In Focus
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In FocusThe housing ombudsman and its consumer protection challenge
Critics say the new ‘independent’ regulator is anything but, and has been set up to repeat mistakes of the past. Joey Gardiner talks to key players to find out what is at stake
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In Focus
Interview: England’s first bishop for housing
Guli Francis-Dehqani, the first bishop for housing, takes up her post in April. With a Church of England housing report out this weekend, she explains why the role is much more than a token one
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In Focus
Will Sunak heed pressure to extend stamp duty cut?
A long extension to the stamp duty holiday would be popular with the industry, but might not solve many problems
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In Focus
Nick Walkley’s exit leaves Homes England with a big challenge
Agency needs to face up to triple threats of market uncertainty, fire safety and net zero if it wants to deliver homes
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In Focus
Five things you need to know about the Future Homes Standard
The government has published the draft version of Part L which comes into force next year. We outline what it means for the industry
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In Focus
Review of 2020: The covid year
It has been a year dominated by a single theme, but 2020 had its plus points …
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In Focus
A year of radical planning shake-ups
2020 review: government faced resistance to its attempts to tackle the housing shortage through planning changes
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In Focus
Grenfell inquiry latest: How insulation firms covered up fire-safety data
Module two has put the spotlight on product manufacturers, here is an overview of some of the early evidence that emerged
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In Focus
Sentiment survey: How confident do developers feel about 2021?
The housing sector is blessed with a mini-boom - if you believe the hype - but new data reveals not all residential firms are bullish about their resilience to covid or their prospects next year
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In Focus
Grenfell Inquiry: Another uncomfortable week for Kingspan
Further details emerge of insulation giant’s efforts to convince construction industry Kooltherm K15 was safe for high-rise use
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In Focus
What does the future hold for council-owned housing companies?
The travails of Brick By Brick are likely to throw other similar firms under the spotlight, argues Joey Gardiner
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In Focus
What next for planning reform?
A government climbdown on a new formula to determine housing need looks inevitable in the face of Tory backbench revolt. Will it now also have to backtrack on its wider planning reforms, asks Joey Gardiner
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In Focus
Grenfell Inquiry: What KCTMO and expert witnesses told us this week
Client says bending procurement rules ‘not uncommon’ as fire safety consultant savaged for failings in reports
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In Focus
Could covid spell the end of open-plan living?…
… probably not, but people are reassessing their housing needs, with room for home-working and outdoor space top of the wishlist. Now housebuilders are starting to rethink home designs
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In Focus
Grenfell Inquiry: What we learned last week
There were significant revelations as cladding specialist Harley Facades spent the week under the microscope
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In Focus
Planning reform: The devil will be in the detail
The white paper begs many questions. It could take years to find the answers
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In Focus
Does the market for high rise apartments have a future?
We went into lockdown with one housing market and came out of it with quite another. Joey Gardiner reports on what the pandemic means for developers of high-rise housing
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In Focus
Grenfell Inquiry: What we learnt from Rydon’s second week under scrutiny
Project manager believed firm had been quite thorough in checking work quality; refurbishment director says lack of challenge to design still haunts him
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In Focus
Briefing: TopHat’s vision of an automated future
Chief executive Jordan Rosenhaus explains his ambitions for modular manufacturer TopHat
