Student Housing Told To Fix 'Awful' Problems

The universities minister has told a summit of student-accommodation providers to sort out the "awful and disappointing" problems that have seen more than 20 student housing schemes not completed on time. Chris Skidmore summoned housing providers after students had been put into temporary accommodation at the beginning of the autumn term. "Students can pay significant amounts for their accommodation and it is unacceptable to let them down at a stressful time," said the minister. Students in Portsmouth were among those affected, when a private housing block was not completed, leaving about 250 without accommodation. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-50227275

Persimmon Launches Retention Scheme For Home Buyers

Persimmon is launching a ‘retention’ scheme for home buyers to protect them from construction problems. The scheme will see 1.5% of a home’s value withheld by the buyer’s solicitor until any build faults are resolved. The average amount withheld based on current selling prices will be around £3,600 per home. Persimmon lawyers are now drawing-up details of the new standard contract which is expected to be in place by the end of June. Read more on the Construction Enquirer website.

http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/03/21/persimmon-launches-retention-scheme-for-home-buyers/

Problems Mounting For Builders, According To FMB Survey

Growth in the construction industry could be held back by a weakening housing market, rising costs and an increasingly nervous banking sector. The Federation of Master Builders latest State of Trade Survey showed that workloads for construction SMEs grew in Q4 2018. Despite this, there are “serious concerns” about the mounting problems facing small building firms, including:

• 42% of builders have detected signs of a weakening housing market
• One in five construction SMEs have had projects stalled in the past three months

• Carpenters overtake bricklayers as the trade in shortest supply

• 87% of builders anticipate that material prices will rise further in the next six months

• Two-thirds (66%) of construction SMEs expect wages and salaries to increase over the next six months

Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/problems-mounting-for-builders-according-to-new-fmb-survey/

Mcvey Admits Ongoing Problems With Universal Credit

The welfare secretary Esther McVey has admitted there are continuing problems with the much-criticised universal credit system and signalled that further changes are in the pipeline. She also said DWP ministers and officials needed to listen more carefully to claimants, campaigners and frontline workers when they reported problems and complaints. The DWP was heavily criticised for its “culture of indifference” in a scathing report by a cross-party group of MPs, which accused it of refusing to accept expert advice and slowness to act when policy errors were identified. The DWP needed to reach out to, and learn from, all organisations that could help officials design and implement a system that fully supported claimants, she said, such as the National Audit Office. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/19/esther-mcvey-admits-ongoing-problems-with-universal-credit

Right To Buy: Flagship Government Housing Scheme In Trouble

A signature Government housing scheme is in trouble, as ministers are uncertain how they intend to pay for it despite the policy being announced nearly three years ago. In 2014, the Government announced a major new housing initiative - a big extension of Right to Buy. Three years on, Sky News has seen figures which show the scheme has barely got off the ground. Only 55 sales have been completed in a tiny number of pilot areas, with only a few hundred more in the pipeline. Consequently thousands of people are in limbo. Read more on the Sky News website.