Help the Aged has welcomed the announcement by Housing Minister Yvette Cooper, that a homelessness scheme will receive a £70 million expansion to fund more than 100 new or upgraded hostels with training facilities - and asked for assurance that the needs of older homeless people will be considered.

In response to Gordon Brown putting housing at the centre of his parliamentary programme, Help the Aged is urging the Government to prioritise the needs of older people.

The energy giant EDF Energy has announced that it is cutting its gas prices by 10.2% with effect from 15 June 2007, but electricity customers will see no price cut, the company saying that it will remain second cheapest for electricity without making a cut.

British pensioners have, between them, benefited in property price rises to the tune of £103.09 billion over the past 12 months, according to the latest figures from HomeWise Retirement Properties' Pensioners Property Equity Index.

 Thanks to the generosity of two local companies, a new loan scheme has been launched in Nottingham to enable vulnerable householders to borrow the tools they need to complete DIY and basic household tasks. The scheme is offered by Framework’s FIXIT service, which provides practical help and learning around household maintenance tasks to help people live more independently.

Many people owning tenanted properties are blissfully unaware that they do not have the freedom to do what they want with the property.

House price growth is showing no signs of stopping with average prices across the UK 11.5% higher than they were a year ago. And with the 50s age group being the largest number of UK homeowners, they will be the biggest beneficiaries as the average asking price for a house reaches a new high of £220,000.