ROOF Blog

The prime minister has written to housing professionals to reiterate his commitment to housing as one of his top priorities. He said that it was the right time to commit an additional £1.5 billion to build an extra 20,000 affordable new homes in the next two years, and by making ‘tough decisions’ such as reallocating departmental budgets we can ‘meet our obligations to a fairer, stronger and more prosperous society’.

The mental health problems faced by rough sleepers has reached a ‘critical level’ following a rise in the homelessness rate, St Mungo’s has found. Among its clients, 40 per cent were diagnosed with depression and 22 per cent were diagnosed with schizophrenia, which St Mungo’s called ‘the tip of the iceberg’. It warned that the government’s target to end homelessness in London by 2012 will be missed unless the link between mental health and homelessness is broken. There has been a 15 per cent rise in the homelessness rate in London in the past year – the equivalent of five new rough sleepers a day.

The newest member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee David Miles has said the worst of the recession and housing slump is probably over. He said his ‘hunch’ was that expectations in the housing market look a bit better now than a few months ago and that we have seen most of the ‘overall aggregate’ house price falls. However, he added that Britain is set for an ‘anaemic’ recovery with little chance of returning to buoyant growth in the short term.

Plans to build a 40-foot tower for animals above a Leeds canal have been unveiled. The ‘man-made tree’ will provide a habitat for bats, birds, butterflies, insects and foxes. The design was chosen in a competition held because, the organisers said: ‘birdsong had all but vanished’ from the area.

A Belfast house builder has been accused of faking a queue outside an estate agent to drum up interest in the development. A PR agency sent out a press released entitled: ‘Worth the wait’ along with photos of people sleeping and waiting in a queue outside the agents. The photos have been exposed as fake when one woman in line was recognised as a model being paid by the PR company. The developer defended the stunt saying the other people were genuine potential buyers.

Around 20 per cent of people view properties they have no intention of buying or possibility of affording, just to have a look around other people’s homes a survey from propertylive.co.uk has found. People in London were the most likely to have a snoop, with 27 per cent admitting to it, while those in Liverpool were the least nosey with only 6 per cent viewing homes out of curiosity.

Economists have been quick to dampen speculation that the housing market has hit the bottom after yesterday’s figures from Halifax showing house prices had increased 2.6 per cent in May. The jump in house price inflation was the third in the past 21 months, but even Halifax cautioned reading too much into the figure. Other experts called the increase a ‘pause for breath’ before further price falls, as rising unemployment and low wages stymie recovery.

Michael Portillo former Conservative front bencher has called for an end to security of tenure, saying there are not enough social houses to keep giving people a home for life. He wants to give property to those who have connections with their local area, over new immigrants.

John Denham has been appointed secretary to the department for Communities and Local Government.

Research from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) has found that brokers expect to handle an increase in the level of activity for first-time buyers. It is the first time in 18 months that IMLA has forecast positive growth for the industry. Director of IMLA Peter Williams said that while the increase is small at less than 1 per cent and more mortgage availability was required, it was an ‘important signal’ of a return to confidence.