Friday, 18th June 2010 Top stories this week Chancellor’s Mansion House speech - the Government’s approach to financial service regulation.....read more HBF Budget submission and press release.....read more CLG House Price Index - April 2010.....read more CML: Lowest share of house purchase market for first-time buyers since 2007.....read more HBF to meet new Ministers.....read more Quick Links Wales news Government and political news Economic news Housing market news Industry news HBF news Events Wales news Parts of Wales to see large rises in population with Cardiff’s population projected to rocket to nearly half a million Five local authority areas in Wales have been projected to see double-digit rises in their populations over 15 years, according to the Assembly Government. The numbers living in Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Vale of Glamorgan are likely to go up by 11% between 2008 and 2023, while Denbighshire will rise by 10%. But the biggest rise will be in Cardiff, where it is projected there could be 24% more people by 2023, and a projected 42% rise by 2033. Former First Minister Rhodri Morgan said such an increase would make Cardiff more dominant in Wales than at any time in its history, raising concerns about the capital’s relationship with the rest of Wales. Read more to top Assembly referendum 'by the end of March' A referendum on the Assembly’s powers should be held by the end of March next year, Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan has said. The Secretary of State has written to First Minister Carwyn Jones formally turning down the Assembly’s request for a poll to be held in the autumn this year. She said not enough work had been done by the previous Labour government to allow for a poll this year. A vote in parliament on the referendum date will take place "as soon as possible", following a consultation by the Electoral Commission on the wording of the question, Ms Gillan said. Read more to top Key Economic Statistics, June 2010 The latest National Statistics on the labour market produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) were released this week according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. The release includes latest information from a range of sources and covers a variety of time periods. This release updates the statistics previously released on 12th May 2010. The Labour Force Survey estimates for the 3 months to April 2010 show: The employment rate of people of working age in Wales was 69.3%, down from 69.8% in the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 72.1%; The ILO unemployment rate in Wales was 8.5% of the economically active, up from 7.7% in the same period a year earlier. For the UK as a whole it was 7.9%; The rate of economic inactivity amongst people of working age in Wales was 23.9%, down from 24.2% in the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 21.5%. The claimant count rate in May 2010 for Wales was 5.1% of the workforce, down 0.4 percentage points on May 2009 (UK rate 4.6%). Read more to top CIH Cymru 2010 Welsh Housing Awards CIH Cymru’s 2010 Welsh Housing Awards are to be staged on Friday 26th November at Cardiff's Mercure Holland House Hotel. The event will showcase the outstanding achievements of organisations and individuals across the breadth of the housing sector in Wales and is now open for entries. All entries are welcome, whether they are from a local authority, housing association, voluntary sector organisation, private sector company or small community led group. Award categories have been updated to reflect the priorities and challenges currently facing the sector. Entering is free and nominees are not restricted to just one category. All the information required to enter online including, conditions of entry, award categories, judging criteria, as well as sponsorship opportunities and booking information can be viewed online please click here. to top Government and political news Chancellor’s Mansion House speech - the Government’s approach to financial service regulation In his first Mansion House speech on Wednesday evening, Chancellor George Osborne set out the Coalition Government’s plans to reform financial services following the financial crisis. The old Tripartite regime will be abolished and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) will cease to exist in its current form. The Government will legislate to create a new Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA), which will operate as a subsidiary of the Bank of England. The PRA will be solely responsible for the day-to-day prudential supervision of financial institutions. A new Financial Policy Committee (FPC) will be established at the Bank of England. The Committee will be able to look across the economy at the macroeconomic and financial issues that may threaten stability and address the risks it identifies. The FPC will be chaired by the Governor of the Bank of England and made up of independent members. In addition, a new Consumer Protection and Markets Authority (CPMA) will also be established, with responsibility for the conduct of all financial services firms. This