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Tag: houses

Mar272021 by adminNo Comments
Green Homes Grant scheme to insulate houses axed

Green Homes Grant scheme to insulate houses axed

Science
Getty ImagesA much-promoted grants programme to help UK householders insulate their homes is to be scrapped within days.The Green Homes Grant (GHG) reached just 10% of the 600,000 homes the chancellor promised would be improved.The scheme will be stopped on Wednesday and the cash allocated to a separate insulation fund run by councils.The £300m previously allocated for the GHG will now go into a programme administered by local authorities, targeted at lower income households.Don't raid home insulation scheme, MPs urge ministersGovernment home insulation programme criticisedGreen plan to upgrade homes was 'botched', say MPsSome 19 million homes in the UK need to be insulated or the emissions from gas boilers will wreck the UK's chances of achieving its climate change targets.But the GHG sch...
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Nov22019 by adminNo Comments

Airbnb CEO says company is banning “party houses”

Technology
Airbnb Inc. says it's banning "party houses" in the wake of a deadly shooting at an Airbnb rental in California. In a series of tweets Saturday, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky said that the San Francisco-based company is stepping up efforts to "combat unauthorized parties and get rid of abusive host and guest conduct." "We must do better, and we will. This is unacceptable," Chesky said. Airbnb has always banned unauthorized parties, but it plans to increase enforcement of that policy. Chesky said Airbnb will expand manual screening of "high risk" reservations that are flagged by its system. Reservations for one night at a large house, for example, might get extra scrutiny. The company also plans to crack down on hosts who allow their homes to become long-term nuisances in their ne...
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Mar52018 by adminNo Comments
PM's plan to turn closed-down shops into houses

PM's plan to turn closed-down shops into houses

Business
The Government will make it easier for shops to be turned into houses as the Prime Minister insisted she is "determined" to tackle Britain's housing crisis.Following a speech setting out how ministers hope to boost house-building, Theresa May revealed closed-down high street retail units could be converted into residential properties.Although the Prime Minister pointed to "protection" for UK high streets among Government action, she highlighted how "retailing is changing as more and more people buy goods online"."One of the elements of the new planning rules we are setting out is to make it easier for shops to be turned into housing, if that's appropriate, but also for development above retail units to take place," Mrs May added."Often, there's a very good argument for having homes being d...
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Jul252017 by adminNo Comments
Plans to ban leaseholds on new-build houses in England

Plans to ban leaseholds on new-build houses in England

Business
"Unfair charges" levied on buyers of new-build houses could be banned in England under a proposed crackdown.Leaseholds on new-build houses would be outlawed, while ground rents could be dramatically reduced, under government plans subject to public consultation.Ground rents can double every decade, crippling home owners and in some cases making a property impossible to sell."Enough is enough. These practices are unjust, unnecessary and need to stop," said Communities Secretary Sajid Javid.The proposals, which are subject to an eight-week consultation, apply only to England.Mr Javid said that there were 1.2 million cases of houses on leasehold, and the situation of escalating costs was one example of a "broken housing market".He said the proposals would affect future sales, but those alread...
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