By Tom Lavin (@TomLavin13)   On Wednesday, whilst Keir Starmer received near-unanimous congratulations from the professional pundit class for his ‘grown-up’ and ‘forensic’ debut performance at Prime Ministers Questions, the Labour Party quietly confirmed that they had watered-down their position on renter’s rights during the COVID-19 crisis. Labour’s previous policy position was that rent payments …

By GMLC (@gmlawcentre)   The Government Select Committee responsible for housing and local government is calling for individuals and organisations to share their experience about:   How effective the government has been is supporting councils, voluntary organisations and individuals to address the impact of COVID-19 on rough sleepers, homeless people and private renters? What are …

By GMHA (@gmhousingaction)   The Greater Manchester Law Centre (GMLC) have produced a COVID-19 'Survival Guide' to collate all up to date legal advice on the evolving situation created by the current health emergency. It is aimed at residents and support services, and is a comprehensive resource. It is broken up into five sections, they …

By Joe Chambers (@Joe_Chambers90), Researcher based at the University of Manchester   AirBnB, satisfying the demand for both short-term and vacation rentals outside of the traditional hotel economy, has seen a continued proliferation across Greater Manchester. The city centre and areas such as the Northern Quarter have been most impacted by this, with many landlords …

By GMHA (@gmhousingaction)   Last night the combined authority and ten councils moved to provide emergency housing for the homeless in our city-region. They have used hotels, which are now empty. We welcome this move, which was something we demanded eleven days ago.    This move follows similar interventions in London by Sadiq Khan which …

By Samuel Burgum, University of Sheffield (@SJBurgum)   The UK Government’s commitment to upholding individualised private property during the global Coronavirus pandemic is matched only by their wilful ignorance of historical responses to crises. At the time of writing, they are ignoring modest calls by organisations such as Streets Kitchen to buy up hotel rooms so …

By GMHA (@gmhousingaction) Today the government announced emergency relief measures in light of the COVID-19 economic crisis. As well as support to businesses, the Chancellor announced a three-month mortgage holiday. This is totally inadequate.   Across the country over 4.5 million households are in the private rented sector, most on precarious short-term contracts. There is …

By GMHA (@gmhousingaction) In this time of crisis we demand radical action across the housing sector. Throughout our region a fifth of the population are living in the private rented sector (PRS), with the figure closer to 30% in Manchester. In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, many people will be off sick and/or experiencing reduced …

By Mark Burton and Carolyn Kagan (@SteadyStateMcr) Steady State Manchester   For some years now, Greater Manchester has been trying to agree a grand plan for land use: the Spatial Framework. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), and other bodies, including Manchester City Council, have promoted a model based on highly specialised zones, for retail, commerce, warehousing …

By GMHA (@gmhousingaction) The PSPO has been recalled by one of the scrutiny committees on the council. This presents us with a final opportunity to stop its implementation. We must take it.   In November 2019, a proposed PSPO around the Centre was considered by the Council’s Communities & Equalities Scrutiny Committee (CESC).   Dr …