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The number of people considered homeless has fallen 72% since 2003, official figures claim.

The figures also show that 9430 households were accepted as homeless by local authorities between October to December 2009 - a 22% reduction compared to the same time last year.

Use of a new approach to tenant involvement and performance management - which gives tenants the power to challenge their housing organisation and drive up performance - is examined in a report commissioned by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) and written by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).

The report claims that this new approach - resident-led self-regulation - has the potential to change social housing for the better and give real power to a group of customers who have little consumer choice. It could also cut down on the need for external intervention.

Social housing rent arrears and evictions are down, according to research by the Tenant Services Authority (TSA).

Its statistics show an improving picture on how housing associations, who are responsible for 2.4 million homes across England, deal with social housing tenants who have fallen behind on their rent.

The findings show that at the end of 2007-08, 5.3% of all rent due to landlords was unpaid, down slightly from 5.6% in 2005.

The Government’s Warm Homes, Greener Homes Strategy will help social housing landlords halve the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from the homes they own, the Tenant Services Authority (TSA) said.

Chief Executive Peter Marsh said the strategy would particularly help nearly 500,000 households in the social housing sector who could not afford to heat their homes.

Social tenants with new job offers are to get Government help to find a new home.

Housing Minister John Healey yesterday made clear the Government's commitment to helping the "squeezed middle" – working tenant in public housing on low wages. These low-paid workers have been among worst affected by the recession with over half seeing a fall in their income due to reduced hours, less overtime and wage cuts.

Six years after the Government promised to update the 1935 overcrowding standard - raising the hopes of more than a million children trapped in overcrowded homes - it is now going back on its commitment, according to Shelter.

In a response to more than 2000 signatories of a Shelter petition, the Government said it would not update the overcrowding standard, as promised in 2004, until "the right processes are in place to support overcrowded households".

The Government’s response comes as latest figures reveal the number of households in overcrowding has risen to more than 650,000, the highest level for over 14 years.

Housing associations in England have come through the worst credit crunch in living memory, outperforming commercial property companies and the wider economy, with their financial health secure and revenues continuing to grow.

A new study from the Tenant Services Authority (TSA), The Impact of the Credit Crunch on Housing Associations, uses data from housing associations, property companies and commercial businesses from outside the housing sector to explore the effects of the economic downturn.

The Presidents of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) have urged action to address the human and financial costs of poor housing.

"The Marmot Review (Fair Society, Healthy Lives) and the Building Research Establishment (BRE) report on the real cost of poor housing published this week show that even though we live in an adverse economic climate we must take this opportunity to plan on how to do things differently," said CIEH President Stephen Battersby after a meeting with CIH President Howard Farrand.

Homeless Link, the national umbrella organisation for frontline homelessness charities, has launched its manifesto for the next government on ending homelessness in our country once and for all.  

Written with input from agencies working on the frontline and people with experience of homelessness, the manifesto sets out 10 practical steps to achieve this challenging ambition in the next 10 years.  Ian Austin MP, Parliamentary Undersecretary of State, Department for Communities and Local Government, Caroline Spelman MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Julia Goldsworthy MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities all spoke at the event with great commitment.

Millions of older people could be spared traumatic hospital stays and costly long-term care if they were given more help to live independently in their own homes.

The National Housing Federation’s "In your lifetime" report warned older people were often denied the support they needed to continue to live at home – increasing the risk that they would end up in hospital or in a care home in the long run.

Around 2.86 million people aged over 65 in England need help with at least one routine task – and are continuing to rise rapidly.