Friday, 11th December 2009 Top stories this week Chancellor's PBR speech.....read more ONS: New orders in the construction industry, October 2009.....read more CML: Loans for house purchase at their highest for nearly two years.....read more Halifax house price index.....read more HBF announces 2010 event diary dates.....read more Quick Links Economic news Industry news Housing market news Events Economic news Chancellor's PBR speech Alistair Darling gave his 2009 Pre-Budget Report speech to the House of Commons on Wednesday. In this year's statement the Chancellor set out how the Government plans to support a sustainable economic recovery and to get more people back into work. He also explained how the Government intends to cut borrowing in half over four years. A HBF Member Briefing highlighting the various housing announcements in the Pre-Budget Report, including on the cumulative impact of regulation and housing land availability, is available to download here (HBF member information only – please log in to view) Please click here to download a copy of the Pre-Budget Report to top Industry responses to the Chancellor's Pre-Budget Report CBI... Richard Lambert, CBI Director-General, said: “There were two tests for this Pre-Budget Report. First, would it increase the credibility of Government plans to restore the public finances? Second, would it be a platform for job creation and economic growth? The Government has failed on both counts. “The Chancellor has made a serious mistake imposing an extra jobs tax at a time when the economic recovery will still be fragile. Increasing National Insurance contributions will hold back job creation and growth. “He has also missed the opportunity to increase the UK’s credibility by reducing the public deficit earlier. The Government still needs to set out fuller plans on how it will reduce public expenditure.” Read more to top CML... The CML welcomed this week’s announcement by the Chancellor that help with mortgage payments for working-age borrowers on income support will be maintained at current levels for the next six months. Payments of income support are helping around 100,000 households stay in their homes, and a further 113,000 older home-owners are receiving help with their mortgage through pension credits. The CML's Director General Michael Coogan said: "Lenders are determined that possession is a last resort. With earlier and better communication between lenders, consumers and debt advisers, arrears are being managed through the recession and possession action minimised, wherever possible. "However, a state safety net is also a vital part of the picture, and so we welcome today's announcement of no change to the rate of support for mortgage interest at 6.08%. In a low-interest rate environment, and with so much progress being made by lenders and borrowers together, it is no surprise that the back-stop government schemes have not been widely used. This situation may change if pressures build, as interest rates rise in the future. So we are committed to continuing to work with the government to ensure the best possible outcomes for borrowers going through short-term financial difficulties." Read more to top NAEA... Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the National Association of Estate Agents, said: “The Chancellor missed an open goal with his statement. By ignoring the advice of much of the property industry there is a real danger that the property slump that has hit thousands of families hard over the past 12 months will hit thousands more, harder, in the year ahead. “Stamp duty unfairly distorts the property market. It is prohibitive to people looking for a step up the housing market and unfairly penalises people investing in buy-to-let portfolios. “As a first step the Chancellor should keep the stamp duty threshold as it is when the current holiday ends in December. More importantly, the Government should commit to a complete reform of the tax to produce something that is fairer for everyone.” Read more to top Communities Secretary John Denham and Housing Minister John Healey... Communities Secretary John Denham and Housing Minister John Healey have welcomed the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) as a fair outcome for local government - but one that sets it a clear challenge to protect frontline services in the future. John Denham said that councils will benefit from a very positive financial settlement next year but tough decisions lay ahead to further drive down inefficiencies and help reduce the public deficit, while safeguarding the services that matter most to people. He said: "This is a fair and challenging outcome for local government. There will be a further 4% increase in resources for councils in the coming year because this is still the right time to be investing in local services to help lock in recovery. "But local government - like national government - will have to share in the tough choices that need to be made in the years ahead to enable us to reduce the deficit, ensure that the economy and jobs grow and to protect frontline services which matter most to people. This will include tough decisions on top pay, on the costs of senior management and how local authorities organise their services. "The public will not forgive local government if frontline services are hit when inefficiencies remain." Read more to top Bank of England maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and continues with £200bn Asset Purchase Programme The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee this week voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling £200 billion financed by the issuance of central bank reserves. The Committee expects the announced programme to take another two months to complete. The scale of the programme will be kept under review. The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 23rd December. Read more to top The British Retail Consortium: Retail sales monitor November 2009 The British Retail Consortium reported somewhat weaker year-on-year growth in retail sales values in November compared to the previous month, largely due to further slowing in food sales. However, the