Housing
City leaders want more say on key post-Brexit policies
City leaders are ambitious to take on more responsibility but Westminster politicians’ focus on Brexit means their needs are not being adequately represented nationally, says new research.
Brexit will not halt economic growth, says Walkley
Economic growth will not grind to a halt when we leave the European Union, chief executive of Homes England Nick Walkley has predicted.
Khan under pressure over failing housing targets
Controversy over London’s housing crisis is set to intensify, with a new report by the London Assembly’s housing committee attacking Mayor Sadiq Khan’s failure to meet targets on affordable housing.
What should councils do?
Tough decisions will have to be made on budgets in town halls across the country, says Dan Corry – but his plea is to try to focus on providing the right culture for the longer-term.
Let's have fiscal levers for local areas
The Government should take steps to enable local areas to fund services through various fiscal levers and such flexibilities would not cost it a penny in extra grant, says Ian Miller.
MJ HOUSING: Finding a place young people can call home
Lewisham LBC is committed to providing 1,000 social homes in the next four years, new council-owned homes for private rent, and more ‘pop-up’ modular developments. It’s a strategy with young people at its heart, says Mayor Damien Egan.
MJ HOUSING: Addressing stigmatisation
The G15 group representing London’s housing associations welcomes the social housing Green Paper’s focus on tackling tenants’ feelings of stigma. Paul Hackett explains how the organisation wants to help with this through collaborating with councils.
MJ HOUSING: Planning for our futures
Staffordshire CC hopes borough and district councils take advantage of the extra borrowing capabilities they now have, and the county is looking at how it can be further involved in the delivery of housing, as Mark Winnington reveals
A developing story
Heather Jameson talks to chief executive of Homes England Nick Walkley about supporting house building and working with the LGA to regrow capacity within local government.
A vision for growth
Cheshire East Council’s focus must be on both delivering affordable housing and supporting further economic growth, says Frank Jordan
'Disastrous fall' in homes built for social rent
The number of homes built for social rent last year slumped to a fifth of the level seen a decade ago.
Council leaders and MPs call for compulsory purchase reform
Leading figures in local government have urged the Government to reform compulsory purchase rules in a bid to capture land value.
Call for public expenditure presentation overhaul
Next year’s Spending Review should overhaul the presentation of public expenditure within the Government’s fiscal documents to bring it line with other countries, a new report has urged.
Minister refuses to rule out imposing asylum dispersal on councils
A minister has not ruled out forcing councils to take in asylum seekers, but said the option was not ‘desirable’.
Gwynne: There's been no end to austerity
Opposition politicians have hit out at the Government’s record on funding the sector at the County Councils’ Network conference today.
Directors give verdict on how to solve London housing crisis
Local authority directors laid out how the capital’s housing crisis can be tackled at the London Councils Summit.
One in three Londoners trust councils
Just over a third of people living in London trust their local authority, according to a new poll.
London leaders call for 'proper' debate on funding
Central Government needs to have a ‘proper conversation’ on public sector funding and put councils on a sustainable footing for the future, London Councils chair, Cllr Peter John, has told The MJ.
Brokenshire: We need to raise our game and get London building
Housing secretary James Brokenshire has criticised London boroughs after statistics showed a ‘mixed picture’ across the capital in the number of additional homes in 2017/18.
We’re not beggars and we can be choosers
With the amount of collective resources and brainpower going into the national housebuilding programme, we shouldn’t be faced with a choice between quantity and quality, argues Bob Neill