Edinburgh Council opened discussions on the possibility of buying land from Edinburgh University for a nominal £1. Hillcrest HA would then develop the site with an adjacent plot already owned to provide key worker accommodation.
Haringey Council launched a project to develop an information-sharing network to tackle anti-social behaviour perpetrated by tenants. Over 20 housing associations signed up to the agreement, which will enable all stakeholders to access information through a designated employee at each organisation. The Police and the Housing Corporation have supported the initiative.
The ODPM granted Lewisham Council a Compulsory Purchase Order for the Pepys Estate in Deptford, to allow an £18 million regeneration project to go ahead. Tenants and leaseholders had opposed the demolition plans, amid fears that proposals to create mixed housing will damage the existing community and reduce the level of social housing available on the estate.
Sutton Council recommended the formation of an arms length management organisation to manage its housing stock. The decision was reported in local newspapers to have upset some members of the Sutton Federation of Tenant and Resident Associations, who claimed they had been misled about several aspects of the housing option appraisal process.
Westminster Council set up an independent commission to tackle local housing shortage at all levels. Richard Best, Director of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, will chair the Westminster Housing Commission, and the board includes other high-profile members. The Commission will look at all options for improving local housing supply, and will report at the end of 2006.