A third of armed forces families in Ministry of Defence (MoD) housing are unhappy with their standard of housing, a National Audit Office report has found. In the past two years just 1,700 of forces’ 50,000 homes have been upgraded, and at the rate of progress it will take two decades to get the housing
According to the Tenant Services Authority, housing associations are well placed to tackle long-term shortage in affordable housing. The TSA said that while not immune from the current economic downturn, the housing association sector continued to enjoy strong access to finance, with £5 billion of the £5.3 billion needed for the next 12 months already
House building rates have almost halved during the past year, pushing them to their lowest level for three decades according to government figures. Only 22,000 homes were started in England between July and September, 48 per cent fewer than during the same period last year, and substantially fewer than the previous quarter which saw the
A subsidised housing scheme for middle income earners in London could be extended nationally if it gains ministerial approval. London & Quadrant’s proposal to allow households with incomes up to £60,000 to rent a home for 80 per cent of the market rental and stay as intermediate tenants indefinitely was recently announced by London mayor
House builders are drip feeding homes on to the market so they don’t flood the market and cause further price falls industry experts warned yesterday. The practice is ‘widespread’ among large scale builders such as Barratt, and they blamed a lack of competition between developers of large sites for the problem, as greater competition would
Meanwhile a report has found that poor quality housing is holding back the economic potential of the North. The report says that northern towns and cities have a poor range of housing, in particular a lack of high quality residential homes which is limiting the potential of the region. Greater diversity of stock is needed
Rents are cheaper than a year ago, but rents on larger houses are increasing because of a lack of supply. In figures from website findaproperty.com, the average rents stood at £819 a month in April, down from £827 in March and £873 a year earlier. The growing supply of flats on the market – increasing
More than 1.6 million young people aged 18 to 24 are living with friends or family, nearly triple the number doing the same things this time last year. Research by Abbey Mortgages also found that among the 35 to 54 age group, more than 300,000 people are living rent free under someone’s roof, and said
Communities and Local Government has released statistics on the net supply of housing in England today. In 2007/08 England had 207,500 net additional dwellings, a 4 per cent increase on the previous year and the highest annual level of net housing supply for 30 years. Seven out of nine English regions experienced an increase in
The number of people living in overcrowded homes in England will soar 15 per cent to 2.6 million by 2011 as unemployment and repossessions bite, the National Housing Federation warned today. It says an extra 350,000 people would be living in overcrowded conditions in the next two years, exacerbated by the economic slowdown which has