General Articles

Buy-to-let landlords squeezed by recent tax changes are being advised they may find better returns by targeting northern towns and cities with sizeable student populations. University towns and cities where housing is cheap, such as Liverpool and Middlesbrough, are providing... View Article

The Scottish Government is to pass new laws forcing developers to include sprinklers in all new social homes, during the lifetime of the current parliament. Housing minister Kevin Stewart made the pledge after an opposition backbencher, David Stewart, Labour MSP... View Article

The Welsh Government has introduced a bill to ban the charging of fees for many standard tenancy transactions in the private rented sector. This has the potential to save tenants many hundreds of pounds and follows similar steps taken in... View Article

A dawn raid by enforcement officers from Brent Council found sixteen people squeezed into a two bedroom flat above a shop in north west London, in conditions described as “Dickensian” by a local councillor. Council staff were supported by police... View Article

Two large landlords who provide care services and homes to the elderly are in merger talks over forming a 53,000-home organisation and the biggest specialist housing association in the country. If the merger goes ahead, the new Anchor Hanover Group... View Article

A private residential tower block in south London with cladding that has failed fire safety tests had its waking watch removed leaving residents concerned about their future wellbeing. The Palm and Malt House development in Lambeth consists of three blocks,... View Article

Wide disparities in the rents, personal finances and aspirations of tenants in the private rented sector have been revealed in a survey carried out by the Nationwide Building Society. After paying all of their bills more than a third of... View Article

A national care provider has been hit with a huge £3m fine following the death of a resident at an Essex nursing home after he contracted Legionnaires’ disease. Kenneth Ibbetson, 86, died three months after moving into Hutton Village Nursing... View Article

Taylor Wimpey is to pay the costs of replacing flammable cladding from a private highrise housing development in Glasgow, following the example of Barratt Homes. It is understood leaseholders at the Glasgow Harbour development were facing a bill of £10m... View Article

The Government has finally launched its consultation on banning the use of combustible materials in the external walls of tower blocks more than four weeks after initially announcing its intention to do so. The commitment to consult on banning combustible... View Article

More than 1 million families are reportedly stuck on local authority waiting lists for social housing in England as the number of council homes has slumped to a record low. Analysis done by the housing charity Shelter shows that a... View Article

Tenants from opposite ends of the country are being moved from their homes over concerns that the tower blocks where they live are either becoming too costly to maintain or they are unsafe. In north-east England, Thirteen housing association which... View Article

A property management consultancy and an asbestos surveying company have been fined after an inadequate refurbishment and demolition survey was provided for a major refurbishment project including partial demolition. Dudley Magistrates’ Court heard the survey undertaken by Home Inspectors Southern... View Article