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Morning Briefing: government accused of prolonging housing crisis
An influential cross-party group of MPs has accused the government of prolonging the housing crisis by failing to sell enough land for social and affordable housing.
In the news
The Public Accounts Committee said that the government “has wasted a once-in-a-generation opportunity to alleviate the nation’s housing crisis”, according to the BBC.
It claimed that the government’s failure to meet its public land sales target will result in 91,000 fewer homes in 2020 than anticipated.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson will take office as prime minister this afternoon after Theresa May’s last Prime Minister’s Questions, and is expected to make his first cabinet appointments.
The BBC reckons that Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister Alok Sharma and local government minister Rishi Sunak are in line for promotions, while it has been rumoured that housing secretary James Brokenshire will be moving on.
In other news, Sir Roger Scruton has been reinstated as chair of the government’s housing design standards commission after he was sacked for remarks made in a magazine interview, per The Guardian.
And The Sun runs a story on a new report from the Work and Pensions Committee which argues that new Universal Credit claimants are being incorrectly advised to claim for the benefit by officials.
In related news, the DWP has agreed to pay out back-dated benefits to 13,000 disabled people following a High Court ruling against the department, according to the BBC.
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The Guardian reports that new government figures show that the number of energy efficiency upgrades to homes has fallen nearly 85% from the rate five years ago.
Fuel poverty charity National Energy Action warned that it will take 96 years for the government to reach its own targets on reducing fuel poverty at this rate.
The same paper runs a story on ministers’ plans to cut energy bills for around a million households by widening the definition of fuel poverty.
In local news, the MK Citizen reports that hundreds of council houses in Milton Keynes are having their roofs replaced because they contain asbestos.
And the Bournemouth Echo claims that legionella bacteria has been found in the water supply at a sheltered housing complex owned by Aster Group.
The Express & Star runs a story on a Sandwell Council report which revealed that the authority recovered 40 council homes last year following Right to Buy fraud investigations.
And finally, the BBC has interviewed women on Northern Ireland’s Homeless World Cup football team.
On social media
Meanwhile in other news #ukhousing... I don’t think this report will cut through to the public but there is a sense that not enough being done and what is, isn’t good enough.... t.co/j3I907dSgQ
— Ben Marshall (@BenM_IM)Meanwhile in other news #ukhousing... I don’t think this report will cut through to the public but there is a sense that not enough being done and what is, isn’t good enough.... https://t.co/j3I907dSgQ
— Ben Marshall (@BenM_IM) July 24, 2019
& our poorest live in the most inefficient housing so this is a double hit on our energy poor. UK energy-saving efforts collapse after government subsidy cuts t.co/l8zeqgWHrT
— Theresa Griffin MEP (@TheresaMEP)& our poorest live in the most inefficient housing so this is a double hit on our energy poor. UK energy-saving efforts collapse after government subsidy cuts https://t.co/l8zeqgWHrT
— Theresa Griffin MEP (@TheresaMEP) July 19, 2019
What’s on
- MPs will hold a Westminster Hall debate on the Local Housing Allowance and homelessness at 9.30am
- The Work and Pensions Select Committee will quiz Amber Rudd on her recent work in a session starting at 10.30am
