Senior Tory Demands Ministers Take Action To Avoid Homelessness Crisis Before Eviction Ban Lifted

Ministers must take “urgent action” to avoid a fresh homelessness crisis when the Government lifts its moratorium on evictions next month, a senior Tory MP has warned.  Bob Blackman, co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on ending homelessness, has urged the Government to avert a fresh spike in homelessness among “Generation Rent”. He said: “With seven per cent of the renting population of England and Wales now in rent arrears, when the moratorium on evictions comes to an end in June, it is likely that we’ll see rates of homelessness increase again unless urgent action is taken.” Read more on inews.

Senior Tory demands ministers take action to avoid homelessness crisis before eviction ban lifted (inews.co.uk)

Government Slips Out U-Turn On Affordable Housing Planning Reforms

Robert Jenrick’s vast overhaul of the planning system has hit a further setback after the Government quietly u-turned on plans to scrap the duty on developers to build affordable housing on small sites. Last summer, the Housing Secretary announced a string of reforms to the current planning system including proposals to abolish the requirement for housebuilders to deliver affordable housing on sites of up to 50 homes. Mr Jenrick believed the move, along with a raft of other changes to the planning rules, would dramatically speed up housebuilding in England by “cutting red tape but not standards”. Read more on the inews website.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/government-slips-out-u-turn-affordable-housing-planning-reforms-robert-jenrick-960077 

Desmond Told Johnson Of His Housing Scheme Plans During Lunch In 2010

Boris Johnson has been drawn into the planning row that has embroiled his Housing Secretary after it emerged that Richard Desmond discussed the property scheme with the Prime Minister over lunch, when he was London mayor. Mr Desmond, a Conservative Party donor, hosted the lunch on 25 May 2010 in the boardroom of his firm Northern & Shell’s headquarters in London. He took the opportunity to raise his initial £500m plans for the Westferry printworks in East London with Mr Johnson while he was mayor and had oversight of major planning decisions in the capital. Read more on inews.

https://inews.co.uk/news/richard-desmond-boris-johnson-westferry-printworks-robert-jenrick-lunch-458004

High Street Takeaways To Be Converted Into Housing Without Planning Permission

High street takeaway restaurants will be allowed to be converted into residential properties without planning permission under new government regeneration plans. Jake Berry MP, the high streets minister, said he wants to make town centres “flexible to change” and hopes to remove delays to redevelopment often imposed by local councils. Berry’s plans would mean fast food premises would be in the same position as office buildings and warehouses, which can be turned into homes without council consent. Read more on the inews website.

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/high-street-takeaways-turned-into-housing-no-planning-permission/

Home Ownership Is Only Rising For The Over-70s And Under-20s

Property ownership is growing fastest among the grandparent generation while their children are increasingly driven into the rental market, figures reveal. The over-70s and the under-20s are the only groups in which home ownership is rising, according to findings by the House of Commons library which prompted a Tory ex-minister to warn of a unhealthy generation gap. The figures suggest the older generation is building up buy-to-let portfolios and brought fresh demands for the government to intervene to tackle a growing housing crisis. Falling levels of ownership have been blamed on a shortage of supply of affordable homes and resulting increases in property prices across the UK. Read more on the inews website.

Average Home Price Set To Rise By £40,000 In 5 Years

The price of a home will be about £40,000 higher in five years’ time, even though prices are expected to slow in the wake of the Brexit vote. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) said house prices will rise by 5.7 per cent this year, but growth will fall to 2.2 per cent next year. Earlier this year, annual house price growth across the UK was running as high as 8 per cent. Taking into account the Cebr’s projections, the average house price in Britain could increase from £194,000 in 2016 to £234,000 in 2021 – a rise of £40,000. Read more on the iNews website.