The Affordable Homes Programme 2015-18

Posted on: 27 January 2014
By: mackene
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The 2015-18 Affordable Homes Programme aims to increase the supply of new affordable homes in England by contributing to the delivery of 165,000 new homes by March 2018. In a change from the previous programme all of the available funding will not be allocated from the outset.  Instead, the Homes and Communities Agency will aim to allocate up to 75%, with the remainder being made available via ongoing market engagement. This is designed to allow bidders the opportunity to bid for the remaining funding for development opportunities as these arise during the programme, where those can deliver within the programme timescales. The publication of the Prospectus signals the start of the bid round, which will close at noon on 30 April 2014.

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Cities Outlook 2014

Posted on: 27 January 2014
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Now in its seventh year, Cities Outlook 2014 is the authoritative economic index of the 64 largest cities and towns in the UK. Published by the Centre for Cities, it sets out how different cities are set to fare in the year ahead. This edition has a special focus on London and its relationship to other cities.

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Community Energy Strategy

Posted on: 27 January 2014
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This is the first ever Community Energy Strategy published by a UK government. It sets out the role that communities can play in helping to meet the UK’s energy and climate change challenges, including supporting a sustainable and secure energy system; reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions; and lowering consumer bills.

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The state of European cities in transition: Taking stock after 20 years of reform

Posted on: 27 January 2014
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This gives an in-depth overview of twenty years’ transformation efforts by the 23 countries and territories in northeast, central, east and southeast Europe that, in the early-1990s, embarked on a monumental transition from Socialist  centrally-planned economies to democratic and market-based systems. As this report shows, the transition has been a long and winding road with these countries now in various phases of completing their reforms.

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Flood and coastal erosion risk management spending

Posted on: 27 January 2014
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This note considers publicly available data on flood and coastal erosion risk management expenditure (FCERM) in England. It looks at how this has changed following recent government spending decisions, the introduction of Partnership Funding, and in comparison with estimates of the long-term investment need.

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How is climate change affecting migration – and how should policy-makers respond? London, 15 January 2014

Posted on: 27 January 2014
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This event looked at at the latest evidence on the linkages between climate change and human displacement, and its social, economic and cultural implications. Videos of the event are available online.

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Perceptions of overcrowding: Public views of space in the home

Posted on: 24 January 2014
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Different standards for defining overcrowding and space requirements in the home are in use in Britain today. However, the underlying assumptions are rarely validated against public views. This research explores public opinion on how much space in the home is needed as a minimum. Researcher Rachel Moreton held focus groups with people from different backgrounds across the East Midlands to find out how much space they thought was needed in the home for a minimum standard of living in Britain today.

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Assessing global land use: Balancing consumption with sustainable supply

Posted on: 24 January 2014
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This report was produced by the International Resource Panel, a consortium of 27 internationally renowned resource scientists, 33 national governments and other groups, hosted by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). The findings of the International Resource Panel show that the world has witnessed an unprecedented sharp decline in terrestrial ecosystem services and functions during the past decades. Forests and wetlands have been converted to agricultural land to feed growing populations but at a cost that is not sustainable. The report attempts to answer the question: how much more land can be used to serve the growing demand for food and non-food biomass while keeping the consequences of land use change (e.g. deforestation) at a tolerable level?

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City Momentum Index

Posted on: 24 January 2014
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Covering 111 major established and emerging business hubs across the globe, the City Momentum Index measures a city’s short-term socio-economic and commercial real estate momentum. However, city momentum involves far more than just raw GDP growth – it is also about speed of adaptation, the speed of innoation and the creation of cutting-edge new businesses. And it further entails capturing the dynamics of a city’s real estate market – rates of construction and absorption, price movement and the attraction of a city’s built environment for cross-border capital and corporations. This paper, from Jones Lang LaSalle, reviews which cities around the globe top this list.

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Crossrail

Posted on: 24 January 2014
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A report on the Crossrail project, published by the National Audit Office, concludes that the Crossrail project has been well managed and controlled to date, and  is on track to deliver on time and within budget. 

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