will create a single, strong conduct regulator for both retail and wholesale firms. In his speech the Chancellor said: “Our thinking is informed by this insight: only independent central banks have the broad macroeconomic understanding, the authority and the knowledge required to make the kind of macro-prudential judgments that are required now and in the future. “And, because central banks are the lenders of last resort, the experience of the crisis has also shown that they need to be familiar with every aspect of the institutions that they may have to support. “So they must also be responsible for day-to-day micro-prudential regulation as well. “That case is particularly strong where the banking system is highly concentrated as it is in the UK, where the boundary between micro and macro-prudential regulation is not easy to define.” Read the full speech to top CML comment on mortgage lending cap speculation Before the speech there had been press speculation that the Chancellor was set to announce the Bank of England would gain new powers to impose limits on the type of mortgage lending that lenders will be able to undertake in the future, the Council of Mortgage Lenders put out a statement saying it was vital that there should be a logical discussion of what objectives such a measure would be designed to achieve. The CML said the characteristics of today’s market were not likely to stoke risky mortgage lending, and the international and domestic measures already under way would further dampen down the appetite for risk. CML Director General Michael Coogan commented: “We need to remember that in the UK it was not risky lending that caused the banking problems, it was banks’ inability to refinance their borrowings due to the shutdown of global financial markets. “We also need to remember that what is currently bothering most people about the mortgage market isn’t high-risk lending, but the fact that lending is so constrained into low-risk borrowers that it may be making it more difficult for the economy to grow as individuals and businesses find it more difficult than they would wish to borrow. “It may make sense – depending on the detail – for the Bank to have tools such as this at its disposal. But, it is surprising to see such attempts to target specific sectors such as the mortgage market when the new and onerous capital regime – which will be the most effective tool in influencing lending decisions going forward - will dampen risk appetite and manage risk in lending across the board. “Policymakers need to be very careful to avoid trying to solve the wrong problems – the much bigger problem for the mortgage market for the foreseeable future will be in raising enough money to lend, not the risk of stoking asset bubbles through over-generous lending.” The CML estimates that around 2.5 million mortgages outstanding - around a quarter of all mortgages - are for more than 75% of the value of the property. Read more to top Sir John Vickers to chair the Independent Commission on Banking The Chancellor also announced that Sir John Vickers has agreed to chair a new Independent Commission on Banking – a measure included in the Coalition Government’s recent programme for the parliament. The Commission will investigate how to: reduce systemic risk in the banking sector, exploring the risk posed by banks of different size, scale and function; mitigate moral hazard in the banking system; reduce the likelihood and impact of firm failure; promote competition in both retail and investment banking whilst ensuring the needs of customers are addressed; and consider the extent to which large banks gain a competitive advantage from being perceived to be too big to fail. The Commission will produce a final report by the end of September 2011. The Chancellor commented: “The worst financial crisis in living memory highlighted the significant detrimental impact that failure in the financial sector can have on the real economy and the public finances. We need a proper debate about the future structure of banks, the relationship between retail and investment banking, and the question of how to ensure greater competition in the banking industry. The Coalition Government will deliver on its promise to establish an independent Commission on Banking and I am delighted to announce that Sir John Vickers will chair the commission. He has the experience, integrity and independence required to lead this debate.” Read more to top Action to tackle poor value for money and unfunded spending commitments On Thursday, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, announced which projects re-submitted to the Treasury would be suspended and cancelled as part of a review of all spending decisions taken since 1st January. Projects have been cancelled where they were not affordable, did not represent good value for money, or where they did not reflect the Government’s priorities. This announcement did not address the position on remaining un-contracted Kickstart 2 schemes – decisions on which had already been suspended pending the Emergency Budget following the Government’s earlier £6.2bn package savings package for 2010-11. Read more to