Lunchtime news March 16

The Environment Agency says flood defences, waste tips and sewerage plants for 1.5m new homes planned for the South East will cost £20bn, according to The Guardian.

Tax breaks for homes with solar panels and windmills will feature in tomorrow’s Budget, says The Guardian.

Older people have seen their wealth treble in the last ten years at the expense of the under-34s thanks to rising house prices, according to Daily Mail report of Bank of England research.

New regulation of equity release schemes by the Financial Services Authority from April 6 could help elderly home owners looking to release cash locked up in their homes, according to the Independent on Sunday.

Scottish Conservatives will announce plans for affordable homes trusts funded a third by the government and a third by the private sector to help people on to the housing ladder, according to BBC coverage of the assembly election campaign.

Choice-based lettings and family intervention projects get 10 Downing Street’s seal of approval in the government’s policy review of public services published this morning.