Planning and Housing

Councils must set out rough sleeping strategies by 2019 or face government action, Brokenshire warns

10.12.18: All councils must publish detailed rough sleeping and homelessness strategies by winter 2019 or face government intervention if they fail to do so as part of the government’s new road-map to end rough sleeping by 2027. James Brokenshi...

Councils to have ‘full backing’ as government announces ban on Grenfell-style cladding

30.11.18: The government has banned combustible materials such as those used on Grenfell Tower on new high-rise homes and buildings and given councils the power to strip unsafe cladding from residential buildings. James Brokenshire said local authori...

Permission development rules are ‘exacerbating affordable housing crisis’, councils warn

28.11.18: Government rules that allow developers to bypass the planning system to build have caused councils to miss out on more than 10,000 “desperately-needed” affordable homes in the past three years, council have warned. The LGA said...

Westminster council to ban supersize homes to make room for more affordable housing

14.11.18: Westminster City Council is to ban new supersized properties to free up space to build more affordable homes for “real people” as it sets out its 2040 vision for housing. The council said it would restrict new-build homes that e...

Ministers unveil new housing court proposals to speed up landlord and tenant justice

14.11.18: James Brokenshire has unveiled proposals for a new ‘housing court’ to enable landlords and tenants to receive faster and more effective justice in settling property disputes. The designated court, according to the communities se...

Oxfordshire council spends £1.7m on audit for work carried out by Carillion

09.11.18: Oxfordshire County Council has spent £1.7m on an audit report on the work carried out by Carillion, finding “a range of issues” and “major elements unsuitably executed.” The report shows that the county council...

Councils given £2m for crackdown on rogue landlords

08.11.18: Councils are to be given £2m in government funding to tackle “rogue landlords” who break the law by offering inadequate or unsafe housing. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government announced that councils w...

Council’s 20,000 affordable homes strategy to leave Edinburgh with £77m funding deficit

07.11.18: The City of Edinburgh Council’s plans to build 20,000 new affordable homes in the Scottish capital now face a funding black hole of £77m. The authority’s Strategic Housing Investment Plan (SHIP), announced this time last y...

Unitary council threatens Highways England with legal action over Lower Thames Crossing

07.11.18: Thurrock Council is considering legal action against Highways England for its Lower Thames Crossing proposals which will create a “visible scar” on the landscape. The new road, which will be the largest road tunnel in the UK, wi...

Five-year strategic plan from Homes England will ‘disrupt the housing market’

31.10.18: Homes England has revealed its five-year strategic plan to deliver and face the long-term housing challenges across the country,  arguing that it will “disrupt the housing market.” The public body, which replaced the Homes...

Budget promises not enough to unlock rail and housing in Oxford-Cambridge Arc

30.10.18: Philip Hammond’s Budget promises will not be enough to deliver the one million homes planned for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc without intensive government efforts, warns the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC). In his Autumn Budget...

Investment in ‘new generation’ of social housing could generate £320bn for economy

29.10.18: Councils could generate £320bn for the UK economy over 50 years if they were given funding in today’s Budget to build a “new generation” of social housing. Major investment in new, high-quality council housing would...

The Northern Gateway

29.10.18: The Northern Gateway will be one of the largest residential-led regeneration schemes in the UK when the project hits the ground in the coming months, explains Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council. Rightly lauded in the...

Plans for a million houses in Oxford-Cambridge Arc could destroy area the size of Birmingham

26.10.18: Campaigners have warned that plans to build one million new homes in the south of England will “concrete over an area of countryside the size of Birmingham.” However, the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has argued that...

Khan announces £1bn plan to build 11,000 new council homes in London

24.10.18: The mayor of London has announced a £1bn scheme for 26 London boroughs to build an extra 11,000 council homes at social rent levels, plus a further 3,750 other homes in a bid to tackle the housing crisis. Sadiq Khan announced that und...