Tenant Fees Bill heads for statute book

The Tenant Fees Bill has passed its final hurdle in Parliament and this means that from 1 June 2019, letting agents will no longer be able to charge fees to set up or renew a tenancy in the private rented... View Article

New housing complaints services to be established

Housing Secretary James Brokenshire has announced a complete overhaul of the broken housing complaints system to ensure all residents have access to a redress scheme. For the first time private landlords will be legally required to become members of a... View Article

Changes in council housing revealed

The changing face of local authority housing in England is shown in a statistical release which revealed a fall in the numbers owned by councils to 1.59 million dwellings, down 0.6 per cent from the previous year. This continues an... View Article

R&M weaknesses exposed at major HAs

Two of the country’s biggest housing associations have been hit with critical reports of their repairs service to tenants, at a time when customer services are coming under greater public scrutiny. Metropolitan Thames Valley which has 57,000 homes was criticised... View Article

Mixed news on private sector rents

Conflicting news on the direction of travel for private rents is emerging with different bodies reporting either above-inflation increases, or small falls as worries over the impact of Brexit continues to dominate. Data from the property website Rightmove showed rent... View Article

Growth in build-to-rent housing market

Research published by the British Property Federation shows that the total number of build-to-rent homes under construction across the UK has increased by nearly 40 per cent to hit more than 43,000. The number of completed build-to-rent (BTR) homes has... View Article

Wates wins £90m fire safety contract in Camden

A £90m contract to replace cladding on the Chalcots Estate in Camden, has been awarded to Wates. Work is expected to start on the estate in the summer and last until the summer of 2021. As well as replacing cladding... View Article

Two companies fined £1.5m over death of young child

A social landlord and its specialist lift maintenance contractor have been fined £1.5 million following the death of a five-year-old girl who became trapped while using a lift at her home in Weymouth, Dorset. Bournemouth Crown Court heard Alexys Brown’s... View Article

HA new house starts up by seven per cent

The number of new homes started by housing associations rose in the second quarter to 10,511 new homes, according to figures released by the National Housing Federation. Nearly half the new homes (4,476 properties) were being delivered via Section 106... View Article

Housing squeeze leaves 1.7M families sharing in the PRS

England has just 825 homes for every 1,000 families, following 20 years of its housing stock not keeping pace with demographic changes, according to new analysis published by the Resolution Foundation. In 1991 when records began there were 845 homes... View Article

U-turns on Universal Credit welcomed

A softening of the Government’s welfare programme to alleviate its impact on low-income families has been welcomed by campaigners, but further changes are being demanded. Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd revealed plans to scrap extending a benefits cap on... View Article