Tory MP Blames ‘Idiot Nuisances’ In Social Housing For Bad Behaviour In His Constituency

The Tory MP for Ashfield called on the government to make it easier for local authorities to evict “nuisance” tenants. “The residents of the Carsic estate In Ashfield are fed up with the handful of local idiots who are the source of the vast majority of anti-social behaviour, and this is happening all over the country,” he told the Commons. “The majority of these nuisances are social housing tenants who show no respect to the vast majority of decent hard-working tenants who are being let down by a system that makes it very difficult to evict nuisance tenants.”Mr Anderson said he wanted police forces, councils and the courts to be greater eviction powers to allow “decent people” a more peaceful life. Read more on the Independent website.

Lee Anderson: Tory MP blames ‘idiot nuisances’ in social housing for bad behaviour in constituency | The Independent 

Ministers Warned 82% Of Households Unable To Escape Benefit Cap

Eight in 10 households affected by the benefit cap cannot work and should therefore be exempt, ministers have been warned. The Work and Pensions Select Committee has called on the government to only apply the cap – which limits the total amount of benefits a household can receive – to those who are expected to be looking for work. It warned that only 18 per cent of those currently affected by the cap have been assessed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as capable of looking for work, while 82 per cent of households cannot escape it. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefit-cap-work-pensions-universal-credit-amber-rudd-a8818431.html

Government Refuses Full Police Funding Request For Grenfell Investigation

The government has refused to fully meet a special request for funding towards the Grenfell Tower police investigation despite approving all others made last year. While the request for additional funding for the probe into the 2017 disaster was considerably higher than others lodged by the Metropolitan Police politicians said the decision was causing further delays and accused the Home Office of “denying justice”. It comes amid growing anger over the lack of progress into the investigation of the Grenfell tragedy. More than a year and a half on from the tragedy, no arrests have been made and only three interviews have so far been carried out. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/grenfell-met-police-funding-royal-wedding-security-trump-visit-madeleine-mccann-a8786456.html

More Than 50 Tower-Block Owners Refusing To Remove Grenfell-Style Cladding

More than 50 tower-block owners are still refusing to remove dangerous Grenfell-style cladding, Theresa May has admitted – seven months after the government vowed to act. The prime minister was accused of overseeing a “stench of complacency”, putting lives in jeopardy, 19 months after the catastrophic fire in the London high-rise that claimed 72 lives. Last June, Ms May first threatened to force private owners of blocks to pay up for the work and her then-local government minister vowed that a solution would be “put in place swiftly”. Facing fierce questioning in the Commons, she insisted cladding had, or would be, removed at more than 200 buildings, but added: “There are 56 owners that are refusing to remediate.” Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tower-block-cladding-grenfell-tower-fire-theresa-may-commons-speech-statement-a8742781.html

Just 5 Per Cent Of New Homes To Be Built With Government Money Will Be Most Affordable Type

Just 5 per cent of homes to be built with government money will be the most affordable type of housing despite the prime minister’s pledge to build a “new generation of social homes“, ministers have admitted. The government said only 12,500 of the 250,000 homes to be built with the affordable homes budget by 2022 will be social homes – equivalent to 2,500 per year. The other 237,500 are likely to be more costly “affordable homes”, which can be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds or rented out at up to 80 per cent of full market value. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/government-housing-social-homes-spending-5-per-cent-affordable-council-theresa-may-conference-a8689591.html

Osborne Denies Austerity Caused Homelessness Crisis

George Osborne has denied that “a lack of money” following his harsh austerity programme was the cause of Britain’s homelessness crisis. The former Conservative chancellor dismissed growing warnings that the severe spending cuts he introduced were behind the explosion in rough sleeping, saying: “No, I entirely reject that. It’s not a lack of money. That’s not a consequence of austerity – that’s just a consequence of bad policy,” Mr Osborne insisted. The denial came despite the revelation that child homelessness is at a 12-year high, with 123,600 minors in temporary accommodation in England – a 70 per cent rise since the Conservatives came into power. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne-austerity-homeless-crisis-housing-spending-cuts-economy-conservatives-a8695861.html

