Latest News

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has hailed a major milestone in his efforts to ‘name and shame’ the capital’s unscrupulous landlords and letting agents with all 33 London local authorities signing up to his online database.

This comes as the Mayor also published his London Housing Strategy, which sets out his approach to tackling London’s housing crisis. The strategy will be considered by the London Assembly at its next meeting.

Social housing professionals invited get to grips with growing issue of moisture in properties at trade body event

Housing association and local authority professionals can take advantage of a trade body conference, to get the inside track on how to tackle excess moisture in their property stock.

The Property Care Association has brought together industry experts, academics and practitioners from across the world to share best practice at the 2018 International Residential Ventilation & Preservation of Buildings Conference.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and local authorities should be given greater powers to get more land into development for new homes in order to help to fix the capital’s housing crisis, according to new research.

A report, commissioned by the Mayor, investigates how land – often in a complex patchwork of different ownerships – is brought together for development in various places around the world. The research looks at the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the USA, to draw lessons for speeding up the assembly of land to deliver new homes in London.

Dame Judith Hackitt’s final report (Building a Safer Future, May 2018) is an opportunity missed to demonstrate clear leadership in the area of fire safety for high rise buildings, according to Ben Jayes, managing director of Vivalda Group.

Giving his reaction to the 159 page report, Jayes said “We were expecting a far clearer statement from Dame Judith, which would include banning any combustible material on tall buildings. We had also hoped to see sharper teeth when it came to independent building inspection, however this appeared to have been overlooked in favour of tighter regulations outlined in the report.

Government has listened to concerns and will consult on banning the use of combustible materials in cladding systems on high-rise residential buildings

The government has today welcomed Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, and has made a series of commitments to make sure people living in high-rise buildings are safe.

Half a million baby boomers hit by unaffordable rents and lack of suitable housing, as housing benefit bill for pensioners set to double.

New research published today by the National Housing Federation – which represents housing associations, social landlords to more than 5 million people – reveals the staggering numbers of ‘hidden’ baby boomers that have been hit by the housing crisis.

The findings show that in the last year more than two fifths (44%) of private renters in England aged 50 and over (almost 500,000 people) were forced to make potentially drastic decisions to cover the cost of their rent, including borrowing money from their own children, taking out loans and cutting down on food and heating. A quarter (25%) of those aged 50 plus (around 52,000 people) who moved house in the last three years have been forced to do so against their will. Many more are stuck in unsuitable housing, leaving people unable to wash, go to the toilet or leave their homes independently.