Vicky Spratt

Housing Britain, my new series for @BBCRadio4, is now available to listen to Part 1 is all about housebuilding. Why is it so difficult to build new homes? Is the environment - newts and bats - in the way? Will Labour meet its target? Listen here 📻 bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

As Andy Burnham formally becomes leader of the Labour Party before taking up in No10 as PM on Monday I’ll be on @LBC with @ShelaghFogarty outlining where to look for clues as to his policies on housing, devolution, youth unemployment, skills and training - it’s all there if you’re paying attention.

"Greater Mancunians" who are they? 🤣

Last year, Housing Secretary Steve Reed announced a controversial cut to the amount of affordable housing developers were required to build in London from 35% to 20%. That's now changing. As City Hall announces its London Plan, Deputy Mayor for Housing @tomcopley tells me exclusively that a new "flexible" and hyper-local approach is being introduced to maximise the amount of affordable housing developers will have to deliver in places where house prices are particularly high... This sort of granular approach from a devolved Mayor could demonstrate what's possible with more devolution as promised by the incoming PM, Andy Burnham inews.co.uk/news/housing/f…

At a conference of housing associations this morning, some of Britain’s most important housing delivery organisations told me: - they are worried about when funding promised by Starmer govt on social and affordable housing (SAHP) will be unlocked - they welcome Burnham’s promise to build more council homes and hope he will help do away with stigma around affordable housing as well as make case for its role in growth - they want to know asap whether Pennycook is staying as Housing Minister because “they have planned their finances around his policies”

ICYMI - my big read @theipaper with lots of contributions from people across Britain's housing sector... Andy Burnham is set to inherit a "dysfunctional housing market", but if you've been paying attention, there are big clues as to his solutions... inews.co.uk/news/burnham-a…

As you will have read in @theipaper some hours ago

Great to have @Kwajotweneboa writing in @theipaper inews.co.uk/news/two-postc…

The @BritishProgress summer reading list is here. Featuring suggestions from @KanishkaNarayan, @NeilDotObrien, @YuanfenYang, @matthewclifford, @redditchrachel, @Brendan_McCord, @Dan4Barnet, @Victoria_Spratt, @tylercowen, @Stsantek, @Katie_Lam_MP & more!

Without Legal Aid, are new workers' and renters' rights enforceable? In this week's newsletter @theipaper, I spent a morning with Sarah Sackman in her constituency, where the Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services is running a free Legal Aid clinic because of a "glaring gap" in services... inews.co.uk/news/free-lond…

Nervousness is now building around the government’s £39 billion Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP) funding confirmation Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook cannot confirm who is being given what while there is changeover of PM Lots of housing providers now on the edge of their seats…

ICYMI - what can we expect from welfare reform? This will be one of many thorny issues in Andy Burnham's in-tray... My exclusive interview with Minister for Disability, Sir Stephen Timms & the co-chairs of his PIP review: - Labour needs to come up with “a radically different” way of assessing who is eligible for disability benefits. - Government wants to crack down on social media accounts which offer people advice on how to apply for PIP in exchange for £££ - The current system was intended to streamline disability benefits but does not account for the range of lived experience and needs disabled people have inews.co.uk/news/lost-mota…

Reports that Andy Burnham is “open-minded” on North Sea oil & gas, while Ed Miliband, who is tipped to become Chancellor is rumoured to be considering changing his position and approving new production… I went to Aberdeen just over a week ago…here’s what local people as well as experts said: inews.co.uk/news/ghost-tow…

What will it take for Britain to reckon with the triple lock on the state pension? My column @theipaper inews.co.uk/news/state-pen…

@RestIsPolitics And you can, of course, read my regular columns, scoops and reports about what’s really going on across the UK here @theipaper inews.co.uk/author/vicky-s…

You can sign up to @RestIsPolitics newsletter here mailchi.mp/fa3e66f5e4c7/t…

For this weekend’s @RestIsPolitics politics newsletter I’ve written about devolution and whether it really is the panacea to the UK’s problems… This includes… ↗️ exclusive reporting from a major devolution event at KCL where @AngelaRayner and NE Mayor @KiMcGuinness spoke alongside former Chief Sec to the Treasury Nick Macpherson this week ↗️ insight from my interviews with Andy Burnham over the years for @theipaper ↗️ an interview with @DanTurnerTweets who is part of a major academic review of devolution in Britain - how devolved are we, really, in comparison to similar economies? ↗️some exclusive thoughts from @KiMcGuinness and former Tory adviser Salma Shah who spend years at the department responsible for local government Read it here mailchi.mp/therestispolit…

Reforming the benefits system is one of the toughest tasks any government faces…but, PIP, which replaced Disability Living Allowance in 2013, is not working Last week I sat down exclusively with @stephenctimms, the co-chairs of his review and people who rely on PIP. Here’s what they said about what change should look like @theipaper inews.co.uk/news/lost-mota…

Andy Burnham is set to inherit a "dysfunctional" housing market...but don't expect to hear chants of "build baby build" from his government... My big read @theipaper on what's gone wrong and how Burnham might fix it ❗️Why experts are worried about Britain's housing market but hopeful for Burnham's leadership ❗️Why further delays to Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook's SAHP fund could cause problems ❗️How Burnham might fund a council housebuilding revolution...and the clues in work already done when Angela Rayner was Housing, Communities and Local Government Sec to make it possible... inews.co.uk/news/burnham-a…

Very interesting article in The Economist, which argues that Andy Burnham should equalise "all social rents to market rates" and give people "who truly need support...extra means-tested benefits to cover the difference." This would...completely explode the Housing Benefit bill, which is already projected to rise to £39 billion a year very soon?