Daily News: 28/10/2026
Your daily round-up of key housing news, funding, partnerships and policy updates across the UK.

Chime Housing has launched market engagement for a £1.2bn Herts, Beds and Bucks construction and consultancy framework running from May 2027 to May 2031, with the formal tender notice scheduled for 8th December 2026. Construction News

JV North has secured £95m in Homes England grant funding to build 792 homes across 14 sites in Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire, including 660 for social rent, with total construction value exceeding £300m. JV North

Magenta Living has secured £77m in financing to support its target of building 1,300 homes across the Liverpool City Region by 2030, including £12m from CAF Bank for energy-efficient social rent homes and £10m from Danske Bank. Liverpool Echo

Plus Dane Housing has appointed Next Energy under a five-year contract to deliver £10m of energy-efficiency improvements across hundreds of homes, including insulation, solar panels and replacement windows, supporting its EPC Band C target by 2030. TheBusinessDesk.com

NHS SBS has launched a £400m Hard FM framework providing NHS bodies and wider public sector organisations with access to maintenance, compliance and specialist estates services. Sir Robert McAlpine has secured a £133m contract to overhaul the Bank of England’s Threadneedle Street estate in the City of London, beating Bovis and Overbury. Facilitate Magazine, Construction Enquirer

Vistry and partners Platform Housing Group, Solihull Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority have started work on 177 affordable homes at the former Simon Digby School site in Chelmsley Wood. LiveWest has started construction on 27 social rent homes on St Mary’s in the Isles of Scilly, marking the islands’ first affordable housing development in years West Midlands Combined Authority, Housing Digital

Warwick District Council is introducing safeguards for homes purchased on new-build estates to ensure affordability, quality and sustainability for tenants. A BBC Panorama investigation has highlighted serious failings in Birmingham’s supported housing system, raising concerns over accommodation provision and oversight. Residents in five-storey flats have been without working lifts for more than three weeks, prompting criticism of the responsible housing association. Warwick District Council, Birmingham Live, and Reading Chronicle

The government has proposed measures to protect more leaseholders from high costs of addressing serious building and fire safety defects. England had 4.6m social homes at March 2026, an annual increase of 36,000, despite a 1,700-home fall in social rent stock; average social rents rose 3.2%. Scotland had an estimated 2.75m homes at March 2025, comprising 60% owner-occupied, 23% socially rented, 13% privately rented or rent-free, and 4% vacant or second homes GOV.UK, GOV.UK, and Scottish Government

Inverclyde Council has unveiled plans for nearly 860 affordable homes to boost housebuilding and attract investment. Plans for 190 homes and a future primary school have been approved in Ludgershall. Stockport councillors considered proposals for 181 homes off Jacksons Lane in Hazel Grove, following approval for 160 homes nearby last month. Greenock Telegraph, Salisbury Journal, and Stockport Nub News

All information is curated from public sources and market intelligence.
Published daily on weekdays.