Tag: housing

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Empty Homes in England and Wales – House of Lord’s consultation paper

bruceandholly

Following on from my 20th June 2026 post, ‘A Quick Fix to Britain’s Housing Crisis’, The House of Lords has now published its own 14th September 2026 briefing note on the subject ‘ Empty Homes in England and Wales’, prompted by a question from Lord John Bird (Crossbench), asking what assessment the government has made of the potential for a National Empty Homes Strategy to help end homelessness. You will remember John Bird as the founder of the Big Issue, which has probably done more to tackle rough sleeping than anyone else.

The Briefing Note refers to the 1.5 million unoccupied homes in the UK, many of which need major renovation to become habitable and with some being deliberately left empty in the hope that they can increase in value over time. This latter category has been termed a ‘buy to leave investment’. There are other properties whose owners have died and with no obvious beneficiary. The Local Government Association and the Empty Homes Network have stated:

” Every empty home removes a property from the housing market and with it the chance of those on the housing registers to be housed, first time buyers to purchase, or those looking to progress on the property ladder.”

The Briefing {aper also responds to industry stakeholder calls for an empty homes strategy to bring these properties back into use. They argue that unaffordable rents, rising homelessness, record levels of temporary accommodation use and long waits for social housing meant that each empty home represented a missed opportunity to provide settled housing, revitalise communities and make efficient use of existing stock, It is also one of the quickest, greenest and most cost effective ways to increase housing supply. It is argued that an empty homes strategy should include:

  • A fully funded local authority duty to investigate and act on long-term empty homes complaints
  • National initiatives, such as a loan scheme, a national acquisition fund and an enforcement fund
  • Replacing the new homes bonus scheme with rewards for successful empty homes interventions
  • Ring fencing council tax premium revenue for local housing initiatives
  • Developing empty homes specific enforcement powers
  • Reducing stamp duty for purchases where properties are used to meet local demand for social housing and who provide homes for those on a pathway out of temporary accommodation.

Currently local authorities can access funding through the Affordable Homes Program 2021 to 2026 and the Local Authority Housing Fund.

Back in 2018, under the last government, I wrote my own book on the subject titled Housing Regeneration: a plan for implementation, which was published through Routlege. One reviewer said:

“This provides a brief overview of housing and development considerations affecting local authorities from a legal perspective. It’s probably too short to answer all questions that a lawyer may be researching on the matter. Even so, it offers a helping hand navigating some complex issues and in some instances much more than that. I had hoped for material on overarching development agreements which didn’t seem to make an appearance. The chapter on local authority companies was particularly useful. By the standards of law books, this is very cheap, so for the price, 4 out of 5 stars is more than justified.”

housing, London, property, real estate, society, Uncategorized

Smart Ways to Slash Your Energy Bills Today

bruceandholly
Offshore oil platform labeled PETRO-AVANT with a burning flare at sunset
An illuminated offshore oil platform rises above the sea beneath a dramatic sunset sky.

You will have heard about the recent increase in the UK energy price cap. Around 4%, And you will have got the usual advice about moving to fixed price tariffs. Maybe saving you £150 a year on the increased cost. Big deal! In this article we focus on some practical ways in which any householder can make a significant reduction in their energy bills simply by reducing their energy usage to what they actually need. Remember that 400 years ago no- one in the UK had even heard of fossil fuels. Yes there were fewer of us. Under 9 million. And remember that in 1650 most working families lived in a single room. And their diet was whatever they could pull out of the ground. Probably quite healthy by today’s standard. Only rich people ate meat. So you didn’t even need an oven. Just something to boil the peas. Or heat the kettle. If you got too cold you might throw a log on the fire. Or just wrap up.

For me, the biggest contribution to reduced electricity use has been the transition from tungsten filament to modern low energy light bulbs. An 85% saving in energy costs. And do you remember those horrible halogen light bulbs which became part of that transition? The blinding white light? Like a pair of car headlights shining in your face. So now we’re all low energy.

