The Liberal Democrats today published figures showing a 9 per cent increase in the number of children living in temporary housing this Christmas. Almost 88,000 children are living in temporary accommodation this year, an increase of 9 per cent since 2004/05, with London bearing the brunt after a massiveRead More →
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has written to the chief executives of all mortgage lenders giving them until 31 January to treat customers in arrears fairly or face action. It is the second letter the FSA has sent recently and follows a review which found ‘weaknesses’ in arrears andRead More →
Falling house prices have made it the easiest for five years for those at the very bottom of the property ladder to trade up. However, because prices for larger properties have held their value better it has become harder for families in middle-sized homes to move into bigger properties.Read More →
Home Office figures show the number of people claiming asylum in the UK has jumped 27 per cent in the first three months of the year. Between January and March there were 8,380 applications – the highest number since 2004 – while during the same period the number ofRead More →
The £9.6 billion regeneration project in the Thames Gateway will not be weakened by the economic crisis, Margaret Beckett said. Building targets for the area include 160,000 new homes by 2016. However, recent news shows that house building has virtually ground to a halt. Never-the-less Ms Beckett announced plansRead More →
The Housing Corporation has signed a social housing funding agreement with an arms length management organisation (ALMO) for the first time. Stockport Homes is to receive £1.02 million from the Corporation to fund 17 new homes. Grant agreements were also signed with five other new partners including Barratts, Bovis,Read More →
The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) has claimed that designing eco-towns to be more inclusive would cost no more if it was factored into the planning process early on, and has produced guidance on how to it. It says that eco-towns should provide for all inhabitants regardless ofRead More →
Around 20 per cent of people view properties they have no intention of buying or possibility of affording, just to have a look around other people’s homes a survey from propertylive.co.uk has found. People in London were the most likely to have a snoop, with 27 per cent admittingRead More →
Housing association tenants are furious with rent increases far above the current rate of inflation, with many considering rent strikes, and others lobbying their MPs. Since the beginning of April, hundreds of thousands of tenants faced increased rents of at least 5 per cent, based on a formula ofRead More →
The government’s scheme to help homeowners struggling in arrears is in jeopardy, after slow take-up from lenders. The homeowner mortgage support scheme is designed to allow homeowners who suffer a sharp drop in income to defer interest payments for up to two years, and was due to be launchedRead More →