IH Spotlight series launches

Inside Housing Spotlight is a series of pieces showcasing the best of our investigative and data journalism.

Spotlight pieces:

14 December 2018: Starting to bite - how Universal Credit is making people homeless: we reveal new figures showing a clear link between Universal Credit and homelessness

9 November 2018: First Priority - the inside story of a housing association which almost went bust When a small supported housing provider entered into a series of leasing deals with investment funds, it nearly spelled disaster for its vulnerable tenants. We investigate why.

12 October 2018: The ballad of Knowsley Housing Trust the inside story of the first housing association made non-compliant by the sector's watchdog for fire safety issues

13 September 2018: How tweaked building guidance led to combustible insulation on high rises: an investigation shows how lobbyists from the plastic insulation industry supported a quiet tweak to building guidance to permit combustible insulation on tall buildings

31 August 2018: The true cost of homelessness Freedom of Information requests reveal the soaring costs of temporary accommodation

30 August 2018: The forgotten threat to high rise tenants We investigate the threat posed by combustible window panels on social housing high rises

13 June 2018: The Biggest Ever Survey of Fire Risk Assessments Data journalism revealing widespread fire safety issues in more than 1,500 tower blocks across the country

12 April 2018: A Section 106 Story An investigation into allegations of "sham transactions" involving Section 106 deals in south London

23 March 2018: The Paper Trail: The Failure of Building Regulations A lengthy investigation into the failures of building regulation that may have contributed to the Grenfell Tower disaster, and the many missed warnings

23 February 2018: The Kingspan Papers Leaked meeting notes reveal some worrying issues, including allegations of fire safety report doctoring by manufacturers

9 February 2018: Gentoo: a Sunderland story We look back at the recent history of Sunderland’s largest housing association.

25 January 2018: Homeless families face long stays in council-owned hostels we reveal how councils in London are skirting the law by using hostels to house people in temporary accommodation for more than six weeks

7 December 2017: Council house to private rent We reveal the percentage of former Right to Buy homes in the private rented sector has passed 40%

17 November 2017: Rent to buy, or rent to rent? A look at how successful the government's Rent to Buy schemes have been

7 September 2017: Once upon a time in the west The history of KCTMO in the years before the Grenfell Tower fire

11 August: 2017 Grenfell: The paper trail - our news editor Pete Apps examines seven years of council documents to tell a story of the missed opportunites to prevent the Grenfell tragedy

4 August 2017 : Knowing the risks – the most common fire safety problems in tower blocks

26 May 2017: Rents hiked for RTB replacements – Sophie Barnes reveals less than half of Right to Buy replacement homes are for social rent

12 May 2017: A stark warning – a prescient piece looking at lessons to be learned from the Shepherds Bush tower block fire

13 April 2017: Where the axe will fall – a look at plans to axe housing benefit for younger people

10 Feb 2017: Circle of Despair – the inside story of Circle's repairs and maintenance troubles

3 Feb 2017: The Benefit Cap Tightrope – Sophie Barnes unveils the first exclusive analysis of the lower benefit cap