Have your say on the August riots

Inside Housing is offering the chance to win £100 in Marks & Spencer vouchers in exchange for your views on the riots.

Shortly after the riots swept England in August, Inside Housing, the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation launched ‘The Riot Report’ to find out what steps can be taken to help prevent a repeat of the violence. Now they want to know what housing professionals, who work for social landlords operating in areas that experienced riots, think caused the disturbances. What would they like their organisations to do to address the underlying problems?

Have your say here.

Looking to buy property in Devon?

www.devonsurveyors.co.uk – Property Surveying provides a resource for all property purchasers to find the best surveyor for them. If you are looking to buy a property in Devon the Government, Which? and the RICS all recommend that you get a Chartered Surveyor to inspect it before purchase.

Follow the link above to find a Chartered Surveyor near your property purchase in Devon.

New guidance for contractors over timber frame fire risk

Information has been released by the UKTFA (UK Timber frame Association), with backing from the Health & Safety Executive, following a number of high profile inner city building site blazes. Foremost among them was a large explosion at a buidling site in central Bath.

The Association has advised that contractors have a crucial role to play in specifying the right type of system, indiciating that more expensive products are often required, rather than open pannelled timber frame.

To find out more detail on this story, click here for the full article.

Calls for carbon monoxide alarms in new-build houses

Cardiff Building Surveyors

Campaigners are lobbying the Welsh government to amend building regulations to ensure carbon monoxide alarms are installed in new homes.

The Carbon Monoxide – Be Alarmed group say only 38% of homes in Wales own a carbon monoxide alarm.

As well as new-build regulations, it wants landlords to be forced to provide alarms in properties as part of annual gas safety inspections.

The Welsh government has been asked to comment.

Members of the group will meet assembly ministers at the Senedd at an event hosted by Islwyn AM Gwyn Price.

Campaign spokeswoman, Christine McGourty, said: “There are two simple steps we’d like the Welsh Government to take.

“Firstly, building regulations should be amended so that new homes come with alarms already installed.

“Secondly, providing an alarm should be part of a landlord’s annual gas safety inspection.”

Attending the event will be Adele Forbes, from Blackwood, in Caerphilly county, who lost her five-year-old son McCauley and her grandparents in 2005 to carbon monoxide poisoning.

McCauley Thomas, five, had been staying with Patrick Chidgey, 71, and his wife Gloria, 68, at Pontllanfraith, near Blackwood, in October 2005.

A Newport inquest heard carbon monoxide had built up in the house because of a blocked chimney from a coal fire.

An investigation showed the chimney had not been swept and the boiler not been serviced for “some time”.

Ms Forbes said: “We hadn’t got round to putting an alarm into our home, and I now have to live with that forever.

“Too many lives are lost or harmed each year because people don’t realise the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning.

“I want every parent in Wales to buy a carbon monoxide alarm this week.

“Believe me, spending £20 on an alarm is worth it – it can protect you and your family from permanent brain damage and it might save your lives.”

Gwyn Price AM said he hoped the event would be a “significant first step to achieving the campaigns objectives, here in Wales”.

The campaign group claims 1.8m people in Wales are at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning because they do not have an alarm.

It says research shows 74% of people are unaware that carbon monoxide – which has no colour, taste or smell – can kill, and only 15% realise it can cause brain damage.

Find a surveyor near you if you think carbon monoxide might be building in your home. Click here to find your nearest Chartered Surveyor.

Source: BBC website.

Thinking of moving to Wales?

www.cardiffbuildingsurveyors.co.uk – If you are thinking about buying a property in South Wales, you should think hard about having a survey carried out.

There are many different types of survey, from full structural surveys to homebuyer reports, valuations to single fault assessments – there is a type of building survey to suit all budgets. Keith Batten FRICS is a Chartered Surveyor in South Wales that can help. Contact him to talk about having a building survey carried out on your property by a fully Qualified Chartered Building Surveyor. Doing so, will give you the peace of mind, and forward planning, needed to properly enjoy your property purchase.

0800 880 6264

Homeless Londoners face move to Hull

A London council is considering rehoming people in Yorkshire following a surge of people in emergency accommodation.

Croydon Council in south London, has seen the number of families it houses in emergency bed and breakfast accommodation rise from 61 families in 2008 to 300.

Caps to local housing allowance, benefit paid to private rented sector tenants, and job losses due to the financial crisis are thought to be behind the increase.

The council is now looking at housing people in other parts of the country where rents are cheaper and there are more homes available. The authority insists it will not attempt to move people to other areas without their consent.

Dudley Mead, cabinet member for housing, finance and asset management, said: ‘We don’t seem to be able to raise the supply of temporary accommodation. I told officers to look outside Croydon to find housing, we will take it from wherever we can.

‘At the moment we are talking about the north and some of the Yorkshire towns.’

More news stories can be found on our article archive here

Source: Inside Housing

Welsh Association increases investment in new homes

pontypriddsurveyors.co.uk – Areas like Pontypridd, caerphilly, Cardiff and Barry will all see increased investment in new homes construction, revealed by a new report from Community Housing Cymru. It says Housing Associations spent £802m in 2010/2011, up 16% from 2009/2010 and employed 6,300 people directly.

Read the full article here.

If you are thinking of buying a new property in Wales, think about getting a professional to look it over and give you the peace of mind you need to plan for the future. Keith Batten FRICS has lived in South Wales all his life and is a Chartered Surveyors providing building surveys in Wales. Call now on 0800 880 6264