Commons Inquiry Launched Into Modern Methods Of Construction

The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has launched a new inquiry into Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and its potential role in boosting housing supply. According to the government’s Industrial Strategy, MMC has the potential to reform the residential construction sector toward a target of 300,000 new homes each year, and one million between 2017 and 2020. The government has identified inconsistent demand in the housing sector and lack of collaborative construction supply chains in expanding MMC practices. In a previous inquiry, the committee found increased use of MMC would require greater government support to give “lenders, consumers and builders the confidence to use new methods”. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/new-commons-inquiry-into-modern-methods-of-construction/

Malthouse To Face Commons Committee Over Green Paper

Housing minister Kit Malthouse gets quizzed next week over the Social Housing Green Paper by the Commons Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. The paper outlined five principles as the basis for future policy, focusing on expanding housing supply and home ownership, improving quality, and providing effective support for residents and complaint resolution. In an evidence session set for next Wednesday (Oct 31), the committee will test Malthouse as to how effectively the Green Paper provides mechanisms to resolve the challenges it sets out, as well as questions on the funding needed to build more social housing, the role of the proposed Regulator of Social Housing, and how the perception of social housing as an option of last resort or a ‘springboard’ can be changed. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/malthouse-to-face-commons-committee-over-social-housing-green-paper/

Universal Credit: MPs Raise Fraud Concerns

The government must give a "swift assurance" that the introduction of Universal Credit will not cause a rise in benefit fraud, MPs have said.

The Communities and Local Government Committee called it "extremely concerning" that detection systems were "still at an early stage".  It also said councils could be left out of pocket by changes.  In its report the committee said the DWP "must provide swift assurance that the transition to Universal Credit will not leave the benefit system vulnerable to fraud".  Its chairman, Labour MP Clive Betts, said: "We heard evidence that ICT systems for fraud detection within Universal Credit were still at an early stage in their development. This is extremely concerning given the advanced state of implementation. The government must act to provide assurance that the benefit system will not be left vulnerable to fraud either during or after the transition. And it must do so urgently." Read more on the BBC website.

Buy-To-Let Buying Spree Will Keep More Families in Rental Trap

Buy-to-let landlords will embark on a home buying spree in 2013 while young adults and families remain trapped in rental properties, according to a forecast by Britain's biggest property website.  Three out of four professional landlords will buy more homes in 2013, while the number of "virgin landlords" looking to buy for the first time is running at the highest level for a year, the research from Rightmove found. Meanwhile, 53% of tenants say they are trapped in renting, wanting to buy a home but unable to afford to do so. The research is published as a committee of MPs begins a formal investigation into the problems facing Britain's "Generation Rent". The Commons communities and local government committee will examine the potential need for rent controls, regulation of landlords and letting agents, and a revision to tenancy contracts.

Read more on the Guardian website.