top Economic news HBF Budget submission and press release - Economic importance of home building dictates positive Budget Given the importance of home building to the economy and jobs, HBF has called on the Chancellor to avoid doing anything in his 22nd June emergency Budget which could risk damaging the fragile recovery in the housing market and home building. HBF’s submission says that a positive rate of VAT on new homes, even at a low rate, would be very damaging for home building and would almost certainly result in a net loss of revenue for the public sector. It also says proposed changes to CGT could have a detrimental impact on residential land availability unless there is some form of taper relief. HBF argues that the Government should fund as many un-contracted Kickstart schemes as possible because modest public sector funding will lever in substantial private investment and rapidly create increases in housing output and jobs. HBF also says HomeBuy Direct should remain a form of Government support for first-time buyers until mortgage funding returns to more normal levels. The submission also stresses the need for robust transitional arrangements as we move towards an incentives-based planning system to avoid a damaging hiatus and further loss of housing output and jobs. In a press release based on its submission, HBF said the Government must: Urgently implement its proposed Local Authority financial incentives for house building as part of a robust transition plan for the move to an incentives-based planning system; Maintain funding for Kickstart, which has been so vital in maintaining housing delivery. Every £1 of public money invested generates £3 of private sector expenditure; Retain HomeBuy Direct for beleaguered first-time buyers, whose number have been significantly cut by the ongoing mortgage famine. It must not: Introduce VAT on new homes, which would decimate sales and reduce house building still further - resulting in a net revenue loss for the public sector. Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF commented; “This is a critical budget for the home building industry. House building is vital to the economy and a key provider of jobs and there are clear benefits from measures to nurture the embryonic recovery. We already have a housing shortage approaching a million and are building less than any time since 1923. The Chancellor must be careful not to do anything to exacerbate the already acute housing crisis and risk hundreds of thousands of jobs.” Every home built creates 1.5 full-time jobs plus up to four times that number in the supply chain. Increasing output by 100,000 would generate up to 750,000 real jobs. Read more View the HBF budget submission to top CML: Gross mortgage lending up 7% in May Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £11.3bn in May, a 7% increase from £10.5bn in April and up 10% from £10.2bn in May 2009, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The market remains subdued and, while more buoyant than a year ago, turnover is a little below that seen towards the end of 2009. Gross lending may marginally undershoot the existing CML forecast of £150bn for 2010. In this week’s market commentary, CML Economist Paul Samter commented: “The ground has been cleared for next week's Budget to be the start of an austerity drive to get the public finances onto a more sustainable footing. We do not expect it to include housing and mortgage specific direct tax measures. But the market will inevitably be affected by how policy impacts on the wider economy - particularly on household finances and confidence. “Financial sector regulation is a further source of uncertainty. The Chancellor has announced that the Bank of England is to take on regulatory responsibility for the banking system. As well as regulating individual firms, the Bank will have "macro prudential" powers and be accountable for the stability of the system as a whole. But it is not yet clear what levers it will have at its disposal to do so.” Read more to top CBI’s latest economic forecast The CBI has published its latest economic forecast. This predicts that the UK economic recovery will be maintained over the coming year, but will remain patchy. The GDP growth figure for 2010 has been revised up slightly to 1.3% from 1.0% in the CBI’s March forecast to reflect relative out-performance of the economy over the past few months. The CBI says Industrial production has shown solid growth while overseas demand for UK goods has strengthened on the back of relatively weak Sterling exchange rates. CBI’s prediction for growth in 2011 remains unchanged at 2.5%, with a strengthening of private sector spending still expected to compensate for lower public expenditure. However, the CBI considers the recent unfolding of the Euro area sovereign debt crisis and renewed financial market concerns has raised the downside risks to its forecast. Richard Lambert, CBI Director-General, said: “Over the last three months the political and economic backdrop at home and abroad has shifted dramatically. Turbulence has returned to global financial markets as concerns about European sovereign debts have