Council housing

With private rents reaching a new high, a charity warns that families are being left trapped in the unstable and expensive rental market.

It is meant to be a last resort. But the number of homeless families in emergency B&B accommodation is at its highest level in 10 years, with some councils flouting the law to extend time limits.

In London about one third of property buyers are now from overseas. With demand for houses rising all the time, this is having a knock-on effect on prices across the UK, say campaigners.

As part of a series on the housing crisis, Channel 4 News looks at the two issues facing politicians seeking to tackle a broken market: availability and affordability.

Those who try to claim benefits they are not entitled to will face a maximum of 10 years in jail as part of a crackdown by the director of public prosecutions on those who “flout the system”.

The body of Henryk Piotrowski, who had been sleeping unnoticed in an industrial bin, was found at a Dublin recycling plant.

Judges rule that the government’s new “bedroom tax” does not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people in social housing.

As a notorious, now regenerated, council estate gets shortlisted for a coveted architectural award – Channel 4 News wonders if this is a sign of social housing en vogue, or a system that is broken.

The Department of Work and Pensions says the policy is fair and necessary to save money. But it will affect many disabled people, and campaigners are furious

Planning Minister Nick Boles assures property developers that planning laws will be liberalised again to encourage a house-building boom, backed by this week’s budget.

Five disabled people are challenging a plan to change the way their care is funded by the government, arguing it undermines the state’s duty to promote independent living for the disabled.

The Department for Work and Pensions says there will be “no change” to its controversial housing benefit reform, dubbed the “bedroom tax”.

MPs Liam Byrne and Nigel Mills join Krishnan Guru-Murthy in the studio to debate the impact of the ‘bedroom tax’.

MP Mark Field says the reforms to housing benefit which will cut the income of social housing tenants deemed to have spare rooms is necessary to ease overcrowding for other families.

As MPs carry out an inquiry into the private rented sector, councils say “extortionate fees” charged by some letting agents are making it harder for people to find a home.