You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Morning Briefing: Labour hits back at May's £2bn housing pledge
Theresa May’s announcement of £2bn of new funding to bankroll “long-term partnerships” with housing associations has been criticised by the shadow housing minister
In the news
Ms May’s promise to make £2bn available for housing associations was widely reported this morning, although Labour’s shadow housing secretary John Healey said the plans fell “far short” of what was needed for the sector.
Mr Healey said: "If Conservative ministers are serious about fixing the housing crisis they should back Labour’s plans to build a million genuinely affordable homes, including the biggest council housebuilding programme for more than 30 years,” the BBC reported.
The story is widely covered in the national press today, and you can read Inside Housing’s write up here.
The Telegraph has taken an interesting top line, focusing on the prime minister’s statement that people should be “proud” to live in what was described as a ‘state-funded home’. The paper describes the speech as a major shift in Conservative housing policy.
A Manchester councillor has warned that the city centre risks becoming a “broken community” due to a lack of social and affordable housing, the Manchester Evening News reports. Jon-Connor Lyons, a Labour member of the council, raised his concerns during a town hall meeting about the city’s housing crisis last night, suggesting that the luxury flats being built in Manchester would not be occupied by local people.
In response to his query, Jon Sawyer, director of housing at the council, admitted that the town hall was not “necessarily doing enough” on the issue.
The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) has teamed up with the Construction Scotland Innovation Centre to explore ways of improving the country’s housing stock. The partnership will provide support for social landlords which want to make their housing management more efficient, and explore different ways of building, including off-site construction. The National has more details.
The Times has news of a report which recommends that the Irish Government should use compulsory purchase orders to buy vacant homes from owners who refuse to engage with local authorities.
The report by Indecon, an economic research group, found there was “limited scope” for a vacant property tax to bring significant numbers of unused properties back into the housing supply. Instead, the government is being urged to launch a “major programme of compulsory purchase orders” to boost social housing supply.
Meanwhile, a community group in Aberdeen has won a major victory in its battle to take over a historic school, The Press and Journal reports. The city’s council last night appointed community group Torry Development Trust and Grampian Housing Association as preferred bidders for the site. The group plans to turn the school, which survived a direct hit from a German bomb during the blitz, into affordable housing, seeing off competition from private developers.
L&Q is flagged by the Evening Standard as a developer poised to take advantage of an expected hike in house prices in London. The paper reports that it is selling 104 one and two-bedroom flats, a third of which will be for shared ownership, in Stepney, an area slated for growth.
On social media
It’s Scottish Housing Day. Inside Housing is doing two Twitter Q&As: one with Jim Strang, vice president at the Chartered Institute of Housing, at 9am and one with housing minister Kevin Stewart at 12:45.
Follow the latest updates via the hashtag #ScottishHousingDay
Welcome to #scottishhousingday! There are loads of activities going on across the country today from hundreds of housing organisations in Scotland.
— Scottish Housing Day (@scothousingday)
Keep an eye on #ScottishHousingDay to follow developments. Tweet lots, and let’s get people talking about housing! pic.twitter.com/0f09hiEymXWelcome to #scottishhousingday! There are loads of activities going on across the country today from hundreds of housing organisations in Scotland.
— Scottish Housing Day (@scothousingday) September 19, 2018
Keep an eye on #ScottishHousingDay to follow developments. Tweet lots, and let's get people talking about housing! pic.twitter.com/0f09hiEymX
What’s on
- The National Housing Federation has its annual Housing Summit in London, where Theresa May is speaking this morning
- The Grenfell Inquiry continues
