Central housing News

People in Birmingham are finding it harder to afford their rent following Government welfare reforms, according to Birmingham City Council.

There were almost 2,000 applications for help to pay for housing in the first two weeks of April - immediately after the Spare Room Subsidy or "Bedroom Tax" was introduced.

Discretionary Housing Payments were introduced in 2001 so local authorities could provide short-term payments to people facing problems with their housing costs. The Council says the system is struggling to cope.

• Politics
• Birmingham
• cuts

More people are buying houses in the West Midlands according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Surveyors in the West Midlands have seen the biggest increase of homes sold in the country since the start of the year - ahead of London.

However the trend of sales increases was found to be flattest in the East Midlands.

• UK
• Housing
• West Midlands

The first new council homes to be built in twenty years in Lincoln have been unveiled today.

Lincoln City Council says the five new properties on Wellington Street are just the start and it plans to build dozens more like them over the next five years.

The council says it is trying to address a serious housing need, as thousands of people remain on a waiting list.

• UK
• Housing

Ian and Geraldine Hatton from Leicester have finally settled in a rented Housing Association bungalow after an extremely stressful time. They could not afford to pay the mortgage on a home so had to sell up after Ian lost his permanent job.

• Money
• Housing
• Midlands

Thousands of people across the Midlands are struggling to find a home they can afford because of a shortage of new housing.

According to a report by the National Housing Federation, only 9,930 new homes were built in the East Midlands between 2011 and 2012- less than half the number needed.

• Money
• Housing
• Midlands

More than 500 first-time buyers in Nottinghamshire could be helped to get a foot on the property ladder thanks to a new mortgage support scheme.

The County Council has set aside fifteen million pounds from its reserves to loan to people struggling to raise a deposit.

The council says the plan will benefit the wider economy.

But critics say it's gambling with taxpayer's money.

• UK
• Nottinghamshire
• Housing

The number of people wanting to buy or sell their houses in the Midlands has risen at the fastest rate in three years, according to a survey carried out by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

Last month, an increase in interest from would-be buyers was reported.

• UK
• Midlands
• Housing Market