Exclusive: Labour figures show scale of issue in England despite Conservatives vowing to abolish the practice four years ago
An estimated 40 families have been threatened with a “no-fault” eviction every day in England in the four years since ministers first promised to scrap them, analysis shows.
The Conservatives first promised to end the practice in 2019, but the government has yet to pass legislation despite repeated promises from ministers and former prime ministers.
Continue reading...US president praises emerging relationship with Ireland to taoiseach Leo Varadkar
Chris Philp, the policing minister, has published an article in the Telegraph today explaining the changes being introduced to the way that police record crimes in England and Wales. The changes are being introduced following recommendations from the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
Philp says:
Firstly, we are dropping the requirement for police to record some crimes twice or more, reintroducing the previous “principal offence” rule. This will remove multiple entries on the database which effectively re-record the same incident many times.
Accurate crime recording is vital, and these changes will better reflect victims’ experience. Recording crime does not equate to investigating crime and the police will continue to pursue all offences involved in the incident.
Accurate records of crime must be kept, and crimes will be recorded. These changes to the crime-recording rules will enable police to target and focus investigations and provide victims the service they deserve.
Ambulance response times for all types of emergencies have got longer, including for life-threatening illnesses and injuries, but remain below record levels.
Meanwhile around one in 10 people arriving at major A&E departments are having to wait more than 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged – the first time data of this kind has been published.
Continue reading...Local government ombudsman rules that delay in finding suitable accommodation for family caused serious health risks
A severely disabled child missed out on vital NHS surgery and was left in chronic pain for more than three years because a council failed to move them out of unsuitable housing despite repeated pleas from health professionals, a watchdog has ruled.
Lambeth council in London was fined £20,000 by the local government and social care ombudsman for a catalogue of service failures and administrative errors that left the child unsafe and in “significant and avoidable distress” and her mother at risk of serious injury.
Child Y’s constant pain, requiring injections and medication, could be relieved only through surgery, yet this was being delayed because the unsuitability of the family’s home meant Child Y could not safely return after an operation.
Sitting in the wheelchair for long periods caused so much pain that Child Y’s school had bought a specialist bed in which they would be wheeled around the school to ensure they could access lessons.
At home, Child Y and her mother were at risk of injury from manual handling because they were unable to use proper equipment. Because of the lack of space, Child Y could not be positioned properly for eating and was at risk of choking.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Incorrect reporting of rental property income and expenses, and failure to declare capital gains are all in the spotlight
Banks will be compelled to hand over the data of 1.7 million landlords, including transaction details, as part of a tax office crackdown in search of $1.3bn in revenue lost from residential investment properties.
The data-matching program will target people failing to declare rental income or pay capital gains tax, and those incorrectly claiming deductions – including rental property loan interest – to reduce income and negatively gear properties.
Continue reading...Bridget Archer lauds former shadow minister’s ‘courage and integrity’. Follow live
Japanese hydrogen partners offer only short-term deals, want more funds
There’s been a few articles in the business media lately touting the promise of converting brown coal in Victoria into hydrogen and shipping the fuel to Japan.
Continue reading...Aged care workers in capital cities would have to spend 77% of their pay on housing to pay the average rent of $572 a week
Soaring rents have made living alone impossible for Australia’s essential workers: new research shows some would have to spend around two-thirds of their income to afford a place on their own.
Comparing the average weekly unit rents against award wages for 15 essential jobs, the national housing campaign Everybody’s Home found there were virtually no regions of Australia where a single full-time essential worker, such as those in aged care, early childhood or nursing, could afford to rent by themselves.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...Affluent areas of capital cities ‘lead both the upswing and the downturn’, according to property data expert
Housing prices in some of Australia’s most affluent suburbs have had the biggest falls from pandemic peaks. Some high-end houses and apartments have lost more than a quarter of their value.
Nationwide data shows that many of the same wealthy areas that enjoyed exuberant price runs in the years leading up to and the initial period of the pandemic have now retraced the most.
Continue reading...Grant Thornton hopes to finalise discussions about solutions for parts of the builder in the next week
Liquidators for the collapsed construction company Porter Davis say they have rejected approaches from potential buyers, leaving the construction of 1,700 dwellings in limbo.
The announcement is the latest blow for thousands of customers of one of Australia’s largest homebuilders, which collapsed less than two weeks ago after it was unable to find a financial backer to fill a $20m funding hole amid pandemic-induced rising construction costs.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...Average cost of property in Devon town reached £1,244,025 last year, driven by second home owners
“Don’t hate me,” said Theo Spink of the view from her office on Tuesday afternoon, “but the sun is shining, there’s a gentle breeze, people are arriving for Easter, eating ice-cream. It’s all rather charming.”
If the town of Salcombe, situated on the neck of a narrow estuary in south Devon, sounds idyllic, that is because “it really, really is”, she said. “When the sun shines, you could be in the Mediterranean. It is that beautiful.”
Continue reading...Experts say there’s little evidence that a privately-owned single landlord development would increase housing affordability
Local authorities in Townsville are seeking $40m in government funding to support a 1,000 unit build-to-rent scheme that the local council says could help tackle the rental crisis in the northern Queensland city, where the number of homes available for rent for less than $400 a week has halved in the past three years.