intensified, underlining the need for the UK to tackle its large budget deficit urgently. “Although the risks to the economic outlook have increased, our view is that the UK’s tentative recovery will be sustained. However, economic growth will be weak and we do not expect a return to pre-recession GDP levels until 2012. “It is clear that the private sector will have to be the main driver of economic growth to offset lower government spending. It is therefore essential that next week’s emergency Budget creates the right conditions for businesses to drive growth and create new jobs, as well as setting out bold action to repair the public finances.” Read more to top ONS: Consumer price indices In the year to May, the consumer prices index (CPI) rose by 3.4%, down from 3.7% in April. In the year to May, the all items retail prices index (RPI) rose by 5.1%, down from 5.3% in April. Over the same period, the all items RPI excluding mortgage interest payments index (RPIX) rose by 5.1%, down from 5.4% in April The largest downward contribution to the change in the CPI annual rate came from food and non-alcoholic beverages where prices fell slightly between April and May but rose between the same two months a year ago. A further large downward contribution came from transport, where prices of fuels and lubricants rose by 0.3% between April and May this year compared with a rise of 2.4% a year ago. Other smaller downward effects came from the purchase of new cars and passenger transport by road with, overall, prices in each class falling this year but rising a year ago. Read more to top Housing market news CLG House Price Index - April 2010 The latest UK house price index statistics produced by Communities and Local Government were released this week. The statistics include data based on mortgage completions during the month of April 2010. The key points from the release are: UK house prices were 10.1% higher than in April 2009 and 0.4% higher than in March 2010 (seasonally adjusted); The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK stood at £207,516 in April 2010 (not seasonally adjusted); UK house prices rose by 0.9% in the quarter ending April 2010. This compares with a rise of 4.8% for the quarter ending January 2010 (seasonally adjusted); Annual average house prices rose in England (10.9%), Scotland (2.2%) and Wales (11.3%) but fell in Northern Ireland (-8.9%); Annual average house prices paid by first time buyers in April 2010 were 12.2% higher than a year ago. Average house prices paid by former owner occupiers were 9.3% higher; Annual average house prices paid for new properties in April 2010 were 7.6% higher than a year ago. Average house prices paid for pre-owned dwellings were 10.3% higher. Read more to top NAEA: Post-election, the housing market holds its breath The May Housing Market Report from the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) found that Britain’s housing market remained largely unmoved by the election, despite increasing uncertainty over what the future holds. Sales and the average number of properties available remained the same and the percentage of sales made to first time buyers also stayed flat. The average agent sold eight properties in May and had 62 registered properties on its books. Around 21% of sales were made to first time buyers in April and in May. However the number of people registering to look for homes dipped slightly, from 278 in April to 265 in May. President of the NAEA, Michael Jones said: “In a momentous political month, amid uncertainty over house prices it’s unsurprising people decided to keep calm and carry on. “The reality is that the impact of the new coalition Government will not fully be felt for some weeks – although we are hopeful that the decision to scrap HIPs will boost the market. “Indeed some potential sellers may have held back in May to wait until the decision on HIPs was made and will now come to the market in June. “However this positive outlook is balanced by uncertainty about what is planned for the Budget later this month. The announcements made on 22nd June could make the difference between a continued or indeed enhanced recovery, and a double dip recession. “The housing market, like the country, is holding its breath.” Read more to top RICS: House prices edge up in London but confidence weakens According to the latest RICS UK Housing Market Survey house prices edged up in May, but there appears to be a weakening confidence in the London housing market - possibly due to concerns about the economy and likely budget cuts. Buyer interest continued to increase during the month the new enquiries net balance edged up from plus 9 to plus 10. More significantly, the abolition of HIPs has resulted in a sharp increase in new instructions, with the net balance jumping from plus11 to plus 21. This trend is likely to persist in the near term. 73% of surveyors said they expect the decision on HIPs to lead to higher levels of new instructions with the actual increase in supply anticipated to be around 15%. The price expectations net balance fell back slightly from plus 7 to plus 5. The average stock of property on surveyors’ books was