Day: May 16, 2017

Some newspapers have got very excited recently about reports that private rents in England are dropping.

With many private renters struggling to make ends meet, anything that makes renting more affordable would be exceptionally welcome. But does this mean England’s affordability crisis is over? Unfortunately not.

Are private rents actually falling?

It depends who you believe…

Down: In April, estate agent group Countrywide reported that rents across Great Britain had fallen in the year to March 2017 by 0.3% Mixed:… Read more

Health and social care is a hot topic in the upcoming general election. Lack of suitable housing options push up the costs of care.  For example, London Borough of Southwark calculates it’s spending over £7m a year (or 35% of the total budget for these services) to unnecessarily accommodate adults and children in residential or supported housing because they’re unable to find a suitable home to move into.  Last week saw the publication of two new reports showing the terrible … Read more

In the last few months an exciting shift has taken place in in the debate about housing, one underlined by this weekend’s commitments to new council house building and to reform of compulsory purchase order (CPO) legislation.

This announcement is a genuine break from the previous government’s reliance on private developers to deliver the homes that we need. It also demonstrates clearly that patience with the big developers is running thin – and the expectation that they will deliver has … Read more

You may have heard through our previous blogs that we’ve been campaigning hard – with the help of our brilliant supporters – to ensure that the new Mayor of Greater Manchester commits to fixing private renting.

The Thursday before last, the people of Greater Manchester took to the polls, and declared Andy Burnham was the person for the job.

Thanks to our supporters, he’ll enter office in the knowledge that nearly a thousand people have spoken out about the difficulties … Read more