The housing shortage in London is reaching critical levels as housebuilding fails to keep pace with population growth and wages lag behind housing costs, according to a new report from the National Housing Federation.

Videos of a guest lecture presented at London South Bank University on 7 May 2014. Topic’s covered include: The wider context of BIM including UK government policy; Architype’s journey into BIM; and using BIM for Passivhaus design.

As the government expresses concern that changes to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) could further slow the planning process, CBRE associate director Tom Wells explains how Ministers, local authorities and developers might respond in order to minimise costs and delays associated with the planning system.

This paper challenges the tendency towards authoritarian modes of dealing with environmental threats by drawing attention to the potential of more plural, emergent and unruly ‘transformations’ to achieve progressive change. Instead of seeing democracy as an ‘enemy of nature’, we can see hope-inspired democratic struggle as an essential part of sustainability, not an add-on.

This case studies report has been produced by the Housing and Communities Research Group at the University of Birmingham. It presents a programme of research to evaluate the impact of the Empty Homes Community Grants Programme (EHCGP) in the English Midlands. The aim of the research was also to build on existing knowledge about the self-help housing sector and its expansion. This baseline study identifies the scale and nature of existing self-help housing projects in the Midlands. It explores the barriers and enablers to expansion of the sector, the wider community benefits and the direct outputs of the EHCG programme in terms of empty homes brought into use. The report also begins to assess the impact of the EHCGP on the national map of the sector and on the sustainability of individual projects.

This resource is intended for any member of a community who wants to be more involved in (or informed about) planning for their local area. It contains links to information about some of the areas anyone getting involved in community planning should know about. Many of the materials may also be useful to housing practitioners and local authorities looking to engage with their local communities in delivering new development.

Embodied carbon is rising up the agenda and rapidly becoming a key area of focus for those working across the built environment. That is why the UK Green Building Council ran Embodied Carbon Week from 7 – 11 April 2014 in partnership with British Land, Derwent London, Land Securities, Tishman Speyer and WRAP to explore the topic in greater detail and start a wider discussion about what more can be done to advance best practice. This report summarises the feedback gained from the industry events that took place over the course of the week. It has been prepared by Arup based on summary feedback provided on sixteen Embodied Carbon week events.

The London Mayor has launched a rental standard for private sector landlords in London, in a bid to ensure tenants can rent confidently and help landlords understand the law. The London rental standard badge will be awarded to all landlords and letting agents who meet a set of core commitments, including transparent fees, better property conditions, protected deposits and fast response times for repairs. The scheme is voluntary.