The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has published guidance on how social landlords can bid for part of the additional £84 million funding package to cover cavity wall insulation. The scheme aims to cover the properties which would not normally have been filled under the decent homes programme because they were hard to treat, and
A new report has suggested that the European Commission could be asked to help deliver eco-towns in England. The report recognises that eco-towns in Europe have benefited from strong local authorities, who are ‘deeply committed to the sustainable development agenda’ over a long period, and the current credit crunch will add to delivery and implementation
Tens of thousands of tenants could benefit from an EU decision to fund a massive programme of green measures to improve social housing. The proposals will provide 1 billion euros to fund energy efficient building initiatives and renewable energy measures including insulating walls, roofing and windows, using solar panels and replacing old boilers with more
A Campaign to Protect Rural England study has accused developers of concreting over greenfield land, rather than build on brownfield sites, because the land is easier to build on and the houses can be sold for more. The CPRE wants tighter restrictions on the scale, location and timing of greenfield land release and more incentives
A recent decision by Rushcliffe borough council to refuse planning permission for a 1,200 home development on green belt land has been overturned by communities secretary John Denham. The local authority had thrown out the scheme on the grounds that it would have created traffic and resulted in a loss of green belt land, however,