No End In Sight For Britain's Housing Crisis

The Government's attempts to fix Britain's housing crisis are "insufficient" and a shortage of homes will pump up prices for years to come, the European Commission has warned. While "progress" had been made to address the shortage, the EC said the UK's "lengthy, uncertain, complex and costly" planning system would drive a "continued mismatch between supply and demand". This would "place sustained upward pressure on house prices," it said. Targets to sell public land, a relaxation of the planning system to support development and "adopting a number of initiatives" to help meet a target for 1 million homes to be built by 2020 were welcomed. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

EU Cash Could Help UK Homeless

European Union cash could be on its way to the homeless in the UK to help pay for food and more durable goods. The European Commission has proposed a fund to help the most deprived in the union with homeless people being a priority target. If the fund goes ahead, 2.5 billion euros will be split between the 27 member states from January 2014 for seven years. To secure the cash countries will have to top it up with 15 per cent of their own money. The amount each country gets will depend on a range of factors, such as size and need. Once in the country, the money would be distributed to charities to use. Umbrella group FEANTSA has suggested the fund should be used for ‘starter packs’ – including items such as household goods and furniture - for homeless people when they manage to secure a new home.  Read more on the FEANTSA website.