Allocation policies: A hidden homelessness scandal
By Mel Nowicki and Katherine Brickell, authors of Debt Trap Nation: Family Homelessness in a Failing State. It’s no secret that England is a country in housing crisis. Homelessness records are continually being broken. Last year, 1,611 homeless people died, a 9% increase from the previous year, and a record-breaking 131,141 households, including 170,000 […]
Warm homes and decent incomes essential, says professor
A leading academic has laid bare the damage done to the health of the poorest during the years of austerity in the UK. Director of the Institute of Health Equity at the University of Central London Professor Sir Ian Marmot told MPs at Westminster that from 2010 to 2020 some £170-180 billion a year had […]
“Helpless, abandoned, disrespected”: The real-life impact of tenancy succession battles
Danielle Aumord investigates the often confusing world of tenancy succession rights and meets social housing residents fighting to stay in their homes following the death of a family member. Rio’s story “My grandparents lived at Treadgold House for 53-years after coming to North Kensington from Grenada in the 1960s”. As we sit in Fez […]
Amanda Newton interview: “Awaab’s Law is the lasting legacy to a little boy who lost his life and is very personal to us”
The inquest into the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in a Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH) property will always be remembered as the catalyst for the national damp and mould scandal that rocked the social housing sector, and the subsequent campaign to drive up living conditions. On the eve of Awaab’s Law coming into effect, HQM […]
The future of the private rented sector – from renters’ rights to decent homes
Reform of the private rented sector is Go! Government efforts to improve conditions for private renters have taken years to come to fruition, often due to the vested interests of landlord members of parliament. Now, however, a raft of legislation is coming through that will dramatically change the way the PRS is regulated, even if […]
HQM investigates: Homes England’s past, present and future
The Labour government’s hopes of delivering the 1.5 million new homes promised for this parliament are largely reliant on the performance of its flagship housing and regeneration agency. But, as Keith Cooper investigates, whether Homes England is up to the job remains to be seen after some embarrassing recent failures. Homes England is expected […]