Government admits defeat - Transition Fund allocations unlawful

In an exclusive front page story, Inside Housing magazine reports that the government has admitted that the allocation of HMR Transition funding for the purposes of widespread demolitions was unlwaful and has therefore decided not to contest the judicial review of its actions. The Inside Housing story claims that "Lawyers acting for the government have written to campaign group SAVE's solicitors setting out the terms under which it is willing to concede defeat..." We reported on SAVE's successful application for judicial review in a September news story. The latest development consolidates a major success for SAVE and the charity Empty Homes which first drew attention to the issue. The impact on local authorities remains to be seen: some money has been drawn down, some not. But according to Inside Housing only 200 homes have been demolished in 9 out of the 13 councils that received funding under the scheme. Plans for regenerating some areas are once again likely to be thrown into disarray.