unchanged on the month at 61.6 per surveyor. Meanwhile, the average number of completed sales fell by 4.8% on the month to 16.6 per surveyor. This had the effect of pushing down the sales to stock ratio—a key indicator of market slack—from 28% to 27%. However, it is thought that wider unease about the strength of the UK economy and the scale of predicted government cuts is affecting confidence in the London housing market. The net balance of London surveyors reporting rises in new instructions dropped from 22% in April to just 12% in May. This trend is likely to continue in the near term. Buyer interest continued to remain in negative territory, with 2% more chartered surveyors in London reporting a fall rather than a rise in new buyer enquiries. Strikingly, newly agreed sales collapsed in May, with the net balance of surveyors reporting a rise in London dropping from 46% in April to just 7%. Average sales per London surveyor fell slightly, from 15 to 14 in May. This picture is echoed in price expectations too, with the net balance of surveyors expecting prices to rise, dropping form 19% last month to 13% this month. Read more to top BSA: No easy solutions as consumer confidence in housing market recovery remains low Just 45% of consumers surveyed in the Building Societies Assocation’s latest, June 2010, quarterly Property Tracker survey think that now is a good time to buy property. This compares with a figure of 49% of those surveyed and asked the same question in March 2010. Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage Policy at the BSA commented: ‘This rise in negative sentiment about whether now is a good time to buy property in the UK market could reflect wider concern about the state of the economy and the warnings the new coalition government has issued about the austerity measures that will have to be taken. 55% of people surveyed still consider job security a barrier to buying property, followed closely by the ability to save for a deposit, 53%.’ The June 2010 Property Tracker survey questioned consumers as to what they thought the new Government should do to promote home ownership in the UK housing market. The results demonstrated that there does not appear to be a single preferred solution from a consumer perspective, but clamping down on properties standing empty (36%), remove or reduce stamp duty (33%), more lending from banks or building societies (32%), help in saving a deposit (28%), simplifying the home buying process (27%) were the recommendations with which consumers were in most agreement. Paul Broadhead commented: ‘The Government has spoken of its support for the aspirations of people to become home owners, and our survey demonstrates that consumers believe there are a range of measures that the Government could now take to encourage wider accessibility to the UK home buying market. Whilst there is no one stand-out solution we would be happy to help the Government to investigate these problems, and last week the BSA published a summary of a roundtable discussion looking at improving the property buying process for the consumer.’ Read more to top Industry news CML: Lowest share of house purchase market for first-time buyers since 2007 First-time buyers made up the lowest proportion of house purchase loans since September 2007, according to new data for April released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. They accounted for 35% of all house purchase mortgages, down from 39% in March and 38% in April 2009. According to CML, this low share of the market shows that getting a mortgage remains problematic for first-time buyers who tend not to have a substantial deposit. Overall, there were 40,000 loans advanced for house purchase in April worth £5.7bn, down from 45,000 (worth £6.3bn) in March but up from 35,000 (worth £4.5bn) in April 2009. April's seasonal dip was expected due to the Easter break and the underlying trend is of a gradual recovery in house purchase lending. The dip was more strongly felt in remortgage activity, where the trend remains firmly down in contrast to lending for house purchase. There were 24,000 remortgage loans worth £2.9bn, down 16% (17% in value) from March and 26% lower (both in volume and value) than a year ago. With expectations for rates to remain low for the immediate future, and lending criteria still tight, remortgaging is likely to remain muted. Although there has been some increase this year in the number of higher loan-to-value products available, this has not yet translated into a sustained increase in loans to borrowers with lower deposits. The tentative signs of easing experienced in March returned to their previous levels in April, with the typical first-time buyer borrowing 75% and the typical home mover 67% of their property's value. Commenting on the data, Michael Coogan, Director General of the CML, said: "Easter traditionally causes a dampening of lending levels and this year was no exception. First-time buyers were particularly affected, perhaps because of the alteration to stamp duty, and in anticipation of the changes arising from the economic and political uncertainty of recent months. "Lending for house