Morgan Sindall wins Exeter Uni Student Block

exetersurveyors.co.uk – Morgan Sindall, a leading UK construction group, has won a £16m design and build contract for a new student residential development of 487 beds spread over three to five storey buildings in Exeter.

Most of the construction will actually be carried out offsite and brought to the development complete, including complete bathroom ‘pods’.

Nottingham Chartered Surveyors

nottinghamsurveyors.co.uk – Building Surveyors covering the whole of the Nottingham area.

Phil Routledge MRICS is the local Director, providing an excellent and competetively priced service for all types of clients; residential or commercial, private or corporate.

Also covering Derby (derbysurveyors.co.uk). Providing building surveys, house purchase survey reports, homebuyers, schedules and all types of valuation.

Consultation begins on Social Housing Allocation Guidance

The Government has released a consultation concerning new draft statutory guidance on social housing allocations for local authorities in England. Grant Shapps MP, Minister for Housing, hopes the guidance will help do away with the ‘injustice’ associated with the social housing system.

To read the full article, click here.

Halifax’s annual quality of life survey reveals that home is where Hart is

The recent release of Halifax’s annual quality of life (QOL) survey has highlighted what some are calling a widening of the north south divide. In a thorough ranking of all 405 local authority districts, just 8 areas of the top ranked 50 locales can be found outside the southern and eastern regions of England.

To read the rest of the article, click here.

New Plan released by MPs Field and Davis could help shake up Social Housing Right to Buy scheme.

Two prominent MPs, David Davis (Conservative) and Frank Field (Labour), have put together a report suggesting that the Government go further with their proposed changes to the Right-to-Buy scheme – providing the opportunity for potentially another 1 million tenants to get on the property ladder.

To read the full article, click here.

The Housing Act 2004 and the Tenancy Deposit Scheme – A guide

The Housing Act 2004, and more specifically Chapter 4 of the Act, sections 212 – 215 and Schedule 10, requires that deposits for all assured shorthold tenancy (AST) agreements created on or after 6th April 2007 be protected under a Tenancy Deposit Scheme. We provide a guide to what is required and why landlords and agents should be careful when handling tenant’s deposits.

Find the whole guide here.

Councils in fears over RTB effectiveness

PropertySurveying.co.uk – With the Government currently consulting on proposals to increase the maximum discount under Right to Buy (RTB) to £50,000, fears are growing around local authorities that new homes will not be assured as a result.

The consultation’s wording reiterates the Government’s commitment to replacing every social housing unit sold with another affordable home. Some councils, however, are arguing that the borrowing caps their financial resources are governed by restrict them from being able to raise the necessary capital for this goal. With unit values as low as £70,000 in some areas, some councils could be looking at receipts as low as £20,000 to build a new affordable house – something which the Communities and Local Government Department itself believes will cost £40,000 – £50,000 per unit.

Young people to be restricted to two year tenancies in London Borough

surveyorsbarnet.co.uk – The Council for Barnet in London has put forward plans to restrict tenants aged 18-25 to just two year tenancies as part of a shake up of its housing allocation policies.

The tenancy agreements would also be conditional upon unemployed tenants taking part in skills development, training or education which could lead to employment. They would, of course, be reviewed every two years; allowing the council to reallocate housing away from those, for example, not deemed to be trying hard enough to find gainful employment, and towards those deemed to deserve greater support.

Additionally, new tenants over the age of 25 would be offered a five year tenancy agreement, the minimum outlined by the Government.

Both measures are part of a wider exploitation of the powers gained through the recent Localism Act, with additional moves towards prioritising social housing for servicemen and women and towards tackling under occupation.

More information on under occupation and underused homes can be found here.