Morning Briefing: house prices fall amid Brexit fear

In the news

The Guardian reports on statistics from the property website Rightmove, which says that house prices fell by more than £5,000 this month, the largest November drop in prices since 2012.

London saw the biggest fall of £10,793, or 1.7%, while the South East had the highest percentage fall, of 2.1%, or £8,647.

Meanwhile, over the weekend the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty finished his 12-day tour of the UK, with the BBC reporting that he found “staggering” levels of child poverty.

Philip Alston said ministers are in a “state of denial”, and that a fifth of the population – or 14 million people – are living in poverty.

Mr Alston singled out Universal Credit’s single household payments as “a perfect way to punish families” just as Amber Rudd took over in charge of the new benefits system as work and pensions secretary.

Sky News reports that Ms Rudd, taking over after a swathe of Brexit-related resignations last week, urged Tory MPs to stop criticising Theresa May and, on Universal Credit, admitted that there have been “some problems with it”.

One such problem, according to the BBC, is that it is forcing some women to turn to sex work after transitioning to the new system.

Charities told the public broadcaster that the long waits for first payments have left women “desperate” and forced them to turn to sex work to make ends meet.

Elsewhere, The Guardian continues its coverage of rogue landlords, reporting that a property owner with at least 60 convictions for housing offences will take nine years to pay off her fines.

Katia Goremsandu, the paper said, has signed a repayment deal for her £100,000 of outstanding penalties that will see her pay £1,000 a month and retain ownership of her entire property portfolio.

Finally, the BBC has a couple of stories on local fire safety issues. It says that the ALMO Poole Housing Partnership has not tested the cladding panels used on one of Poole Council’s tower blocks.

According to the BBC, the ALMO promised to test the panels after the Grenfell Tower fire, but now says this is unnecessary as the manufacturer has carried out checks.

In Luton, the BBC says, the council is installing sprinklers in two tower blocks in response to Grenfell.

On social media

Homelessness rose 60% in the 8 years since 2010. Let’s all just think about that for a minute. 60%.

— Lorraine Hinchcliffe (@Hinchy01)

Homelessness rose 60% in the 8 years since 2010. Let's all just think about that for a minute. 60%.

— Lorraine Hinchcliffe (@Hinchy01) November 18, 2018

What’s on

The new work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, will face questions in the House of Commons this afternoon from 2.30pm, in a session likely to address Universal Credit.

Later on, at 4pm, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee will hear evidence on leasehold reform.

Meanwhile, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will continue today, hearing testimony from workers in the fire brigade’s control room on the night of the fire.