Comfort height – a big deal

Lecico’s Adam Lay discusses what comfort height means and why it’s something to consider when planning a bathroom refurbishment Comfort height is a buzzword that anyone shopping for a new toilet will probably hear, be it in a showroom or... View Article

The importance of boiler protection

Craig Mitchell of Sentinel discusses working with ALMO, St Leger Homes, to demonstrate how social housing providers can improve resident satisfaction while improving the performance of heating systems across their housing stock Customer satisfaction is a key priority for social... View Article

Rough sleeping rises in most English cities

The number of rough sleepers rose in almost all of England’s major cities despite a modest fall across the whole country, according to official figures. Overall there were 4,677 people sleeping rough in England in late 2018, which represents a... View Article

Overcrowding in social housing rises to 24-year high

Overcrowding in the social housing sector has risen to its highest recorded level with more than 300,000 households squeezed into too few rooms, coinciding with the introduction of the bedroom tax. In addition more than 250,000 households in the private... View Article

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