Property Mole » grant shapps

Minister backs house boat expansion

Gill Montia — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 17:21:45 +0000

Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, wants local authorities to make it easier for people to live on house boats by readily granting planning permission for new residential moorings. According to the minister, such moorings could be eligible for the New Homes Bonus, a cash incentive for councils and communities in England prepared to allow housing development. [...]

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Government support for self-builders

Gill Montia — Sun, 08 May 2011 07:36:31 +0000

Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, wants self-build to become a mainstream housing option and has promised to make publicly-owned land available to ordinary people who want to build their own homes. According to the minister, self-builders (as a group) are already Britain’s largest housebuilder, accounting for about one in five of new homes each year. However, [...]

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Social tenants to be paid for DIY maintenance

Gill Montia — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 14:29:44 +0000

Social housing tenants across England who look after the fabric of their homes are to be paid for maintenance work under a new scheme unveiled today by housing minister, Grant Shapps. Launching Tenant Cashback, Mr Shapps explained that social landlords spend an average of £1,000 per property annually on repairs. Whereas the new scheme will [...]

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No “magic bullet” to normalise the mortgage market

Gill Montia — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 08:22:46 +0000

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has responded to a discussion initiated by Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, over the large deposits needed by first-time buyers, by pointing out that lending constraints currently apply to all those who don’t hold a large amount of equity in their homes.
The CML explains that high loan-to-value (LTV) lending is [...]

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A Housing Minister true to his word?

Paul Shamplina — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:07:28 +0000

It looks like The Housing Minister, Grant Shapps, is acting on our petition. Well, he said he would and, just like all politicians, it looks like he’s true to his word.

He’s talking about giving landlords more power to evict problem tenants if they are guilty of anti-social behaviour. He wants it to become a mandatory ground for possession. Only, he seems to be saying that these powers will just be for Social Landlords.

If that’s so, we only ask one question: where are these anti-social, social tenants going to live after being evicted? Yes, there’s only one place it can be. The private rented sector.

We already see more and more anti-social tenants migrating to the private rented sector. We advise landlords to avoid being caught out by using good tenant referencing – a message that Landlord Action has been hammering home for years.

We believe that Mr Shapps could just be shifting the problem, instead of solving it. Our private landlords think so too. If this new legislation is to happen, private landlords want the same powers as Social Landlords to remove these problem tenants.

And how does Mr Shapps think he’s going to prove anti-social behaviour? At the moment, landlords seeking possession based on anti-social behaviour (e.g. nuisance, disturbance) from their tenant must rely on evidence from neighbours. But many neighbours are afraid to give evidence for fear of reprisals.

Anti-social tenants aren’t just a problem for neighbours and social landlords; they are a problem for the whole community. Our take is simple:

ALL landlords (not just Social Landlords) need more powers to evict anti-social tenants. We are pleased that the Government is finally looking at practical solutions. If Mr Shapps can take the full picture into account, he could be on the right path.

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Homes no longer investments for old age

Gill Montia — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:32:17 +0000

The era in which Britons saw their homes as investments for retirement is over, according to housing minister, Grant Shapps.
In a recent interview with The Guardian, Mr Shapps argues in favour of a stable housing market, which he describes as a market with slow-rising prices that could result in prices dropping, in real terms, over [...]

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The day we nabbed the Housing Minister

Landlord Action — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 10:07:32 +0000

The Chamber, by The RT Hon Grant Shapps MP

The Housing Minister, Grant Shapps MP, did a sketch that was auctioned in aid of the Willow Foundation.

We bought it because it’s for an excellent cause and because it’s a great piece of contemporary British art. We only hope it doesn’t encourage the talented minister to quit his day job. No more messing about in the studio when all our landlords need him on the case.

Lots of other celebs have drawn on their artistic skills in aid of the charity. The result was a fun and enlightening exhibition at the Catto Gallery in North London.

www.willowfoundation.org.uk

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