Government Watered Down Implementation Of Grenfell Recommendations

The government proposed watering down key recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry, including those relating to the evacuation of disabled people, after an industry lobbying group described them as costly and impractical. Minutes of a meeting held behind closed doors in April show fire and housing sector lobbyists describing evacuation plans for people with disabilties as “totally impracticable” and advising that they should continue to rely on ‘stay put’ advice if there was a fire. The meeting also advised against introducing manual fire alarms for existing high-rises, as doing so was “not cheap”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/government-limited-grenfell-inquiry-recommendations-for-disabled-people-after-push-from-industry-lobbyists-documents-reveal-69036?utm_source=Ocean%20Media%20Group&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12055886_IH-DAILY-18-12-2020-GR&dm_i=1HH2,76EDQ,8CKJV9,T2NW7,1

Gypsy Sites 'Should Be Central Part Of Tackling Housing Crisis'

Providing Gypsy and Traveller sites should be made a central part of tackling the UK’s housing crisis, a new report says. Managing and delivering Gypsy and Traveller sites: negotiating conflict, published today by CIH on behalf of JRF and De Montfort University, argues that more must be done to ensure Gypsies and Travellers have access to sites and that providing attractive sites is cost-effective and should be an essential part of housing provision. It makes 12 key recommendations on how the current lack of sites can be addressed. Download the report from the CIH website.

Government Refuses Major Changes Recommended By Lords Committee

In February, the House of Lords Committee on National Policy for the Built Environment suggested changes to council borrowing caps, a review of the 1% rent cut and issued a call to “reconsider” its proposal to include Starter Homes within the definition of affordable housing.  In its response the government said it did not agree with the committee that the 1% rent cut may “threaten the viability of new schemes” planned by councils. The government did not accept the committee’s recommendation to review the impact of borrowing restriction on councils’ ability to deliver housing and said it is “important that the definition of affordable housing for planning purposes supports present and future innovation by housing providers in meeting the needs of a wide range of households who are unable to access market housing”. Read more on Inside Housing.

20 Ways To Tackle The Housing Crisis

The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has set out its key recommendations for dealing with the UK’s dire housing crisis. With a new government and the leave result of the EU referendum, it’s more vital than ever to ensure design quality isn’t comprised as we ramp up the construction industry to keep Britain’s economy growing and build much needed new homes. The new policy document, ‘Housing Matters: #20ways to tackle the housing crisis’, advocates better use of public resources and public sector land, more locally-made decisions, greater focus on good design, increased support for new types of housing development, sustainable and resilient homes and a more transparent housing market. Download a copy of the recommendations from the RIBA website.

Enough Available Brownfield Land to Build 226,000 Houses By 2019

Following proposals from both Labour and Conservative parties to deliver housing on UK brownfield land, RICS has published research suggesting there is enough brownfield land available in England to build 226,000 houses by 2019. The report Making More Brownfield Land Available for Housing uses Nottingham as a representative case study of major cities in England outside of London. Through a detailed analysis of 30 brownfield sites, it reveals six constraints which impact upon housing development and delivery. The six recommendations

1.       Make pre-planning application meetings obligatory

2.       Allocate adequate resource for the Town and Country Planning System

3.       Create Developer packs for Large and/or Sensitive Development Sites

4.       Restrict the use of S106

5.       Streamline the bid application process

6.       Make the process of match funding easier

Download a copy of the report from the RICS website.

Six Ways to Save the Bedroom Tax

A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report has provided a withering assessment of the bedroom tax, but the organisation's Kathleen Kelly has six suggestions to improve the controversial policy. 

1.       Give people the chance to move

2.       Define what is a bedroom and what is not

3.       Allow spare bedrooms in some cases

4.       Allow people a spare bedroom in all cases

5.       Make hardship payments a long-term solution

6.       Stop counting disability benefits as income

Read the detail behind these suggestions on the Guardian website.