I’m not tempted to take up the £7,500 government grant to replace my gas boiler with a heat pump. It feels too much like an emerging technology. Like being asked to invest in a brick phone. I’m just not going to go there. And even heat pumps burn energy. Replacing gas with more expensive electricity. And I’m not sure it would even work. So I’ll wait until something better comes along. And I’m not rushing out to buy an electric car. I can’t remember the last time I filled my car with petrol. It spends most of its time parked up. I only use it occasionally to stop in seizing up. Living in London, means I am able to use my freedom pass to get about. Combining my freedom pass with a senior rail card makes travel very affordable for me. It only cost me £10 to get from West London to Southend. How cheap is that? Even if I didn’t have a freedom pass, I might still choose to use public transport where it is possible and afforable to do so and maybe purchase a network rail card , which is available to anyone. So I don’t understand why the government isn’t doing more to get people out of their cars and use public transport. What did Rachel Reeves do instead in her first budget? Increase the cap on bus fares from £2 to £3. Not 5% or 10%. But a whacking 50% increase. A £3 bus cap may not sound much. But it’s £6 for a return trip. And £12 if there is two of you. Well that’s really going to encourage bus usage!

Nor am I going to install solar panels on my roof. It’s too much of a fire risk. Like charging an e-bike in my back bedroom. How do I know that it’s going to be correctly installed? And what is the real saving? The thing about solar electricity is that it cannot be stored. It is electrical energy which is being produced when we least need it. And yes – I know that plug-in solar panels have just come on the market. But it feels too much like a toy. Even at a cost of £400 for the equipment, the trickle of energy it would produce would take me 5 years to get payback. And I don’t understand why renewable electricity cannot be stored? In the final part of this article I’m going to list out those simple ways in which you can cut your own energy bills. Here they are

  • Don’t keep your central heating on ‘constant’. Time it so that it only comes on when you need it. Maybe for an hour in the morning and again later in the day. Just to take the chill off. You can always put it on for an extra hour if you need it. But don’t keep it bubbling away.
  • Set your living room thermostat to 20°. Does it really need to be hotter? It means your heating will only come on when you really need it.
  • If, like our ancestors, you spend most of your life in a single room, do you need to heat the whole of your house? Maybe invest in an oil-filled radiator for that room. It will only cost about 50 pence per hour to run even if you are running it full blast. Less if you set the thermostat correctly so that’s it switches off at room temperature.
  • Leave your car parked up and use public transport where it is practical and affordable to do so. Avoid the hassle of pay by phone parking when you go into town. I recently treated my adult sons to a network rail card giving them a 1/3 discount on off-peak travel. I still think that the £40 discounted fare is too much for an off-peak return trip for two adults traveling from Farnborough to London Waterloo. But it’s better than £60. And I hate to think what it would cost at peak times.
  • Microwave, microwave, microwave. Instead of using a conventional oven. Even for things which you are not supposed to microwave, like fish. You can always finish it off in the frying pan. Microwaves use a typical 85% less energy than a conventional oven.
  • If you are unlucky enough to have an oil fired central heating system and have seen a 100% increase in cost since Trump’s war with Iran. My advice? Just switch it off. You’ve probably got an immersion heater if you need hot water for a bath. So use that when you need it. But remember to switch it off.

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Shared Ownership Leaseholders: New Protections Explained

bruceandholly
Photo by medinegurbet on Pexels.com

Britain’s quarter million shared ownership leaseholders may be feeling that that little bit more secure with the coming into force of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 on 1st May 2026. The same with apply to any other leaseholder whose annual ground rent had escalated to more than £1,000 in Greater London or £250 elsewhere. Before the changes took effect, any of those leaseholders could have been thrown out of their properties if they fell behind in their rent by as little as 2 months. This was because annual ground rents above the £250 [£1,000] threshold were technically classed as assured tenancies under the Housing Act 1988, which meant that a ground landlord could end the tenancy on grounds of rent arrears by serving notice under Section 8 of the Housing Act 1988 instead of going through a long-winded forfeiture process.Shared ownership leases which had not staircased to 100% were always caught within this trap because the rental element would always exceed the assured tenancy thresholds.

