Posted 01.11.13
Reports in the November 2008 edition of our Housing Monthly Diary included:
Floating homes, sunken pontoons and timber drawbridges were some of the innovations presented by architects across the world in a bid to design a flood proof house for the future.
The competition, which was launched by Norwich Union with the support of the Royal Institute of British Architects, aimed to see how architects would tackle the problem of building on flood plains in a liveable, workable and insurable way.
Communities Minister Baroness Andrews has confirmed that councils in England are to receive £1.66 billion Supporting People Programme Grant funding - as an unringfenced named grant.
Since its launch in 2003 Supporting People has been paid as a ringfenced fund for councils, to be spent according to specific rules.
Moves towards sustainable energy in the UK are being hampered by old ways of thinking, according to a major new report published by Foresight - the Government's futures think tank.
The study - Powering Our Lives: Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment looks at how the country's buildings and spaces will need to evolve to help cut carbon emissions.
The report concludes that the UK is 'locked-in' to using certain forms of energy - not because they are better but because they have historically dominated over other options.
The Government announced details of a new drive to end rough sleeping by 2012. Although numbers have been driven down over the last decade and have stayed down, there remains the target of ending rough sleeping for good.
A new action plan has been developed with leading homelessness charities to prevent rough sleeping and to support those already there to rebuild their lives away from the streets.
The Government announced details of a new pilot for a service to make it possible for people to let different authorities know about a change in circumstances with just one visit or phone call.
The new cross-government service will include the Department for Work and Pensions; HM Revenue & Customs; Local authority Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit departments; Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA); and Identity and Passport Service.
The aim of the new service is to notify all departments effected of a registered birth or death as a consequence of one report - either in person or by telephone.
For the first time in the Housing Corporation's history, a social housing funding agreement has been signed between an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) and the Corporation. Stockport Homes has received £1.02 million from the Corporation to fund 17 new homes.
The news follows the announcement lasts year (2007) that ALMOs were, for the first time, able to bid for funds from the Corporation's £8.4 billion investment programme for 2008-11.
A new publication was released, which captures the Housing Corporation's 44 year history and highlights its key events.
Moving Homes provides a detailed insight into the history of the Corporation from its introduction in 1964 right through to the present day, as it prepares to hand over its functions to two new agencies.
The book describes the origins, changes, achievements and successes of the Housing Corporation, against a backdrop of changing housing markets and shifting political priorities.