three-month moving average of the annual growth rate still indicates a strengthening trend in overall sales values. Key results from the survey include: UK retail sales values rose 1.8% on a like-for-like basis from November 2008, when sales had dropped 2.6%, due to turmoil in financial markets hitting consumer confidence. On a total basis, sales rose 4.1% against a 0.4% decline in November 2008; Food sales growth slowed further, largely reflecting lower food price inflation. Clothing and footwear also slowed after October's uplift. Homewares and furniture sales showed further gains, but against larger declines a year ago; Non-food non-store sales (internet, mail-order and phone sales) in November were 16.9% higher than a year ago compared with 18.0% in October. The slower growth rate in November than in October was in line with the slowdown in store sales. Stephen Robertson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said: "We would have expected much stronger growth because the comparison is with very poor results in 2008 when November was the second worst performing month of the year. "Growth was weaker than a strong October, but it's not as bad as it seems. A lot of this was down to the sharp fall in food inflation which continues to dampen food retailers' sales. But non-food sales growth improved as the Christmas build-up began. In particular, discounts and downpours boosted boot and shoe sales – while the milder weather hit clothing sales. There was continued growth in non-store non-food sales. "Consumer confidence is fragile and has taken a turn for the worse. We're the only major economy still in recession. Uncertainty over jobs and future tax increases and Government spending cuts is making customers more cautious. Retailers are hopeful of a better Christmas than last year's dire performance, but it's still all to play for." Read more to top Industry news ONS: New orders in the construction industry, October 2009 According to the latest statistics released by the Office for National Statistics, orders in the three months to October 2009 fell by 5% compared with the previous three month period. Orders in the 12 months to October 2009 fell by 19% compared with the previous 12 months and orders in the three months to October 2009 fell by 6% compared with the same period a year earlier. All orders figures quoted are seasonally adjusted and in constant (2005) prices. Private housing orders in the three months to October 2009 rose by 5% compared with the previous three month period but fell by 1% compared with the same three month period a year earlier. Private housing orders in the year to October 2009 fell by 39% compared with those in the previous 12 months. Public housing and housing association orders in the three months to October 2009 fell by 1% compared with the previous three month period but rose by 10 per cent when compared with the same three month period a year earlier. Public housing and housing association orders fell by 10% in the 12 months to October 2009 compared with the previous 12 months. All comparisons in this sector are affected by large variations due to its relatively small size. Read more to top Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk - Practice Guide This practice guide published by Communities and Local Government is complementary to “Planning Policy Statement 25: Development and Flood Risk” (PPS25) and provides guidelines on how to implement development and flood risk policies by the land use planning system. The guide also includes working examples through case studies. This edition replaces the earlier version of the Practice Guide published on 12th June 2008. This Practice Guide (at Appendix B) contains a checklist to help developers and applicants to prepare an appropriate, site-specific flood risk assessment in accordance with the policy in PPS25, and the advice in the Practice Guide. Read more to top ONS: Affordable Housing Supply, England, 2008-2009 The latest statistics on the gross supply of affordable housing in England were released this week by the Office for National Statistics. Key points from the release are: A gross total of 55,770 additional affordable homes were supplied in England in 2008-09. This is an increase of 4% from 53,480 additional affordable homes supplied in 2007-08 (revised), and is the highest number of new affordable homes provided in England since 1996-97; 31,090 new affordable homes were made available for social rent in 2008-09, while 24,680 homes were provided through other intermediate housing schemes including shared ownership and shared equity, up 5% and 4% respectively on the previous year; New build homes accounted for 43,220 or 78% of all new affordable homes supplied in 2008-09, a small decrease on the proportion in 2007-08 (81%); New build homes with funding from the Homes and Communities Agency accounted for 63% (35,320) of total additional affordable homes supplied in 2008-09, a similar proportion to the previous year. Acquisitions through the Homes and Communities Agency accounted for 17% of gross additional supply in 2008-09. The remainder of affordable homes supplied were funded by other sources; London and the South East accounted for 23% and 19% respectively of new affordable homes in England in 2008-09; There was an increase in affordable housing supply in eight of the nine regions. London decreased by 2,360 homes. Read more to top Housing market news CML: Loans for house purchase at their highest for nearly two years The number of loans for house purchase in the UK reached 55,000 in October, its highest level since December 2007, according to new data released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The number of such loans has risen from a trough in January 2009 when only 23,000 loans were advanced. It is now up nearly 100% from that low point. However, this pattern of increase is not repeated with loans for remortgaging which have stayed static for two months at 33,000. Apart from a total of 30,000 in August 2009, remortgaging is at its lowest level since CML began this run of data in 2002. Fixed mortgages continued their downward trend from a high in July, when 80% of all new loans taken