A paper setting out a framework for delivering affordable housing, with a specific focus on the Social Rent has been published by Homes for People We Need, an informal collective of organisations, experts and practitioners in the housing sector.

It aligns with broader discussions advocating for increased housing development across all tenures, recognising the urgency of addressing the housing crisis through structured, large-scale investment.

Low rental income makes substantial public subsidy unavoidable. Current spending on temporary accommodation of over £2.8 billion annually could be redirected into structured funding models, such as index-linked bonds worth £160 billion, capable of financing 762,000 social rent homes.

Those involved in neighbourhood planning should know that there has been a relevant decision of the First-tier Tribunal Information Rights (the FTT).

The FTT ruled that a Neighbourhood Forum is a public authority for the purposes of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR).

In a blog, James Maurici KC explains the Tribunal’s reasoning and the implications for neighbourhood planning groups which will be obliged to make available any environmental information they have.

Residents of a block of flats in Kew, many of whom are elderly or vulnerable, are facing eviction after the owner sold the block to Westminster council which has said it needs the building to be empty in order to house the growing number of homeless people in its borough.

Richmond Leader Gareth Roberts wrote to Westminster council, accusing them of showing “disturbing disregard for residents’ well-being” and having responsibility for the “displacement of an entire community”. … Read more...

There is a resident-led analysis report in ‘Community Powered Reporting’ (www.communitypoweredreporting.co.uk) which the authors claim reveals a consistent pattern of decisions by LB Ealing’s leadership that have concentrated disadvantage in Southall’s most deprived communities.

The report is stated to have been reviewed by a legal team to ensure research validity and ethical standards and nothing in it should be understood as an expression of personal opinion. 

London Forum members may be interested in it for the depth of analysis it shows and the implications.

The consultation on a new design guidance ended in March 2026.

In a presentation to the Urban Design Group, reported by Building Design, David Rudlin considers what the guidance got right – and where it went wrong.

He is is founding principal of Rudlin & Co and visiting professor at Manchester School of Architecture and a co-author of High Street: How our town centres can bounce back from the retail crisis, published by RIBA Publishing.… Read more...

In an article on the NLA website, Will Temple, Senior Associate Director at PRD, examines why economic growth alone will not resolve London’s cost-of-living crisis. Drawing on new analysis, he highlights the need to align housing and economic policy to improve living standards across the capital. 

He gives many links in the article to other news and statistics to support his views.

The Government has announced that ‘plug-in’ solar will be available in shops, offering households the opportunity to cut energy bills in response to conflict in the Middle East. Several energy companies have solar battery storage options.

New rules have been introduced for the majority of new homes in England to be built with solar panels and clean heating, fitted as standard to meet the requirements of the Future Homes and Buildings Standard.

By the end of 2026, energy companies with wind turbines are to offer discounted energy bills to customers on windy days.