Archives for April 2009
London Plan reveals solutions to tackle rising population
The mayor of London Boris Johnson has unveiled a plan to provide more affordable housing to cope with the predicted rise in the number of residents.
In the draft London Plan, he states that a growing and diverse population is going to require different accommodation. The support of those with housing jobs in London to provide such property, may be required to deliver these objectives.
Providing specialist homes for older people is particularly emphasised in the report, which also notes that a previous neglect of building affordable family-sized homes has led to overcrowding in the capital, a problem that those with housing careers may be well aware of.
"The new London Plan will seek to make the most efficient use of existing housing stock and reduce the number of long-term vacant properties across London," the report states.
Commenting on the recent Budget announcement that £1 billion will be put towards helping the housing market, Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, said this would help those in housing jobs unlock sites for new and affordable homes.
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Social housing research continues
Research into social housing lettings and sales is to be carried out on behalf of the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) by TNS Research International, following a contract agreement, a report states.
The work being conducted will see the delivery of the Continuous Recording of Lettings and Sales (CORE).
CORE data is essential for the effective monitoring of housing costs and affordability, 24 Dash states.
Richard Moriarty, executive director of market development at the TSA, said: "CORE provides a rich source of information about social housing lettings and sales across both local authorities and housing associations."
Such date is the "richest source" of information about tenants within the sector, he said, and modernising the way this data is collected could prove to be beneficial both for tenants and for those with jobs in housing.
Earlier this month, the TSA highlighted that it believes a single regulatory framework for all social tenants will be a positive development.
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Affordable housing scheme praised
One town in the south-east of the country is set to expand for the first time in 50 years as a result of a new affordable housing scheme.
Jonathan Shaw, the minister for the region, visited new housing schemes in Aldershot and Epsom.
The Aldershot Urban Extension project will provide a total of some 4,500 new homes, as well as new community facilities and infrastructure, allowing the town to properly expand for the first time in 50 years.
"In this year’’s budget announced last week, the government announced a £1bn housing package focusing on stimulating house building activity, help for the vulnerable, long-term recovery and better and more energy efficient homes," said Mr Shaw.
He added that this money includes a fund to stimulate short-term development and capacity in the industry.
Schemes such as this are particularly good examples of partnership working in action, he said, noting that residents in the region may be able to benefit from the development of these new affordable housing schemes.
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HCA has chance to increase affordable housing
Moves by the government to invest money into social homes will be of benefit to the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
With Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling revealing earlier this week that £1 billion will be put towards the reinvigoration of the housing market, Sir Bob Kerslake – chief executive of the HCA – expresses his delight at the additional resources which will be on hand to the organisation.
"This will give us more flexibility and opportunities to unlock sites for new and affordable housing, responding to local needs and those of the housing industry and councils," he states, in comments that could interest those with jobs in housing.
Sir Bob also points out the agency is particularly keen to work alongside local authorities to make sure properties are delivered as quickly as possible.
However, the National Housing Federation recently claimed that more money should have been invested in the sector, particularly with regards to the government’’s £435 million energy efficiency programme.
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HCA reveals affordable housing steps taken in south-west
Significant steps have been taking to drive the availability of affordable housing in the south-west of England.
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) reveals that over the last 12 months more than £235 million has been ploughed into increasing the number of affordable properties in the area, in a move which has seen over 10,000 Britons find housing.
People on the search for jobs in housing in the area may be interested to hear that the HCA spent more than £16 million on affordable properties in Wiltshire and Dorset during the past year, with a further £36 million allocated to build an additional 450 homes.
Meanwhile, Bristol and Plymouth have benefited from HCA expenditure of £30 million and £13 million respectively.
Colin Molton, regional director of the HCA in the south-west, said "During 2008-09 around 4,200 affordable new homes for rent or low-cost home ownership were started on site and a further 6,000 affordable new homes, again for rent or low cost home ownership, were completed."
He adds that the agency is looking to make additional investments during the next 12 months, as it expects to provide affordable homes for between 10,000 and 15,000 people.
Among the projects the HCA is involved with will see it be working with Somer Housing to build 460 new homes across Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
Earlier this month, the HCA launched the Rural Affordable Housing Project, where – alongside the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – it will advise local authorities and housing associations in the south-west on how to boost the number of affordable homes built in small villages and towns.
