Housing
Place making and net-zero 'key tenets' in planning reforms
Place making, net-zero and good design will be priorities for the Government's planning reforms, a top mandarin has said.
Gove: Planning reform not off the agenda
New housing secretary Michael Gove has warned councillors that the idea of reforming the planning system was ‘not at all’ of the agenda.
Call for new zero-carbon powers
The leader of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) Lib Dem group has called for councils to be given powers to compel developers to build zero-carbon homes.
Lagging behind the retrofit challenge
We risk deepening a divide between rich and poor and different parts of the compass unless we localise national retrofitting strategies, writes Jonathan Werran.
Town centres reimagined
There is no better time to start the complex and ever-evolving challenge of reinventing town centres, but the most successful regeneration stories share one thing, says Richard Sterling.
Building quality of life
Sadie Morgan explains the role of the built environment on our health and wellbeing, and how planners and councils can improve quality of life through the design and management of new homes and buildings.
System-wide approach to no more homelessness in Norfolk
The Norfolk Strategic Housing Partnership uses a more human approach to tackling homelessness, centred on speaking to people who have been or are currently sleeping rough, says Stephen Evans.
Counting the benefits of good partnership
The South & East Lincolnshire Councils Partnership was formally signed off this summer. It will build on South Holland DC’s own experience of partnership working, and build something even bigger, says Rob Barlow.
The power of quiet diplomacy
Outgoing chair of the District Councils’ Network, Cllr John Fuller, talks to Martin Ford about his legacy. He says districts showed their mettle during COVID and are best placed to deliver the levelling up agenda.
Levelling up the UK’s most unequal city
Tackling inequality and promoting food justice are key priorities for Cambridge as the council aspires for the city to be a global exemplar of a fairer, greener and more inclusive way of life, explains Robert Pollock.
Plugging the net zero funding gap
The UK Climate Change Investment Commission is developing a radical place-based offer to private finance, says Alison Griffin - and it estimates in the core cities and London boroughs alone there is potential for up to £500m worth of investment.
Pressure rises on Gove to build social housing
Pressure was this week mounting on new housing secretary Michael Gove to ramp up the building of social homes amid predictions of growing homelessness.
Retrofitting risks ‘dangerous divide’
Councils should have a role to play in avoiding widening regional inequalities when retrofitting housing, according to a new report today.
Solving care needs through social change
More money on its own will not be enough to fix social care - and developing the required whole-system approach means local government has to be in the lead, says Polly Mackenzie.
More social housing could save councils nearly £600m a year on housing support
A new study has calculated that councils could save millions of pounds if money spent on housing support was invested in building homes in the social rented sector.
A masterclass in evolution
Chris Langdon of EQUANS looks at how a Staffordshire town is helping to lead the zero-carbon transition.
Core Cities' offer is not just a housing opportunity
Core Cities UK's offer to the UK Government to increase annual housing delivery up to a total of 25,000 homes per year, offers not just a housing opportunity, but also a skills, employment, economic and low carbon dividend, says Cllr Nick Forbes.
Ombudsman flags housing waiting lists 'backlog'
The high number of families trying to join councils’ housing waiting lists has been highlighted by the local government and social care ombudsman.
Improving flood resilience together
Giles Stevens says the National Infrastructure Commission is awaiting details of how the national indicators to monitor flooding trends being developed by the Government will work in practice. Avoiding the challenges is not an option, he adds.
Why we need to talk about floodplains
Continuing to build new homes in floodplain areas without resilience measures is a planned catastrophe, writes Localis’ Grace Newcombe.
