By Daniel Fryd, Senior Consultant It’s been an eventful month for the Oxford-Cambridge arc. The route for the new Expressway was revealed, the Housing Minister embarked on a CaMKOx tour and called for “transformational” ideas to drive growth in the area, and the Communities Secretary changed planning rules in Oxfordshire …

By Daniel Fryd, Senior Consultant Just when it looked like ‘Voluntary Right to Buy’ was firmly buried in the long grass, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire dug it out earlier this month and announced £200m to revive it as a new pilot scheme. The new scheme allows housing association tenants in the …

by Daniel Fryd, Senior Consultant, Chelgate Local. This article was also published on Pub Affairs. In a day for burying Government announcements, Communities Secretary James Brokenshire revealed the new ‘National Planning Policy Framework’ (NPPF) on 24th July, providing good news for build-to-rent developers and bad news for councils dragging their …

In a day of turmoil for the Government, Kit Malthouse, the little known former Department of Work and Pensions Minister, has been appointed as the new Housing Minister. Elected as MP for North West Hampshire in 2015 Malthouse has maintained a low but fairly well-respected profile, serving as a Parliamentary …

Sir Oliver Letwin, who was charged with the task of explaining the “significant gap” between housing completions and the amount of land allocated in areas of high demand, has released his eagerly awaited interim report. As in his letter in March, Letwin does stress that the “homogeneity of the types …

  Former Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire MP has today been confirmed as the new Communities Secretary. The Old Bexley and Sidcup MP replaces Sajid David, who has moved to replace Amber Rudd as Home Secretary. Brokenshire resigned from his role as Northern Ireland Secretary earlier this year, ahead of …

Already it’s not shaping up to be a good year for UKIP. In yet another blow to the beleaguered party, all 17 of the UKIP councillors in Thurrock, Essex, have now resigned from their membership. Saying they have “had enough of the aggressive and bitter reality of party politics”, the …

Dominic Raab MP has today been confirmed as the new Minister for Housing. An up-and-coming MP who was part of the 2010 intake, Raab is thought of as veering towards the right wing of the party, and will be a controversial choice for some in the housing and planning sector …