As a journo who writes about social housing, I always find it interesting to see the puzzled look on faces when I explain that the social housing is a regulated sector but the regulator doesn't look into quality of stock or how well social housing providers treat tenants Should add a bit of context for those who don't follow social housing regulation closely. Currently, housing associations are only measured by the regulator on governance (how well they are run) and financial viability (their financial performance).....

In March, several banks agreed to look at lending on flats with dangerous cladding if a remediation plan was in place

It sparked hope for trapped l'holders...but 6 months on, has anything changed?

I've contacted the biggest ones,here are their policies🧵
insidehousing.co.uk/news/revealed-… HSBC – Will consider flats on a case-by-case basis where a fully-funded remediation plan is in place and can be evidenced. It is currently working with experts on providing clarity on evidential requirements. In the meantime, each case will be assessed individually on its merits

Just in: Housing sec @michaelgove has written an open letter to freeholders and managing agents, warning them that they could face prison terms if they continue to send huge remediation bills to leaseholders after the Building Safety Act comes into force tomorrow👇 @michaelgove He says before the Act came into force leaseholders could be charged bills worth hundreds of thousands of pounds that could bankrupt them but says.....'those days are now over'

The story of Help to Buy cladding victims is rarely told but is shocking.

Promised the homeowning dream, they are now living a nightmare. Faced by added barriers and huge monthly costs, all made worse because the recipient is the gov.

My investigation🧵insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-sc… Over the past few months, I spoke to 17 different Help to Buy borrowers. This thread h'lights their growing frustration with the programme and at Homes England, which seemingly keeps on moving the goalposts to stop them from moving home or redeeming loans.

Just in: Banks could start lending on dangerous properties if remediation plan in place

Pretty significant step by the banking sector here. Could help tens of thousands of leaseholders currently trapped in homes as a result of the EWS crisis insidehousing.co.uk/news/ews1-cris… So, what does the new commitment say?

From 31 March, several major banks have committed to a new position that will see them take ‘necessary steps’ to facilitate lending on properties with dangerous cladding. On a few conditions 👇

There was significant fire in a residential high-rise in east London this afternoon. It led to dramatic scenes near Aldgate train station as materials fell off the side of the building. So what do we know about the building and the fire? Short thread🧵

https://twitter.com/douglaspark92/status/1500892404064436225

The fire broke out at the block known as the Houblon Building on Commercial Street in east London. The block is also known as the Houblon Apartments and includes mixed tenure homes. It was built by Redrow, which sold on its stake to ground rent company Homeground in April 2016.

Select committee chair Clive Betts kicks off by asking (tongue in cheek) if housebuilders have responded enthusiastically' to paying. Gove states that they agree that l'holders should not pay and says builders are committed to remedying their own buildings at the first instance. Does raise the issue that some housebuilders have raised concerns about building owners attempting to use the potential £4bn fund to upgrade issues with their buildings outside of just fire safety in a bid to improve the value of their buildings

🚨Grenfell Inquiry round-up🚨
A pretty explosive morning of evidence with BRE's Dr Sarah Colwell being questioned on why she failed to clearly alert gov or industry to ACM dangers, despite knowing about its high combustibility and widespread use It began with counsel Kate Grange nailing down why Colwell had failed to act on a request by industry leaders to create an FAQ clarifying that only materials of limited combustibility be used in ext wall construction. At the time there was widespread confusion around guidance

🚨Grenfell round-up🚨
Today saw the BRE’s Sarah Colwell give her third day of evidence. Discussion focused on how influenced the BRE was by private companies and missed opportunities to change gov building regs around combustible materials Questioning began looking at the influence insulation firm Kingspan may have had on testing processed at BRE. The inquiry went through several emails sent to the BRE before and after testing attempting to gain insight. Under BRE rules, providing advice or guidance was prohibited

🚨Grenfell round-up🚨
This morning saw Dr Sarah Colwell of the BRE continue her evidence. It revolved around an important test of ACM in 2002, with some harrowing revelations (knowing what we know happened at Grenfell) about how it performed and how the gov responded to it First crucial bit of testimony focused on a survey carried out by BRE as part of 2000 piece of work to ‘Review Fire Performance of External Cladding Systems’. A key part of that included carrying out a survey of multi-occupancy stock in the UK to assess what materials were used

A few thoughts on the Treasury's letter to Michael Gove and how effective the new building safety proposals on Monday could be.....🧵

https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1479547522712580108

Firstly, appears a lot of the pre-Xmas thinking, as reported in my story from early Dec, has been taken forward
- Scrapping the <18m loan scheme
- Increasing the building safety fund
- Pursuing developers for costs
- Increasing proportionality
insidehousing.co.uk/news/gove-mull…

