Chancellor Alistair Darling has unveiled plans to convert Northern Rock’s £25 billion Bank of England loan into bonds before selling them to investors. The bonds would be guaranteed by the government until a private buyer is found, in a bid to avoid full public ownership. The scheme is supported by Goldman Sachs, and potential buyers
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
WE’RE TAKING a break but will be back with all the latest news and views on housing and homelessness on Monday, January 8.
Sixty children become homeless in Scotland every day, Shelter Scotland warns – the equivalent of 22,000 young people a year. This is an 18 per cent increase during the past five years. The research also found a 27 per cent increase in the number of families in temporary accommodation over three years. Shelter says the
England is receiving a disproportionately high number of immigrants to the UK a cross party group of MPs has found. Between 1991 and 2007, 2.15 million immigrants arrived in England, compared to 105,000 in Scotland, 56,000 for Wales and 27,000 to Northern Ireland. England’s population could increase by nearly 10 million people in the next
TENANTS IN INVERCLYDE have voted yes to stock transfer, breaking a run of four successive defeats for the policy in Scotland. In a ballot result announced this afternoon, they voted 71% to 29% in favour of moving to housing association River Clyde Homes on a 65% turnout. The result was hailed as ‘good news for
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
The right to buy for newly built affordable homes in Scotland will be abolished by the Scottish government. Under a draft housing Bill, the government is also consulting on a proposal to block tenants moving into existing affordable homes from exercising the right to buy. This move could mean 18,000 homes were kept for affordable
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
A scheme in Edinburgh which places the homeless in private flats and houses is to be expanded as the city struggles to meet demand for affordable housing. During the past three years around 1,500 homeless people have been housed in private accommodation with rents subsidised by the council’s private sector leasing (PSL) scheme. Statistics show