News

In my last blog http://hqnetwork.co.uk/news/hqn-blog-balancing-the-scales-in-asset-management-2057, I asked how confident you are in your organisation's approach to asset management and, importantly, if the data and business intelligence that underpins your decisions robust and accurate?

National Audit Office (NAO) reports on Universal Credit (UC) follow a familiar pattern.

First, the financial watchdog makes trenchant criticisms of the new benefit system, or politely questions the entire rationale for introducing it in the first place, or reveals revelations of yet more delays in progress towards the promised land.

Fresh from addressing the Labour Housing Group, HQN Chief Executive Alistair McIntosh offers the party some home truths.

“What on earth is the point of the Labour Party if it cannot even oppose the mad disaster of railway privatisation?” That’s what Peter Hitchens wrote in his column in the Mail in 2014. And I agree. Labour has to do what it says on the tin. This means building council houses. Lots of them. So it’s great to see that in 'Housing for the Many' John Healey sets about this task. I really like the question he asks. “What more could a Labour Government do to make affordable housing a first choice, not a last resort?”

He hits the nail on the head. At the Grenfell meetings with Ministers, tenants said they were sick and tired of the stigma they get. Sort this out and we’ll make a big dent in the housing crisis. Let’s not forget you can actually build council houses. But you only get to influence other tenures. So it’s the right place to start. What is the lesson of Brexit? The UK government machine, if you can even call it that, is kaput. Labour will only get to do one thing at most in housing. Let’s build.

In a new report, the National Audit Office (NAO) has stated that it is uncertain Universal Credit will ever deliver value for money, and has strongly criticised the Department for Work and Pensions for not recognising the hardship the policy has caused claimants.

Grenfell must change the way we do things for ever. We are starting to see the experts’ reports to the Inquiry. If they are right, we have a long road to travel on safety. This is a big deal for your board.

A 'state of the nation' blog by Mike Victory-Rowe, Lead Associate for the Asset Management Network

The evidence gathering stage of the Grenfell inquiry is now fully underway, and for the past week tenants, fire safety experts, legal experts and business representatives have been presenting their evidence before the panel.

You’ll find an article about Grenfell in the London Review of Books. To tell you the truth I’d never come across this magazine. So, I did a bit of digging. The Guardian loves it. They say that the LRB is “the most successful – and controversial – literary publication in Europe”. How does it do this?

After almost 20 years with HQN Dave Ganz will be leaving to pursue other ventures.