The change does not mean that shared ownership leaseholders or for that matter any other leaseholder cannot be evicted for rent arrears. It just means that the ground landlord has to go through the full forfeiture process which applies to all residential leases and which will always give a tenant relief against forfeiture if they can make up the rental shortfall and reimburse associated legal fees. What the Renters’ Rights Act did was to take any fixed term residential lease for more than 7 years outside the assured tenancy regime.

Shared ownership means that the residential leaseholder does not own their property outright until they have staircased to 100% but instead owns only their share in the property and pays a social rent on the remainder. The purpose of shared ownership is to enable anyone who cannot afford to buy outright, a means of getting on the housing ladder.

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Renters’ Rights Act 2025 – It’s Arrived!

bruceandholly
Photo by Alexander F Ungerer on Pexels.com

Christmas has come. Shorthold tenants are now sitting tenants. You can live there as long as you want to. Just as long as you pay your rent and are neighbourly. Except if your landlord had already served the section 21 notice on you before the end of April 2026. Then it’s just about waiting to see if possession proceedings are issued before the 1st August 2026 cut off. If those possessions proceedings have been issued, it may then take a couple of weeks before you even find out about it. Because a congested civil court system is going to become even more stretched with thousands of landlords issuing their section 21 claims before the statutory cut off. Then there’s the bailiff’s appointment to carry out the actual eviction – which potentially could take much longer. Because bailiffs are going to be very busy.

Being a sitting tenant does not mean that your continued occupation is guaranteed. Because even under the new rules, a landlord can still initiate an eviction process if they can prove a genuine intention to sell the property with vacant possession. But that’s going to be a long-winded process.

For those landlords who are staying in the market, get a reputable letting agent. Someone who is up to speed with the changes. Even if you have to pay a little bit more for that quality of service They will be the people on whom you will be relying to protect your interests. Between now and the end of May 2026, there is work which they need to attend to, to protect you from big financial penalties.

It’s also going to be a busy time for your local council. Especially their homeless team. Everyone who has received a section 21 eviction notice before the 30th April 2026 cut off is going to need somewhere else to live. But only those former tenants with a ‘priority need’ (for example those with children or a serious health condition) can be guaranteed somewhere to live, even if it’s only bed and breakfast. So there’s going to be lots of business for hoteliers.

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housing, Law, Uncategorized

I’ve received a section 21 eviction notice from my landlord. What can I do?

bruceandholly
Photo by Luis Medina Diseu00f1o on Pexels.com

If you occupy your home under an assured shorthold tenancy, you may be amongst the thousands of people who have received from your landlord a section 21 eviction notice before the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 takes effect on 1st May 2026. On that day the law changes. Tenants who previously could have been evicted on as little as 2 months notice will then have lifetime security of tenure. Landlords will only be able to evict a tenant if they can prove to a judge that they have legitimate grounds to do so. What this means is that many buy-to-let landlords are trying to get out of the market before the law changes on that date. So what do you need to do if you are a tenant who has received a section 21 eviction notice?

  • Sit tight. At least for the time being. A landlord who evicts you, still has to go through the process of getting a possession order through the courts, even though there is currently an accelerated process for doing this. And even after a court order has been obtained, the only way which a landlord can forcibly evict a tenant is by engaging the services of a bailiff, which itself can take months.
  • if you have received a section 21 notice but your landlord has not issued court proceedings against you before a 1st August 2026 cut off date, the Section 21 notice will lapse and the landlord will have to start the whole process again. Only this time round, you will be a sitting tenant. It means that the only way your landlord will be able to evict you is if they can convince a County Court judge that they have legitimate grounds for ending your tenancy. A process which could take up to a year, given the current delays to the court system in the UK.
  • If you have children living with you, or are pregnant, or are old or have a serious health condition, your local housing authority may have a duty to ensure that you are not left out on the street. In other words, homeless legislation regards you as someone having a ‘priority need’ for rehousing. So don’t forget to get in touch with your local council as soon as possible.