In Budget reaction, the NHF said Gordon Brown’s statement yesterday was a ‘missed opportunity to solve the housing crisis’. The CIH called for more R&D funding for new green housing technology. Independent columnist Deborah Orr attacks Brown for doing nothing about housing. The Housing Corporation has published advance details of the new open market homebuy
Speaking at the Labour party conference yesterday housing minister Caroline Flint admitted that the government’s target of building three million new homes may never be reached, but said government would encourage the development of the private rented sector as part of a range of measures to kickstart the housing market. She said that the professional
LHA dolce vita? Tabloid reports that benefit recipients are living the high life focus on exceptional cases. The April 2008 roll-out of the local housing allowance (LHA) wasn’t expected to make banner headlines. But it hit tabloids’ front pages before half the claimants had even switched to the new housing benefit system. Stories about ‘scrounging
Housing minister Caroline Flint has come under fire after it emerged that one of the communities likely to be selected as one of the first eco-towns is a former mining town in her own constituency. Ms Flint maintains that the development is not getting preferential treatment and has appointed a junior minister to help with
A legal challenge by a local authority against a growth target set out by the government will be heard before the High Court on 18 May. Hertfordshire CC is fighting against a target set out by the East of England Plan requiring more than 83,000 homes be built in the county by 2021. The council
Communities minister Hazel Blears told parliament yesterday that economic recovery rested in giving local people more say in the decisions that affect them. She said it was vital that councils had the freedom, flexibility and ability to support local communities. Her comments came as she announced the release of a progress report into last July’s
FRESH CONFIRMATION of the squeeze on first-time buyers comes in new figures from the CML today. The average first-time buyer borrowed a record 3.29 times their income to buy a home in November and the average advance is now almost £114,000. Meanwhile, interest payments now make up 17.8% of their income, the highest proportion since
Low cost homes to be built in rural areas are the latest proposals from Gordon Brown to meet his target of three million extra homes. The scheme would be the biggest building programme in the countryside for a generation and would attempt to create thousands of affordable homes in rural areas. Many market towns would
Stirling council has become the first local authority in Scotland to ban the practice of evicting tenants who fall behind on their rent payments. Latest figures show the authority had evicted 23 such tenants in 2008, in moves the councillors called ‘draconian’. Shelter Scotland said it was delighted with the move and called on other
Communities secretary Hazel Blears has unveiled plans to support communities during the recession and recycle public buildings. There will be a range of options for local councils to give buildings to the community, including handing them over as a gift or selling at below market price.