The government has underestimated the cost of installing smart meters for gas and electricity nationally by £6 billion, according to Ernst & Young. Last week ministers agreed to roll out 47 million new smart meters across the country, for an estimated cost of between £7 and £9 billion –Read More →
Jon Trickett, MP for Hemsworth, will chair the group that will write the housing section of Labour’s next manifesto. Two weeks after Gordon Brown called low-cost housing ‘one of the great causes of our time’, Society Guardian looks at how housing has shot up the political ladder. Read More →
TENANTS IN SALISBURY have voted decisively against stock transfer. Only 29% voted in favour of the plan in a ballot result announced today; 71% voted against on a 74% turnout. Councillors in the Wiltshire town will decided what to do next at a meeting on 11 December. Read More →
Energy efficiency and environmental standards are becoming an important factor for buyers of new-built homes, a survey for New Homes Marketing Board has found. The ‘green factor’ is now one of the top three criteria for people buying a new house, overtaking traditional benefits such as location and valueRead More →
The chief executive of Barratt Developments, Mark Clare has called for banks to increase their lending to help stimulate the depressed housing market. He said it was too early to say whether the government’s efforts to get lenders financing housing deals would feed through into the housing market inRead More →
Housing associations have warned that without urgent government intervention there will be a ‘catastrophic’ collapse in the provision of new social housing. The 1,900 social landlords have urged ministers to change the way they are funded in order to prevent the supply of new, affordable housing drying up completely.Read More →
Peter Boggis, 78, has spent tens of thousands of pounds building earth barriers to protect his home at Easton Barriers, near Southwold, Suffolk, and those of his neighbours which are threatened by erosion to the cliffs on which they stand. But Natural England, the Government conservation agency, wants theRead More →
The government’s definition of carbon neutral must be made easier for the public to understand, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) said. It is calling for a kitemark accreditation in carbon emissions management and for carbon neutral standards to be evaluated periodically to reflect advancements. Read More →
A proposal to publish MPs’ expenses without releasing receipts has been criticised as ‘outrageous’. The Commons lost a Freedom of Information battle last year and was ordered to publish all MPs’ claims and receipts by October 2015. However, the deadline passed with Commons officials saying that process and costRead More →
The UK has ratified a United Nations convention enshrining the human rights of disabled people. The government minister for disabled people Jonathan Shaw said there are more than 10 million disabled people in the UK whose rights would be strengthened. Read More →