Latest news with #councilhomes
BBC News
4 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Cambridge council tenant passed 'from pillar to post' over leak
A council tenant said she had been passed from "pillar to post" trying to get a leak fixed in her home. Lisa Stocker said it took six months to get it repaired, despite regularly reporting the issue to Cambridge City half of council homes in Cambridge do not have up-to date surveys on their conditions and carrying them out could cost up to £500,000, say recent reports. The city council said surveys had not been "consistently prioritised" due to a range of factors, but it hoped to clear the backlog within a year. A report at a council cabinet meeting said inspections were needed at about 3,000 of the city's 7,600 council homes. The homes should be surveyed every five years so the authority can plan investment, prioritise repairs, or identify issues such as damp and the leak, Ms Stocker said she had "bad" damp and mould, forcing her to throw away said: "You get passed from pillar to post, just putting it mildly; they don't know who is doing what."They send a surveyor out; he goes round, has a look and that's the last you see of them."Ms Stocker said the issue had sent her stress and anxiety "through the roof", and questioned if she had to wait until the ceiling fell down for a repair. Cheney Payne, a Liberal Democrat city councillor, said it was one in a "sequence of examples of Labour's complete neglect for their council houses"."The council has a duty to act at as well as a private landlord, but for me as a city council it has a moral obligation," she said."These are some of the most vulnerable people in the city who are paying rent for their council home, so they deserve to know they can go back home to a home that is safe and well."Gerri Bird, Labour cabinet member for housing, said the authority had lost two years due to that, she said, people were cautious to let anyone into their the backlog of homes are surveyed, the council intends to check homes every five years."We hope tenants will let us know if they have problems," she added."We are doing our utmost to make sure they have a decent home and that's something I really want and push for because I am in social housing myself, so I understand how tenants feel if they have a problem and it is not done in time." Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
BBC News
23-07-2025
- BBC News
Headlines: 'Council home sell-off' and 'lakes drying up'
Here's our daily pick of stories from across local websites in the West of England, and interesting content from social media. Our pick of local website stories Bristol 24/7 have reported on the council's plans to sell off up to 180 council homes that are "challenging to maintain" to raise nearly £5m to reinvest in social Council says it has "initiated legal steps" to remove a group of travellers that have pitched up on Burnham-on-Sea's Road in Swindon is set to undergo improvement works to improve safety and stop vehicles skidding. Our top three from yesterday Major incident as more than 60 homes evacuatedSuitcase killer 999 call: 'There's blood coming out of the suitcase'Sex, murder and bodies in suitcases - who were the men involved? What to watch on social media Pictures appearing to show Chew Valley Lake drying up have sparked concerns about a potential hosepipe Rail says it is carrying out "major resilience work" between the Severn Tunnel Junction and Gloucester to improve safety and reliability of the Wildlife Hospital's post about a badger cub that was found emaciated and drenched has attracted a lot of attention - with many saying it has become all too common.
BBC News
09-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
New flats approved amid Heath Town regeneration push
Plans have been approved for more than 30 new council homes to be built on the site of a former pub in scheme for Heath Town is part of a second phase of regeneration in the area that could see up to 120 new council homes being built across five sites, the City of Wolverhampton Council proposals put forward by Keon Homes on behalf of the council included 32 one and two-bedroom apartments where the Duke of York pub once regeneration of Heath Town was helping "increase the number of good homes in well-connected neighbourhoods across the city", the council said. The new development, facing Wednesfield Road, Tremont Street and Inkerman Street, will include wheelchair accessible ground floor Town: 'Families can enjoy this estate once again'It follows 40 new council houses being built on Hobgate Road and one site on Tithe Croft, off Chervil had been extensive demolition work in the area, the council said, with vacant buildings removed and existing residential blocks improved, with three new play areas and a football pitch being created."One of our key priorities is to increase the number of good homes in well-connected neighbourhoods across the city," said Steve Evans, deputy council leader and cabinet member for housing."The regeneration of Heath Town is helping achieve that and it is heartening to see how it is changing the lives of families for the better."Planning approval now means we can kick-start the next phase of our transformation of the estate, which is being built on the strong sense of community at Heath Town, where we have delivered improvements and new homes the residents can be proud of." Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
28-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Grant to support Rotherham council housing developments
