
Is it common sense to sell off our social housing?
It is a blindingly obvious idea, according to the housing minister, Grant Schapps. What’s not to like?
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It is a blindingly obvious idea, according to the housing minister, Grant Schapps. What’s not to like?
“All these things would take a toll on your wallet, not to mention your marriage, sanity etc.”
As the bitter battle for London’s City Hall rumbles on, Ken Livingstone threw in an old claim about affordable housing. But was it a good one? Team Boris didn’t think so. Pinging an email through to FactCheck, Boris’ camp labelled Mr Livingstone’s statement as a “false claim”. They added: “The London Development Database reports that there were actually 2,240 affordable starts over the same six month figures (April and September 2011)”. Who’s right? FactCheck homes in.
It’s rare that the government serves up a truly astonishing statistic. But the latest affordable housing stats certainly qualify, writes Economics Editor Faisal Islam.
Yet another housing initiative is announced, but will it make up for the 260,000 planned homes that have been pulled by councils? Marrying local planning with the free market is a risk for the UK’s housing market.
Ahead of Monday night’s Dispatches programme – “Landlords from Hell” – Jon Snow compares his last encounter with a crisis in housing – and the new 21st Century version.
FactCheck has taken ministers to task before on local government funding. Are they robbing from the poor again in an effort to curb the housing crisis?
David Cameron has repeatedly committed his party to urban regeneration, but has his government’s decision to shelve the “Pathfinder” programme broken that commitment?
Jon Snow asks if the UK would be in a welfare crisis if the housing sector was more healthy.
The buy-to-let property market is back, thanks to the bailed out banks – but it comes at a price and there will be winners and losers, writes Economics Editor Faisal Islam.
What a monster of a figure. A 3.6 per cent fall in house prices in one month. That is off the scale. I was not aware that such a fall was even feasible. It has never happened before in the entire history of the landmark Halifax House Price Index, since it started in 1983.
Faisal Islam writes on how councils in England have scrapped plans to build 100,000 new homes following a change in the planning rules by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.
George Osborne may have underestimated his ability to impact personally on the consciousness of the British people. After his ‘Emergency’ Budget in June, it appears the UK ran for the hills, cowering in fear at the looming axe man, writes Channel 4 News Economics Editor Faisal Islam.
The visit to Washington this week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu comes at a tense time in US-Israeli relations. Yet everyone will take great care to be extremely polite and try to say just the right thing. It feels a bit like an awkward family gathering where no one dares mention a recent,…