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Budget ”could have done more to boost housing market”
The Budget could have done more in terms of revitalising the housebuilding market.
Such is the assertion of the National Housing Federation (NHF), which states that despite the government’’s announcement that £1 billion will be put into kick-starting the housing market, more cash could have been made available.
Indeed, the federation had called for the completion of a £6.35 billion programme which would have seen 100,000 new social homes be built over the next two years.
David Orr, chief executive of the NHF, states: "The government is right to take a stake in housing projects where work has stalled and to make it easier for social housing to be built, but ministers needed to go further."
Those with jobs in housing may also be interested to hear Mr Orr’’s comments that although the £435 million energy efficiency programme will help to make the nation’’s housing stock greener, the scale of such a challenge means that more investment will be required.
Earlier this month, the NHF called for more affordable housing to be built as the number of people living in overcrowded properties in England will stand at 2.6 million by 2011.
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HCA provides rural housing guidance
The Home and Communities Agency (HCA) is set offer guidance on affordable housing in rural areas.
At an event in Bristol, the HCA – alongside the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – has launched the Rural Affordable Housing Project aims to help local authorities and those with housing association jobs in the south-west increase the delivery of affordable homes in small country towns and villages.
The event saw issues such as planning policy, the availability of land and partnership working discussed.
Colin Molton, regional director of the HCA in the south-west, states: "Affordable housing in rural areas has been recognised as deserving of special attention by both organisations.
"We are very mindful of the challenges facing local authorities in addressing this issue."
Those with housing jobs may also be interested to hear comments by secretary of state Hilary Benn that the provision of affordable housing is crucial to the government target of building more than 10,000 new homes in small rural areas by 2011.
Last month, David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, pointed out that there are 700,000 people on affordable home waiting lists in rural England, a figure that is growing larger by the day.
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Housing associations reminded of gas safety changes
Those with jobs at housing associations are being reminded to ensure they are aware of new gas safety legislation.
Changes which came into effect at the start of this month now require all gas engineers to be on the Gas Safe Register – which has replaced CORGI registration initiative – to be legally able to carry out such work.
As such, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) points out housing associations must ensure that the engineers they select to carry out checks and work on the properties they manage are on the new registers.
Furthermore, those with such jobs in housing should also ensure they supply tenants with a copy of a safety check within 28 days after it was carried out.
Clare Miller, executive director of governance and viability at the TSA, comments: "This is a very important change in the law and one that we are advising associations to ensure their tenants are fully aware of."
Earlier this month, the Homes and Communities Agency called for more to be done to improve the quality of public housing.
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Additional investment in Scottish council housing
More money is to be ploughed into the construction of council housing in Scotland, it has been revealed.
In news that could interest those with careers in housing, the Scottish government has announced it is to invest a further £25 million into supporting the building of such homes, a move that will support around 3,000 jobs.
Such investment follows the £25 million already pledged to help ensure homes will be built despite the ongoing financial downturn.
"The announcement of additional funding will help local authorities to continue to reverse the decades of decline in council house building, providing people and their families with access to good quality homes that they can afford," Nicola Sturgeon, cabinet secretary for health and wellbeing, states.
Ms Sturgeon also points out that in the government’’s first year in office work on more council homes were started than at any point since the early 1990s.
Such news comes as research from the Scottish government showed a total of 29,361 applications for homelessness were recorded between April and September 2008, up two per cent from the same period in 2007.
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HCA calls for public housing improvement
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and CABE have announced plans to improve the quality of public housing.
Such moves come after research by CABE and the Housing Corporation revealed that just under two-thirds (61 per cent) of schemes are of an ”average” standard.
About a fifth are either ”good” or ”very good”, with 21 per cent deemed to have been ”poor”.
Meanwhile, those with jobs in housing may be interested to hear that the accommodation mixture and architectural quality of many housing developments were rated as being strong.
In a joint statement, CABE chief executive Richard Simmons and Sir Bob Kerslake, chief executive of the HCA, claimed: "We all want public housing to blaze the trail for good quality, sustainable design. This survey shows that too much social housing has not been good enough in recent years."
As such, the report calls for local planning authorities and registered social landlords to work closely together to help improve standards.
Meanwhile, Chris Williamson, chief executive for the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations, called for Alistair Darling to ensure money is invested in building affordable homes.
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