Kate Wallis
About
Kate is a member of our Public Affairs team. She blogs on topics including the private rented sector, and housing supply. 
Homes for NHS workers... Possibly? Maybe? Perhaps?
by

Last year, the Department for Health commissioned Sir Robert Naylor to produce an independent report into NHS property – including how to make best use of its land. The resulting report flew under the radar of all but the most diligent, but it contained some incredibly interesting insights into what could happen to NHS land.

On 30 January, the government accepted the majority of Naylor’s recommendations. This includes utilising surplus NHS land to make a financial contribution to estate improvement. … Read more

Open letter to the chancellor calling for an end to the LHA freeze
by

We have blogged before about the continued freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) and our call to the chancellor has now been supported by over 30 homeless charities, faith leaders, MPs, and housing sector organisations.

LHA is the support that low-income families receive for private rented homes and it helps around 1.2 million households to keep a roof over their head. Since 2011, government reforms have seen the amount of money people can access for housing costs decrease, whilst rents … Read more

Learning the lessons from Grenfell
by

The tragedy at Grenfell Tower four months ago shocked the country and threw the country’s relationship with social housing into sharp relief. Since the fire we’ve been supporting and campaigning for the rights of survivors, and for wider changes in social housing. As part of beginning to understand what these changes look like and how wide reaching they need to be, we hosted a panel event this week.

This event gave Mahboubeh Jamalbatan, who lived in Grenfell Tower and who … Read more

Some more renting good news!
by

In another step forwards in increasing rights for tenants the Government announced yesterday that it will use its powers to make Client Money Protect (CMP) mandatory for all letting and managing agents.

Yesterday we received some good news as the Government announced it would accept the recommendations of Baroness Hayter and Lord Palmer of Childs Hill’s review into Client Money Protection (CMP). This review called for the Government to use its powers in the Housing and Planning Act to make … Read more

Is the increase in private renters a lifestyle choice we should come to accept?
by

Last week, the Resolution Foundation found that home ownership is at its lowest in 30 years. In fact, home ownership is now comparable with the European countries where we traditionally see renting as the norm.

This drop in home ownership comes as no surprise to us here at Shelter – it’s something that we have been talking about for a long time. Nor will it come as a shock to our new government; Theresa May highlighted in her first statement… Read more