However, critics say there is little evidence to suggest this method, which sees developers act as landlords and let directly to tenants, will increase affordability.
Sign up to receive Guardian Australia’s fortnightly Rural Network email newsletter
Continue reading...The Bibby Stockholm is said to have more than 220 bedrooms and facilities including a gym and bar
The Home Office is poised to reveal a barge as its first offshore accommodation for asylum seekers, the Guardian understands.
The Bibby Stockholm has been used “all over Europe” to accommodate asylum seekers, according to sources close to the Barbados Maritime ship registry, which oversees the use of this vessel. It currently has a gym, a well-furnished bar and more than 220 en-suite bedrooms over three decks.
Continue reading...The national housing report, released on Monday, says rising interest rates have reduced supply of new homes
Australia’s painful rental crisis will get worse in the coming years, a new report says, due to a shortage in supply of new houses and units caused by costs and ongoing constraints in construction.
In its third report on the state of the nation of housing for 2022-2023, released on Monday, the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) said banks increasing their interest rates earlier relative to the Reserve Bank of Australia guidance had reduced the supply of dwellings.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...Natalie Rabey, who relies on power-hungry machines to help her breathe, is campaigning for solar power for Victoria’s public housing
Natalie Rabey doesn’t know how much time she has left. But she knows what she wants to do with it.
“While I’m still breathing I’d like to get some action on solar panels for people in public housing because it’s just terrible at the moment,” she says.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup
Continue reading...A growing cohort of pandemic-era homebuyers are also unable to refinance because they no longer meet lenders’ standards
A growing number of Australian have become “mortgage prisoners” – trapped by crippling mortgages they are unable to renegotiate.
This growing cohort of pandemic-era homebuyers are unable to refinance because they no longer meet lenders’ standards after recent rate increases.
Continue reading...Council tax and planning changes aim to make housing more affordable for those on local incomes
Radical measures giving councils in Wales a raft of extra powers designed to stop second homes hollowing out communities, especially in coastal and rural areas, have come into force.
Local authorities across Wales are using the powers to increase the amount of council tax that second home owners must pay and will also be able to bring in changes to planning rules to make it harder for houses and flats to be snapped up as holiday boltholes.
Continue reading...Experts say developers deterred by changes to planning system brought in by successive Tory governments
Planning applications in England have fallen to their lowest level in at least 16 years, according to figures published this week by the levelling up department that highlight the scale of the country’s housing crisis.
Local authorities received fewer applications to build new buildings or improve old ones in 2022 than at any point since before 2006, the earliest year for which the government provides statistics.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed.
Pesutto gives no answer on if Deeming can continue to promote anti-trans views as part of Liberals
But John Pesutto also can’t answer whether Moira Deeming can continue to campaign against trans rights – a stance Deeming had before she was in the parliament and a key feature of her first speech to the Victorian parliament.
Look, what what I have always said from the very start, is that as leader of the Victorian Liberal party, I want public debate not just in the state but nationally, to be respectful and civil and courteous, and to be inclusive so that people can participate in discussions.
I am a supporter of free speech, but any connection of the Liberal party with people who share platforms with people who are extremely … people in hate speech is a concern to me and will never be acceptable in the party.
Well, I’m not happy with those tweets, and they’re very great concern and will represent if that continues, it will obviously represent a real problem going forward for Moira to return the [party].
Continue reading...The government is yet to strike a deal that will get its safeguard mechanism bill through the upper house. Follow the day’s politics live
Paul Fletcher won’t answer the question of whether or not he will run again in Bradfield.
He is dancing around this question like he is auditioning for the new Fred Astaire biopic. (Tom Holland has the role, and anyone who has seen his Umbrella dance will know why.)
I continue to consider serving the people of Bradfield to be an enormous privilege and … any rational politician always considers what they’re going to do as you come to the end of each term.
I’ve done that before the end of each past term, but what I can tell you is it’s an honour to serve the people of Bradfield. I continue to be committed to it, energetic in doing, so I spent most of Saturday across a whole range of polling booths engaging with my constituents. I enjoyed it. I found it energising, and I believe that the Liberal party has a very important role in serving the people of Australia and certainly in serving the people of Bradfield and that’s something I’m committed to.
I think the first point is that after three terms and 12 years, inevitably, it becomes harder to win a fourth term.
It’s the nature of our democracy of Australian democracy that the electorate starts to look for alternatives.
Continue reading...Women escaping violence are staying in refuges for years due to a lack of alternative social housing, providers say
Domestic violence shelters in Queensland say they are struggling to make space for new arrivals, with the housing crisis seeing women staying in some refuges for years .
The added strain on the sector has created a bottleneck , with shelters having to place some women in hotels or refuges far from their support networks.
Continue reading...Study shows workers forced to commute huge distances, live in overcrowded housing or suffer rental or mortgage stress
There is no longer a single local government area across metropolitan Sydney or Melbourne where houses are affordable for early career essential workers, with a growing number of police commuting huge distances and nurses living in cramped share homes.
Essential workers are being forced to move further away from their inner city jobs due to ballooning rents and housing costs. Experts are warning that longer commutes are exacerbating stress and fatigue in industries where levels of both are already high.
Continue reading...