The Queen’s speech last week has confirmed that it is full steam ahead with procurement reform, with the new Procurement Bill expected in September 2021. We outline the next steps in our insight.

The Queen set out the government’s legislative priorities for the year ahead. We provide an overview of the key pieces of legislation, assessing the impact of each of these for registered providers and the social housing sector.

The government’s new debt respite programme, known as the “breathing space” scheme, comes into force on 4 May 2021. We explore what this means for the future of possession proceedings and the impact on the social housing sector.

At our recent webinar on fire safety, Partner Paul Lloyd and Housing Consultant Jan Taranczuk took an in-depth look at where the responsibility for fire prevention lies within social housing organisations. We set out their top tips and key takeaways.

Read our monthly housing case law update, which includes recent cases from courts in England and Wales that are relevant to the #ukhousing sector.

The Government has announced further guidance on the much anticipated new model of shared ownership lease, as reported by Inside Housing on 1 April 2021.

Read our monthly housing case law update, which includes recent cases from courts in England and Wales that are relevant to the #ukhousing sector.

RICS has published new guidance on ESW1 Forms, which comes into force on 5th April and clarifies where EWS1 Forms are needed. This will be important to RPs and their leaseholders in preventing delays in sales/mortgage process.

The Government announced the launch of the new Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), where employers can “furlough” staff and HMRC will reimburse up to 80% of the employee’s wages, up to a maximum of £2,500 per month.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak today used his 2021 Budget to announce a series of initiatives, including an extension of the SDLT holiday and a new scheme to support lenders in providing mortgages with 5% deposits for potential buyers.

The budget announcement will provide good news for housing associations. The Chancellor needs to evaluate the time frame of current measures to support housing providers and tenants, and implement solutions to economic challenges caused by Covid-19.

Last week, the government announced that the ‘ban on evictions’ in England—which was set to end on 21 February 2021—was to be extended until 31 March 2021.