Housing minister Brandon Lewis has urged councils to submit bids for a £3m fund intended to quicken the planning process for new developments, amid concerns that construction could be hampered by...
The Liberal Democrats have pledged to reform the controversial bedroom tax so that claimants are only penalised if they turn down suitable alternative accommodation.
Local authorities could be forced to publish the value of the council flats and houses that they own, under government plans unveiled by housing minister Kris Hopkins.
Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has said he would be ‘very disappointed’ if councils were not retaining nearly all of business rates by the end of the decade following the coalition’s local...
There is little appetite among voters to pay higher taxes to support public services, and other options will be needed to pay for local government and the NHS in future, the CIPFA conference has...
More than two-thirds of councils and housing associations say new requirements to include social value measures in procurement contracts have improved services and cut costs, according to research...
The Treasury is to limit the loan-to-income ratio of mortgages underwritten by the government’s Help to Buy scheme at 4.5:1 after the Bank of England announced restrictions on the use of these loans...
More than £20m of funds to help people hit by government welfare changes, such as the introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’, was unclaimed by councils in 2013/14, the Department for Work and Pensions has...
The Help to Buy equity loan programme violated Treasury guidelines because it was introduced without an assessment of the alternatives, MPs have said today.
Councils will have to put in place pre-approved planning permissions on brownfield sites deemed suitable for housing in a bid to remove obstacles to development, Chancellor George Osborne has said.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that imbalances in the housing market present a risk to the UK’s recovery and called for planning reforms to increase the supply of land for new homes.
The government has agreed to write-off the historical housing stock debt of Salford City Council as part of moves to transfer ownership of the properties to Salix social housing company.
Involving users in public service delivery could unlock billions of pounds in savings, a report by the government’s reviewer of public service choice has concluded.
Council housebuilding has hit its highest level since 1991 as town halls use the proceeds of the revamped Right-to-Buy scheme to fund developments, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has...
A committee of MPs has called on ministers to bring forward plans to create a single public services watchdog for England as part of reforms to the role of the Parliamentary and Health Service...
Changes to government contracts with providers of asylum seeker accommodation were poorly planned and unlikely to realise the savings intended, the Public Accounts Committee has warned.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has proposed the creation of extra council tax bands to implement the Liberal Democrats’ proposed mansion tax.
The government has today opened the bidding process to allocate an extra £300m of Housing Revenue Account borrowing to local authorities, intended to fund the construction of 10,000 affordable homes
MPs have today launched an inquiry into the effectiveness of the government’s planning reforms amid concerns that some councils are engaging in poor practice to meet Whitehall targets.
Housing minister Kris Hopkins today awarded a £8.7m grant to support construction of 190 homes across six parts of the country under the government’s Build to Rent scheme
The government agency announced by George Osborne to lead the creation of a garden city at Ebbsfleet in Kent must be given a ‘blank sheet of paper’ free from council planning agreements, the chair of...
It is not yet possible to say whether the government’s Help to Buy equity loans, designed to improve access to mortgage finance, will provide taxpayers with value for money, the National Audit Office...
