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Developers harness innovative construction techniques to deliver hundreds of new homes in Southwark regeneration area

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Leading property and construction consultants McBains today announced the completion and partial completion of two major multi-use developments in London’s Southwark Regeneration Area: Elephant One (Phase One) and Two Fifty One. McBains’s involvement in the Phase One redevelopment of Elephant... View Article

Edinburgh property developer Qmile Group appoints former Redrow and Avant Homes chief exec as non-exec chairman

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Edinburgh-based property developer Qmile Group has announced the appointment of former Redrow plc and Avant Homes chief executive, Neil Fitzsimmons, as non-executive chairman. Qmile Group was launched in May this year following a management buyout (MBO) by chief executive, Paul... View Article

Water heating innovation and it’s key role in Britain’s new social housing stock

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Stuart Doggrell, water heating general manager at Fabdec discusses how developments in water heating, can power efficiencies and sustainability for housing associations and help them improve standards for residents Housing associations and local authorities currently face a key challenge, maintaining... View Article

Breaking the barriers to retrofit sprinkler installations

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Fire safety remains top of the agenda following the Dame Judith Hackitt Review and the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster. Whilst much of the debate has centred around the use of combustible cladding and the need to improve fire... View Article

New housing minister appointed

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

After just six months in post Dominic Raab has been replaced as housing minister by Kit Malthouse, as a result of a cabinet reshuffle arising from Brexit inspired resignations. The change happened just weeks before the launch of a delayed... View Article

Student hotspots in the north are the best bet for buy-to-lets

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Buy-to-let landlords squeezed by recent tax changes are being advised they may find better returns by targeting northern towns and cities with sizeable student populations. University towns and cities where housing is cheap, such as Liverpool and Middlesbrough, are providing... View Article

Best places to rent out property in the UK revealed

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

The city of Manchester is the best place for people to buy property and let it out to tenants in the private rented sector according to analysis carried out by the website GoCompare. Manchester was rated as the best place... View Article

1.75m private renters never expect to buy a home

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

About 1.75 million people who rent their homes do not believe they will ever be able to buy a property, according to analysis of the English Housing Survey carried out by the Labour Party. This is an increase of 585,000... View Article

Slow rate of removing Grenfell style cladding is major concern

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

More than a year after the terrible fire at Grenfell Tower only a tiny number of tower blocks with the same combustible cladding have had it removed and replaced with alternative materials, making them safe for residents but raising question... View Article

Scotland to legislate for sprinklers in all new social homes

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

The Scottish Government is to pass new laws forcing developers to include sprinklers in all new social homes, during the lifetime of the current parliament. Housing minister Kevin Stewart made the pledge after an opposition backbencher, David Stewart, Labour MSP... View Article

Wales looks to ban letting fees

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

The Welsh Government has introduced a bill to ban the charging of fees for many standard tenancy transactions in the private rented sector. This has the potential to save tenants many hundreds of pounds and follows similar steps taken in... View Article

Court jails man who locked 35 tenants out of their home

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

A head tenant who changed the locks on a property in north-west London that was illegally sublet to 35 men has been jailed for 16 weeks. Ilie Florin Dragusin bolted the men out of a converted three-bedroom semi-detached house after... View Article

Council raid finds 16 living in a two-bedroom flat

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

A dawn raid by enforcement officers from Brent Council found sixteen people squeezed into a two bedroom flat above a shop in north west London, in conditions described as “Dickensian” by a local councillor. Council staff were supported by police... View Article

Anchor and Hanover in merger talks

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Two large landlords who provide care services and homes to the elderly are in merger talks over forming a 53,000-home organisation and the biggest specialist housing association in the country. If the merger goes ahead, the new Anchor Hanover Group... View Article

Private block with unsafe cladding has safety watch removed

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

A private residential tower block in south London with cladding that has failed fire safety tests had its waking watch removed leaving residents concerned about their future wellbeing. The Palm and Malt House development in Lambeth consists of three blocks,... View Article

Survey of tenants shows average private renter may not exist

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Wide disparities in the rents, personal finances and aspirations of tenants in the private rented sector have been revealed in a survey carried out by the Nationwide Building Society. After paying all of their bills more than a third of... View Article

BUPA fined £3m after death of elderly resident

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

A national care provider has been hit with a huge £3m fine following the death of a resident at an Essex nursing home after he contracted Legionnaires’ disease. Kenneth Ibbetson, 86, died three months after moving into Hutton Village Nursing... View Article

Sparks call for tougher controls on electrical safety in PRS homes

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

A campaigning body for the electrotechnical trade in Scotland, has called for more stringent controls over the electrical inspection and testing performed by private landlords prior to their registration. SELECT, whose member companies account for over 90 per cent of... View Article

Second developer to pay for removing cladding on highrises

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

Taylor Wimpey is to pay the costs of replacing flammable cladding from a private highrise housing development in Glasgow, following the example of Barratt Homes. It is understood leaseholders at the Glasgow Harbour development were facing a bill of £10m... View Article

Long awaited Green Paper expected soon

Tuesday, 24th July 2018

The Government has announced that its overdue Social Housing Green Paper is finally due to be published on 24 July, ending months of speculation over its non-appearance. In the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, the former Housing Secretary... View Article