out were fixed. In October, this had decreased by 14% to 66%. Tracker mortgages, however, were on the rise with 21% of all new loans being trackers, compared to July's low of 12%. Commenting on the data, CML Director General Michael Coogan said: “We are still in a two-speed mortgage market. It appears that low interest rates for those with substantial deposits, coupled with this year’s sustained increases in house prices, are encouraging more people to buy or move home. “But the same low interest rates that are driving house purchase activity provide little incentive for borrowers to refinance their loans. This, coupled with ongoing tightness in lending criteria, continues to hold back the remortgage market." Read more to top Halifax house price index The latest Halifax house price index, published this week, reported that: House prices rose by 1.4% in November. Prices increased for the fifth consecutive month with the average house price up by 4.2% (£6,803) in the first eleven months of 2009; Prices over the period September to November were 3.7% higher than in the previous three months. This is the biggest increase on a three monthly basis since November 2006; Prices have increased by 8.5% since reaching a trough in April 2009; an increase in the average price of £13,174. This follows a decline of 23% between August 2007 and April 2009; House prices in November were 1.6% lower on an annual basis. The annual rate of change (measured by the average for the latest three months against the same period a year earlier) has improved significantly from a low of -17.7% in April; Housing market activity continues to pick up. Completed house sales in England and Wales were 11% higher on an annual basis in August, according to the latest Land Registry figures. Bank of England industry-wide figures show that the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchase – a leading indicator of completed house sales – increased, on a seasonally adjusted basis, for the eleventh successive month in October. Approvals were 79% higher than in October 2008 and were at their highest level since March 2008. Despite this improvement, approvals remain 56% below their late 2006 peak; Increasing demand and low supply are causing house prices to rise. The increase in sales in recent months has outpaced only a modest rise in the stock of properties available for sale. As a result, the ratio of house sales to the stock of unsold properties on surveyors' books increased for the tenth consecutive month in October. (Source: RICS monthly survey, October 2009.) The increase in this ratio suggests that market conditions will provide further support for house prices in the short-term. Read more to top Events HBF announces 2010 event diary dates HBF can this week announce the return of three of its most popular social events for next year. The economic climate dictated that the HBF Ball, its North West Social dinner and its golf day have not taken place for the past two years, but member demand sees them return for 2010. Please make a note of the dates for your diary and further details and ticket information will be issued in the new-year. HBF Golf Day – Tuesday 13th July 2010 – Woburn Golf Course HBF North West Social Dinner – Friday 10th September 2010 – The Midland Hotel, Manchester HBF Ball – Friday 10th December 2010 – Marriott Grosvenor Square, London to top HBF AGM & lunch Wednesday 28th April – the Hyatt Regency Hotel – the Churchill HBF can also confirm that the HBF AGM & Annual Industry Lunch will take place on Wednesday 28 April at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, London. The day will begin with the AGM and Open Council meeting and be followed a drinks reception and the annual lunch. The key note speaker will be announced early next year If you have any queries about any of the above please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646 and events@house-builder.co.uk to top Habitat for Humanity’s Hope Challenge 11-13th June 2010 Habitat for Humanity, HBF’s nominated charity will again be holding its Hope Challenge event in 2010. This unique and exciting outdoor challenge event will see teams; Spending two days and two nights in the great outdoors Sleeping in a self built shelter Undertaking mental and physical team challenges Last year’s Hope Challenge was a huge success and had the competitors trekking around the Edale and Hope Valleys, with a base camp in the sheltered Vale of Edale. In 2010 HforH are planning a larger and more exciting event with walking routes encompassing the surrounding hills including the Skyline Ridge over Mam Tor and the lower reaches of Kinder Scout. However this is no ordinary weekend of walking! Participating teams will also be tested on their initiative and teamwork… and by building, and sleeping out in, their very own shelter they will experience some of the challenges faced by those who live in poverty housing. Think you can rise to the challenge? Want to join HforH in Hope Challenge 2010? . http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/hoperegister.htm" target="_blank">Register your team for Hope Challenge 2010. http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/hopephotos.htm" target="_blank">Take a look at the photos and video of Hope Challenge 2009. http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/hopecontact.htm" target="_blank">Contact HfH with any questions about Hope Challenge. to top TSY: Delivering design quality skills training programme Transform South Yorkshire have developed the delivering design quality skills training programme – a free programme providing practitioners from the private sector, RSLs and local authorities with training that meets all levels of expertise. The programme' p approach.< teaching the of heart at is study case The session. leave they when skills design their developing continue to need tools professionals give aims and practical, be will approach s> Please click here for more information and details of how to book to top For other HBF events visit the website http://www.hbf.co.uk/index.php?id=eventsandmeetings For' index.php?id='"eventsandmeetings For HBM events visit http://www.hbmedia.co.uk/ to top
