Nearly one in four people have cancelled their home insurance in a bid to save money during the recession research from the Association of British Insurers found. Around 22 per cent said they had either cancelled or not renewed their home contents cover in the past 12 months, and a further 17 per cent no
A record number of young people are not in any form or education, employment or training (Neets), according to figures from the Conservatives. Nearly 860,000 people aged 16–24 were not in jobs, school or training, up from 629,000 in 2000. The Tories suggest that the recession, along with government cuts to sixth-form funding, apprenticeships and
Private tenants are routinely being ‘conned’ by letting agents imposing unjustified fees for providing a poor or nonexistent service, a report from the Citizens Advice said today. It said that it was dealing with 6,000 tenants’ complaints a year regarding letting agents, and that the behaviour of some is ‘out of control’. The report has
The decent homes initiative is leaving hundreds of people who bought former council flats in England facing homelessness. Many homeowners are receiving bills for thousands of pounds for repairs they say they cannot afford. One homeowner, who bought his flat in the London borough of Westminster in 2003 for about £40,000, has received a bill
The Tenant Services Authority is offering social landlords small grants to help them develop ‘local deals’ with their tenants. Grants up to £9,000 will be made available to housing associations, councils and arm’s length management organisations to improve services in response to local needs.
The Halifax house price index for March has shown the biggest monthly drop since September 1992. Prices are now only 1.1 per cent higher than a year ago. Analysts say that the weaker-than-expected figures from Halifax would raise expectations that the Bank of England would cut base interest rates to 5 per cent tomorrow. However,
Housing associations have warned that without urgent government intervention there will be a ‘catastrophic’ collapse in the provision of new social housing. The 1,900 social landlords have urged ministers to change the way they are funded in order to prevent the supply of new, affordable housing drying up completely. They particularly want the limit on
The new HomeBuy Direct scheme – allowing buyers earning less than £60,000 to take out a mortgage for 70 per cent of the cost of a property and an interest-free loan for the remaining 30 per cent – has been so successful that developers say they are in danger of running out of stock by
TRUST KEN LOACH to inject a bit of politics into the Cathy Come Home anniversary. Interviewed on the Today Programme this morning, the director took issue with the idea that governments only have limited influence. ‘We’ve chosen to have a market economy that produces homelessness,’ he told John Humphrys. ‘Government can have a housing policy.
A new £200 million scheme to prevent thousands of vulnerable people from losing their homes and avoid repossession comes into force nationwide today. The scheme allows housing associations to buy homes, worth up to £400,000, from people struggling to pay their mortgage. The homeowners would be allowed to remain in their property either as tenants