With material price rises, planning delays, and escalating fire safety and net zero costs, social housing development took a hit in 2021.
Here's my review of development in 2021, and a🧵on the headwinds social housing development faces in 2022
insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-ye… Fire safety costs – They are not going away and social landlords (who have already spent hundred of millions on work already) are forecasted to spend tens of millions of pounds this year to fix fire issues on hundreds of defective blocks.....
insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/lond…

When I spoke to residents at the @MojoResidents apartments for the first time in Feb, I didn’t know it was the start of a 9 month journey digging into one of the most jaw-dropping sagas of the cladding crisis

Here's the story in full, brace yourselves👇 insidehousing.co.uk/insight/the-si… @MojoResidents While the story in itself is shocking, what it highlights is the fundamental flaws with a system, hastily put together. The lack of regulation or recourse for l'holders means they have little option but to accept what has happened to them, even if they have huge question marks.

This will come as a hammer blow to many leaseholders

RICS has said after a review that it is to keep its EWS guidance in place. This effectively rejects gov advice to end EWS forms on all buildings <18m and means many will remain trapped. 🧵on changes
insidehousing.co.uk/news/rics-reje… So, what has happened?

In July @RobertJenrick announced that lenders should no longer ask for EWS1 forms on buildings below 18 metres. It came after a study by top gov advisers deemed there to be ‘no evidence of systemic risk’ of fire in these blocks
insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/lend…

The @CommonsLUHC will launch an investigation into exempt accommodation.

It is a housing scandal that affects tens of thousands of people but has gone largely under the radar until recently

So, what is it and why are there growing concerns over it? insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/mps-… @CommonsLUHC In the last couple of days, we have seen significant interventions.

Not only the @CommonsLUHC review but also a comprehensive report by Birmingham's Scrutiny Committee highlighting the issues and how to fix them.

Here’s our story on it here👇insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/birm…

Important revelations from this morning's Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

The London Fire Brigade sent the Conservative Party (and all other parties) a letter outlining concerns with the quality of resi construction and widespread compartmentation deficiencies that threatened stay put

https://twitter.com/JSimpsonjourno/status/1463847558325932037

A similar letter was also sent to Gavin Barwell, the then housing minister, in April 2017 which highlighted concerns around 'contractor competency' when it came to residential construction and how this affected compartmentation deficiencies

🚨Grenfell morning round-up🚨
Pretty explosive evidence this morning as Danny Cotton, former London Fire Brigade Commissioner, answered questions around how aware the organisation was about growing building safety issues and the LFB's preparedness to tackle them. Thread🧵 Evidence began with a focus on an analysis piece that was shared between LFB directors, including Ms Cotton, about a cladding fire in Dubai.

The article included a line that seemed to indicate that similar fires couldn’t happen in the UK because of stricter building regs

📰Today’s @insidehousing headlines📰
👉'Pointy stick of regulation will not fix social housing' bit.ly/3HQ87Jv
👉Evacuated Clarion tenants could wait a year for new homes bit.ly/3CIkZOl
👉Two large G15 landlords breach rent standard bit.ly/3CNMKFb @insidehousing It would appear the stamp duty holiday has had a significant impact already on the number of houses being bought. Latest HMRC figures have found the volume of house sales fell by 52% in October, in what is being called the most subdued October in a decade theguardian.com/business/2021/…

📰Today’s @insidehousing headlines📰
👉Hyde appoints banking MD as new CEO – bit.ly/3DXfUCU
👉Smoke alarms to become mandatory in social homes – bit.ly/3FFUJFZ
👉EWS crisis caused by 'overreaction' to gov guidance - bit.ly/3cJ8Yxv @insidehousing How much did homebuyers benefit from the stamp duty cut? The results are in, and it was a huge £6bn.
And who were the beneficiaries? Well, those in high price areas, with half of those to receive the benefit buying homes worth more than £500k. ft.com/content/c6fe85…

I'm going to be covering this session 👇 this afternoon, looking at the Building Safety Bill. Follow me for any updates

https://twitter.com/CommonsHCLG/status/1462721449173598213

This afternoon we hear from Ken Knight, the chair of DLUHC's independent fire expert panel, and Dame Judith Hackitt, chair of post-Grenfell independent fire safety review, and now chair of Industry Safety Steering Group and board overseeing creation of Building Safety Regulator

EWS latest: Government has called for all EWS checks on buildings under 18m where remediation has been recommended to now be reviewed.

Expert advice says result should be changed if it is felt initial judgement is not “proportionate or cost effective”.
insidehousing.co.uk/news/governmen… Is in response to RICS stating that buildings with EWS are still likely require remediation even after gov announcement. RICs says valuers must take into account all known information that would affect a value.Or in other words, you can’t wish away an EWS.
insidehousing.co.uk/news/buildings…