A grant of more than £450,000 could help support the delivery of 27 new council homes on brownfield sites in Council is hoping to receive £432,000 for the project from the Brownfield Housing Fund, pending a decision later this approved the money would support developments in the Boston Castle, Hoober and Kilnhurst and Swinton Brownfield Housing Fund is a government-backed scheme, managed locally by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA). It aims to help councils like Rotherham turn previously used or neglected land into new housing grant will help fund new homes at Warden Street in Canklow, Albert Road and Princess Street in West Melton and the former Ship Inn site in of the homes are already under construction and are scheduled for completion by March 2026, according to the Local Democracy Reporting 27 homes are to be delivered in areas of high housing demand, with more than 7,000 households currently on the council's housing majority of funding for the developments comes from the council's Housing Revenue Account (HRA) – a ring-fenced budget used to build and manage council housing. Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
BreakingNews.ie
19-06-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Over 3,700 empty council-owned homes in Ireland, Dáil told
There are over 3,700 empty council-owned homes across Ireland, the Dail has been told. The Government is to issue a circular to local authorities to say health and safety should be the only thing to delay empty council-owned homes being allocated to people. Advertisement Aontu leader Peadar Toibin told the Dail on Thursday that there were 3,779 vacant council-owned homes across Ireland based on Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to local authorities. He compared keeping council homes empty to exporting food during a famine. 'We also FOI-ed the local authorities as to the number of local authority homes that are empty in this state,' Mr Toibin said during Leaders' Questions. 'In the jaws of the worst housing crisis in the history of the state, there are 3,779 council owned homes that are empty. Advertisement 'Now, having empty homes in the middle of a housing crisis is akin to exporting food in the middle of a famine.' Tanaiste Simon Harris said he agreed that council-owned homes 'lie empty for far too long'. 'I've had a lot of discussions with a lot of people who are saying 'Hang on, if only I have to get into that house. I don't need the divil and all done, I just needed to be safe and I just need to be warm.' 'That's why government intends to issue a circular to all local authorities to make it clear, health and safety should be the only grounds for the delaying of the giving out of a local authority home, not the bells and whistles.' Advertisement Mr Toibin also accused the Government of understating homeless figures by 892 people and of understating the housing waiting list figures by over 16,000. Aontu leader Peadar Toibin (Brian Lawless/PA) He said he had sent Freedom of Information requests to every local authority in the country asking how many people are homeless in their area. He said this produced a figure of 16,472, which was above the official homelessness tally of 15,580. He also said that when local authorities were asked how many people were on their housing waiting lists, they came back with a figure of 75,000, which is above the official government figure of 58,824. Advertisement 'Your ability to account the number of people who are on the housing waiting list at the moment is out by the population of Tullamore,' he said. Mr Harris said that the anomalies were likely a result of duplications, as people may engage with more than one local authority for housing needs, particularly those living at county borders. 'These figures aren't figures calculated by the government in a party political sense. These are figures calculated by the state in a robust, impartial manner,' he said. Mr Toibin responded to say that it was not possible to be on two housing waiting lists simultaneously. Advertisement 'There wasn't as much pirouetting and spinning at my daughter's ballet recital as I just saw there,' Mr Harris replied. 'This is far too serious to engage in conspiracy theories here.' Mr Harris also accused Sinn Fein of being the biggest property owners in the Dail while being quizzed on whether rents would rise. Sinn Fein's health spokesperson David Cullinane, during a press conference at the Clayton Hotel in Dublin, during the launch of their new health policy (Archive/PA) Sinn Fein TD David Cullinane called on the government to 'stop it, scrap it' in relation to changes to rent pressure zones (RPZs). Mr Cullinane said that the rent changes will hurt students and workers 'stuck in an ever spiralling rental trap'. 'You talk about a balance. The balance here is tipped in favour of the vulture funds and the cuckoo firms and the investors. 'More money for them, more profit for them, which is always the case under Fine Gael, who represents a cosseted, privileged class, from my perspective. 'But see, when it comes to ordinary people who have to pay increase costs on groceries, on insurance and now on rent, they're the ones who are paying the price.' In response, Mr Harris said Sinn Fein were the largest property owner in the parliament. Tanaiste Simon Harris speaking to the media (Liam McBurney/PA) The Fine Gael leader quoted the party's director of finance Des Mackin, who told the Irish Times in 2020 that the party owned 40 to 50 properties across the island, with seven in Belfast. 'Don't talk to me about the privileged classes when the largest property owners and investors in this house is the Sinn Fein party,' Mr Harris said. 'The biggest property owners in Dail Eireann, the biggest property investors are Sinn Fein, so don't give me this 'We're on the side of the working people'. 'It's just a load of bull that people see right through.' Ireland Housing target of 41,000 'not realistic', Minister... Read More Mr Harris cited the Central Bank analysis that indicated the RPZ changes would have 'a positive' impact on supply and said that Sinn Fein's call for reference rents would have seen rents rise for existing tenants. He said the government would announce next month investment in 'key enabling infrastructure' to deliver homes, including water, wastewater and energy supplies. He also said that the government would take 'more measures to protect students' in the budget.
