ARCH Bulletin. Issue 32, 13 May 2016.

In this issue

Housing and Planning Bill receives Royal Assent
Number of council rented homes continues to fall
News from the ARCH Tenants Group
Research: Impact of fixed-term tenancies
John Bibby addresses Social Housing Finance Conference
Review of homelessness legislation
Last chance to attend our Regional event
Housing Business Plans: Survey returns
DCLG issue Equality Impact Assessment on use of fixed-term tenancies
TCPA launch ‘Homes for All’ report

Housing and Planning Bill receives Royal Assent

The Housing and Planning Bill received Royal Assent on 12 May having spent several days in “Ping-Pong” between the House of Commons and the House of Lords... Read more.

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Number of council rented homes continues to fall

Latest figures show the number of homes rented from local authorities has fallen by 26,000 in the year to 31 March 2015. The estimated total stock of homes rented was 1,643,000 – a reduction of nearly 1.2million since 2001. .. Read more.

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News from the ARCH Tenants Group

The Group is busy planning their Annual General Meeting which is taking place on Monday 13 June, as well as their Annual Tenants Conference on Thursday 22 September... Read more.

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Research: Impact of fixed-term tenancies

Professor Suzanne Fitzpatrick and Dr Beth Wells from Heriot-Watt University have issued a report on the impact of fixed-term tenancies. Findings from their first wave of research on social housing includes views from landlords and tenants, as well as other stakeholders... Read more.

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John Bibby speaks at Social Housing Finance Conference

John Bibby, ARCH CEO, was invited to speak about the implications of the RTB for local authorities at the Social Housing Finance Conference on 12 May 2016... Read more.

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Review of homelessness legislation

A panel of housing experts, organised by Crisis, has recommended Ministers introduce new duties on councils to prevent people becoming homeless.

The Local Government Association has also launched a project to explore how public service reforms can better support councils to reduce homelessness... Read more.

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Last chance to attend our Regional event

The countdown begins… the next ARCH Regional event is two weeks away! If you haven’t booked your place yet, there’s still time and your ARCH membership entitles your council to up to three free places... Read more.

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Housing Business Plans: Survey returns

Stock-owning councils were recently asked by the CIH and CIPFA to complete a survey to compare their plans at the time of self-financing with its current plans, taking into account the revisions made in response to government policy changes.

If we're to make the case for council housing, it's vital that we receive as many survey responses as possible... Read more.

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DCLG issue Equality Impact Assessment on use of fixed-term tenancies

The DCLG has issued their Equality Impact Assessment of the policy to require councils to grant future tenancies on a fixed-term basis and carry out a review of the tenants’ circumstances at the end of the fixed-term.

Tenancies will normally be granted for a minimum of two and five years with a maximum of ten years in certain circumstances... Read more.

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TCPA launch ‘Homes for All’ report

The TCPA (Town and Country Planning Association) released a new report: “Homes for All: Ensuring councils deliver the homes we need”. It supports our calls for councils to be given back control over their housing assets, investment plans, and rents... Read more.

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