Regulatory fees increase confirmed

England’s social housing regulator has confirmed the planned seventy-five pence increase in the per-unit fee to an estimated £5.47 per property for 2020/21. The regulator’s chief executive Fiona MacGregor has written to all registered providers notifying them of the increase,... View Article

Self-employed gas fitter jailed for illegal gas work

A fitter has been jailed for 18 months after carrying out illegal gas work which was deemed by Gas Safe Register as immediately dangerous to life and property. York Magistrates’ Court heard that between 14 and 15 November 2015 and... View Article

Scotland makes progress on affordable housing delivery

The Chartered Institute of Housing has praised the Scottish Government for progress made towards meeting its target to deliver 50,000 affordable homes over five years to 2021, but has urged it to make clear its future funding plans. As well... View Article

Scottish regulator reminds landlords of safety duties

The Scottish Housing Regulator has written to all social landlords to highlight the importance of meeting their duties to keep tenants and residents safe. The Regulator’s letter comes after it identified that some of the registered social landlords it had... View Article

Student landlords told to fix ‘awful’ problems

The Universities Minister has demanded that providers of student accommodation urgently resolve the problems at more than 20 new specialist housing schemes, where construction delays have left them uninhabitable. Chris Skidmore MP met with the companies after a series of... View Article

Rydon secures £100m redevelopment of West London estate

Ealing Council has awarded a £100m estate regeneration project to Rydon, the contractor who were the lead company on the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower. The contract will see the demolition of the 264-home High Lane estate, in Hanwell, and its... View Article

HA secures its largest partnership deal for 455 homes

Bromford has entered into a multi-million pound partnership with a national housebuilder to deliver hundreds of affordable homes in Gloucestershire. The association has secured a deal with Taylor Wimpey to build 455 homes at Innsworth, in Gloucestershire. It represents Bromford’s biggest deal of this kind to date. The homes will... View Article

Specialist HA installs sprinklers in its tall buildings

One of the country’s largest providers of retirement and extra care housing has installed water sprinklers in all six of its residential buildings over six storeys high. Housing 21 owns and manages around 21,000 properties in 150 local authority areas.... View Article

MPs criticise company’s approach to customer safety

MPs on the Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Committee declared it ‘astonishing’ that four years on from Whirlpool revealing defects in its tumble-dryers that as many as 800,000 defective machines could still be present in people’s homes and posing a... View Article

Ashford landlord fined £5,000 for breaching HMO law

The owner of a house believed to be occupied by multiple tenants has been successfully prosecuted by Ashford Borough Council for failing to co-operate with attempts by the authority to ensure that the quality of the accommodation meets acceptable standards. Josh Basharart Ahmad was fined £5,000 and... View Article

Focus turns to phase two of Grenfell inquiry

After a hard hitting report following phase one of the Grenfell inquiry, attention and focus will soon switch to the second phase of the inquiry which starts in late January. Survivors and campaigners welcomed the depth of Sir Martin’s 46... View Article

Grenfell inquiry costs revealed

The Grenfell Tower inquiry has cost the taxpayer more than £40 million, with most of the money spent on lawyers and legal advisers fees, according to a financial statement released by the inquiry. Covering the period from 1 August 2017... View Article