Half Of Female Prisoners Being Released To Homelessness

Half of female prisoners are left homeless after their release from prison, a report into the largest women's prison in Europe has found. A study by the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) on HMP Bronzefield found 50 per cent of inmates left with no fixed residence. The report drew attention to the impact the Offender Rehabilitation Act has had on the number of recalls to prison. The law sees former inmates frequently taken back to prison for minor infringements where they can spend several more weeks in prison without achieving proper rehabilitation. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/female-prisoners-homeless-imb-report-jailed-bronzefield-a8618806.html

May's Flagship Policy To Solve Housing Crisis Will Deliver No New Homes In Half Of England

Theresa May’s policy for a revival in council housebuilding will not deliver a single new home in more than half of the local authorities in England. The prime minister announced a major change that will see the government scrap restrictions on how much councils can borrow to fund housing. However, ministers have admitted that less than half of councils have the type of account that will allow them to increase their borrowing. Only 160 of the 326 councils in England with responsibility for housing have housing revenue accounts (HRAs). Councils set to miss out on the potential funding boost include several with some of the longest housing waiting lists in the country. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-housing-policy-local-councils-rents-revenue-borrowing-half-england-a8617201.html

Government's New Council House Building Drive Will Come At Expense Of Housing Associations

The government’s council house building drive will come at the expense of fewer new units constructed by housing associations. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility said it expected new council house construction of 20,000 units over the period as a result of the lifting of the HRA cap. However, the OBR, also added that it expected this to crowd out private house building, with every two new council houses resulting in roughly one less new private house, meaning the net impact on new housing supply from lifting the cap would be only 9,000. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/council-house-building-social-housing-associations-theresa-may-a8614281.html

Property Asking Prices Slashed By £26,000 As UK Housing Market Slows Down

The asking price of almost two-in-five properties for sale in Britain has been reduced by an average of more than £26,000, new research has found. Sellers have cut the price of 37.9 per cent of homes, up from 32.4 per cent in April, property website Zoopla said, in the latest sign that the UK market may be slowing down. The figures highlight big differences in the housing market across different regions with Manchester and Glasgow performing well while London lags behind. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-house-prices-property-market-outlook-london-manchester-glasgow-zoopla-a8599016.html

Hundreds Of Tower Blocks Across UK At Risk Of Collapse

Tower blocks across the UK, home to an estimated 100,000 people, have a systemic structural flaw that puts them at risk of collapse. In the wake of the Grenfell disaster, safety problems have come to light at towers built using the Large Panel System (LPS) method during the 1960s and 1970s, which house more than 41,000 flats in cities up and down the country. The flawed construction method has left cracks in some flats wide enough to allow residents to slide their hands in between the walls. It also leaves them at risk of complete collapse in the event of a fire or gas explosion. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tower-blocks-collapse-risk-grenfell-safety-government-a8592436.html

Housing Market Registers Slowest September Growth Since 2010

The UK property market has recorded its slowest September growth for eight years.  House prices traditionally rise at this time of year as the number of properties on the market falls, but new figures show an increase of just 1 per cent for the month – the lowest since 2010. Homes with two bedrooms or fewer dragged the average down with a 0.1 per cent fall for the month, partly due to a reduced number of sales to buy-to-let investors. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-property-prices-housing-market-slowest-september-buy-to-let-taxes-a8583481.html

Help To Buy May Be Ditched By Government

The government’s Help to Buy scheme could be ditched amid fears it is pushing up house prices and helping wealthy people upgrade their homes. Ministers are reportedly planning a “fundamental review” of the policy. It may be replaced by a scheme “more targeted on those it is meant to be helping”. It comes after research showed one in five households taking advantage of Help to Buy used the scheme to upgrade their existing home, rather than use the money to buy a first property.  Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/help-to-buy-housing-scheme-wealthy-household-government-cut-conservative-a8519516.html

Grenfell: Police Say They Have 'Reasonable Grounds' To Suspect Corporate Manslaughter

