Housing may be ignored by Labour as the government sets spending targets for a second term in office, prospective mayor of London Ken Livingstone warned this week.
Local authorities in the north, the Midlands and Scotland will now be expected to absorb 20,000 or more refugees from the Kosovo war, it was revealed this week.
Home Secretary Jack Straw this week committed Britain to accepting 1,000 Kosovar refugees a week and promised local authorities that the government will foot the bill.
Moves to streamline the housing benefit system are being stepped up after evidence that delays in processing claims is the major cause of rent arrears.
Council house repairs in England and Wales are in line for a £1.2bn cash boost from 2000/2001, according to a briefing note from Local Government Association chief executive Brian Briscoe.
The government may be forced into a messy reselection process for the Welsh Assembly following the shock resignation this week of the Secretary of State for Wales, Ron Davies.
Business and local government joined forces this week in last- ditch attempts to persuade the government to include Best Value legislation in next month's Queen's speech.
The number of pension funds swapping asset managers rose sharply in the first half of 1998, according to a report by The WM Company, which measures investment performance.
The beleaguered mental health service is to receive as much as £1bn in extra cash over the next three years but it will have to wait until the autumn to find out precisely how much.
Local government minister Hilary Armstrong has urged councils to refurbish rather than build new homes with the new money from the Comprehensive Spending Review.
The Comprehensive Spending Review underlines the government's commitment to continue along the path of the Private Finance Initiative and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs).
Calls from housing organisations for a re-think on the way VAT is charged on property refurbishments received a boost this week with support from the chairman of the government's Urban Task Force.
