Leeds council has announced it will build new houses in the city for the first time in 20 years, as council leaders declare affordable housing to be a top priority. The council is seeking tenders to build almost 80 properties across three sites, 27 of which will be councilRead More →
Frontline services such as social work, meals on wheels and road maintenance may have to be cut to cover the cost of controversial plans for elderly care at home, local authority leaders have warned. The £670 million required to provide free care for those most in need in theirRead More →
Details of Gordon Brown’s plan to boost social housing were revealed in the House of Commons yesterday. He announced he would pump £2.1 billion into building affordable housing, including an extra 20,000 homes to be built in the next two years on top of the 90,000 already in theRead More →
The Liberal Democrats have launched a campaign to cut carbon emissions from housing. Climate Change Starts at Home includes a proposal for energy mortgages funding improvements to existing stock and repayable through energy bills. The Residential Landlords Association is advising its members to pull out of the housingRead More →
Some building societies are charging mortgage customers twice as much interest as banks, adding more than £1,000 to the cost of monthly repayments. Building societies say mortgage rates are not being lowered to maintain savers’ levels of return, but research casts doubt on some societies’ claims. Read More →
The government has finally responded to the Rugg review into private lettings and announced plans for tighter regulation of landlords. The government plans to create a register of all private landlords in England, including an improved complaints system that could remove rogue landlords from it, and will ensure thatRead More →
London Mayor Boris Johnson has urged MPs to show children living in overcrowded homes the same concern as they have shown battery chickens. More than 270 MPs have signed a parliamentary motion calling for better living conditions for chickens. The mayor and HHSE areRead More →
Nine UK building societies have had their credit ratings downgraded by agency Fitch as falling house prices and the worsening economy are ‘likely to hit profits’. Fitch said that it was particularly concerned with the large exposure of building societies to sub-prime mortgages, buy-to-let loans and high loan-to-value deals.Read More →
Local government minister John Healy confirmed today that 360 councils will receive a share of £100 million to be used ‘as they see fit’ to meet local priorities. The money is coming from a scheme that rewards councils for successfully promoting economic growth in their area. Read More →
FSA figures show 54,055 people had their properties repossessed during 2016, up from 46,945 in 2015. But there was a fall in both the number of repossessions and the number of people who were unable to keep up with their mortgage during the final quarter of the year. AroundRead More →