Police investigating the Grenfell Tower fire have concluded there are “reasonable grounds” to suspect the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and the council’s tenant management organisation (TMO) may have committed corporate manslaughter. Chiefs from both organisations will be formally interviewed by officers as part of the criminal investigation into the tragedy that claimed at least 80 lives. A statement circulated to those involved said an “initial assessment” of seized material and witness statements had allowed police to conclude that each organisation may have committed the offence. Both organisations will be questioned under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/grenfell-tower-fire-latest-news-corporate-manslaughter-kensington-council-kctmo-met-police-a7863616.html

Tenants' Lives At Risk After Government Refuses To Act On Weak Safety Rules

Tenants’ lives are being put at risk because the government has refused to beef up weak safety rules in rented housing despite the Grenfell tragedy, experts are warning. Hazards such as inadequate fire doors, faulty electrical equipment and dangerous heating systems cannot be tackled because officials are unable to prove they fail outdated guidance, they say. Ninety-seven per cent of environmental health professionals have called for action – with more than half reporting they had “witnessed hazards that could not be addressed”.  Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/grenfell-tenants-lives-risk-weak-safety-rules-government-tragedy-warning-a8433481.html

Join Up Health And Housing Policy Or Risk Return To 'Pre-War Slum Housing'

Labour has warned there is a risk of the resurgence of post-war style slums that fuelled illness as it announced plans to join up health and housing policies. Hundreds of thousands of rented homes are unfit to live in, according to the party. It set out plans to create healthy homes zones that would target areas with the worst quality housing. Shadow housing secretary John Healey warned the country faced a return to the problems of the "evil" of squalor that William Beveridge warned of when he paved the way for the welfare state. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/health-housing-policy-joined-up-labour-warning-pre-war-slum-housing-risk-a8425661.html

Labour Seeks Law Change To Reduce Maximum Deposit

Labour is seeking to change the law to significantly reduce the amount that landlords are allowed to charge renters as a deposit. The party wants to amend a new law in order to cap the maximum deposit at three weeks’ rent – an average of £575 for renters in England. Under government proposals currently before Parliament, the maximum deposit landlords could charge would be limited to six weeks’ rent – meaning, on average, £1,150. Labour claims the government’s six-week limit would do nothing to help most tenants, because the average deposit is already less than five weeks' rent. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-rent-deposit-landlords-maximum-law-change-housing-jeremy-corbyn-a8386221.html

First Time Buyers Paying Double To Get On Property Ladder In London

First time buyers in London are paying double what their counterparts in the rest of the UK are to get on the property ladder, according to the latest figures from Lloyds Bank. The average price of a first-time buyer home in the capital has risen by two thirds over the past five years to hit £420,132, versus an average of £210,515 in the rest of the country. The average deposit paid by London-based first-time buyers has also gone up 62 per cent since 2013 and is now £92,833, the lender revealed. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/uk-house-prices-first-time-buyers-london-average-deposit-mortgage-a8363736.html

Third Of British Homeowners Priced Out Of Their Own Property

More than one in three UK homeowners wouldn’t be able to afford their home if it were listed on the property market at today’s value. The Halifax House Price Index has released figures showing prices in the last three months were 2.2 per cent higher than in the same period last year, with the average property now coming in at £220,962. The figures support separate findings that suggest that a significant proportion of those who have owned their own home even for a few years would already be priced out of the market if they were to attempt the purchase again, despite historically low mortgage interest rates. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/uk-homeowners-property-market-housing-affordable-buy-a8344326.html

Number Of Shelter Beds For Homeless People Drops By A Fifth Under Conservatives

The number of beds in homeless shelters has plummeted since the Conservatives came to power, despite homelessness having soared in the same period. Bed space for single homeless people in England has dropped by almost a fifth since 2010 amid government funding cuts and local council belt-tightening. There are now significantly fewer places for single homeless people to go, despite the number needing somewhere to spend the night having rocketed. Since 2010, homelessness and rough sleeping have risen in every year. The number of people sleeping rough has risen by 169 per cent, while the figure for people being declared homeless by local councils is up 48 per cent. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/homeless-shelter-theresa-may-conservatives-beds-housing-statistics-rough-sleeping-a8303391.html