for the homeless has risen to almost £1bn. Growing numbers of homeless a...

Brokenshire to implement all Grenfell recommendations after ‘painfully slow’ progress at council to date

19.12.18: The government will implement all recommendations on combustible cladding, including a tougher regulatory system for building safety, after a taskforce found that both the pace of change at Kensington and Chelsea council following the Grenfell f...

Brokenshire launches 11 homeless hubs to fight rough sleeping in England

18.12.18: James Brokenshire has announced the creation of a new network of rough sleeping hubs, with £5m committed to the scheme to help provide thousands of vulnerable people with specialist support to recover from life on the streets. Eleven...

Letwin Review: A golden opportunity, but does it add up?

18.12.18: Lois Lane, policy and research advisor at the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), analyses the outcomes and recommendations of the Letwin Review, and makes the case for radical reform of the country’s broken land market. Last mo...