purchase still looks modestly positive compared to 2009. But there remain a number of significant risks to this – in particular the potential for increased public sector unemployment arising from the government’s debt reduction programme, and higher taxation feeding into levels of disposable income." Read more to top Homes and Communities Agency: National Housing Statistics The latest statistics on the supply of affordable homes delivered under the National Affordable Housing Programme and all homes delivered under the Property and Regeneration Programme were released this week. Key points from the release are: There were 64,811 housing starts on site and 56,118 housing completions in England in the financial year ending 31st March 2010 delivered under the National Affordable Housing Programme, the Kickstart Housing Delivery Programme, the Local Authority New Build Programme and the Property and Regeneration Programme; 54,881 of the housing starts on site were for affordable homes of which 39,443 were for social rent, 3,577 for intermediate rent and 11,861 for low cost home ownership. Over half of these starts on site (56%) were in London, the South East and the South West; Housing completions in the year to 31st March 2010 included 52,969 affordable homes of which 30,877 were for social rent, 1,933 for intermediate rent and 20,159 for low cost home ownership. Over half (58%) of these completions were in London, the South East and the East. Read more to top HBF news HBF to meet new Ministers HBF Executive Chairman Stewart Baseley is due to meet Housing Minister Grant Shapps and Decentralisation (Planning) Minister Greg Clark next week to discuss the new Government’s policy agenda. We will report to members on the outcomes following the meeting. to top HBF response to HCA Core Standards Consultation The consultation on the HCA’s proposed new core standards closed yesterday and HBF has submitted a substantive response following discussions with members. To read the submission please click here* Our response comprises two interlinked parts – the answers to the consultation questionnaire itself and a covering note drawing out the major policy considerations we believe arise from the proposals. We have sought to cross-reference key questionnaire answers to the relevant sections of the covering note. *Please note member only content, please log in to view to top Events Hope Challenge 2010 Over the weekend of the 11th – 13th June, 17 teams totalling 84 people joined together in the Peak District to take part in Hope Challenge. This unique outdoors event raises funds for international housing charity Habitat for Humanity, which aims to help the 2 billion people worldwide who live in poverty housing to have a safe, decent place to live. Each team was challenged to raise £2,950 to help some of these families to renovate or build adequate homes. In fact, the fundraising total passed all expectations with pledges from teams totalling £70,000, of which top fundraising team Hedge Funds for Habitat UK raised an astonishing £16,600. To put this in perspective, £70,000 could build 56 typical Habitat for Humanity homes in the developing world. In an effort to give the teams a taste of what living in poverty housing is like, the teams had been given a scenario that they were survivors of a hurricane. Their first challenge of the weekend was for each team to build themselves a shelter out of scavenged materials: a shelter they would sleep in for the weekend. This proved to be a less than simple task, as the winds in reality were indeed quite high and tarpaulins, sails and sheeting refused to be easily secured. The following day, after surviving the night in their shelters, all teams undertook a challenging hike around the dramatic Peak District countryside to earn points which they could exchange back at base camp for further tools and materials to improve upon their shelters and make them more comfortable for the second night’s sojourn. Having survived their second night, the teams undertook an orienteering challenge to find materials for their final task, building a community water system as one large team. Overall winners of the weekend were Hedge Funds for Habitat UK. Team Leader Rob Helszajn said “We are thrilled to be awarded first prize in the 2010 Hope Challenge. Once again, the excellent organisation and the competitive, yet friendly spirit of the other teams made this physically and mentally demanding event a successful and enjoyable one too. The total funds raised by all 17 teams will make a significant contribution to Habitat for Humanity’s work and we are proud to have done our bit.” Read more to top HBF Golf Day – Tuesday 13th July 2010 – Woburn Golf Course HBF Golf day will take place on the stunning Duke’s course at Woburn, for many years home to the British Masters and will see teams from across the industry battling to be crowned the unofficial house building golf champions. Please contact Kellie Kent on 0207 960 1609 or email kellie.kent@house-builder.co.uk for more information. to top North West Social Dinner – Friday 10th September 2010 – Manchester The HBF North West Social Dinner will this year take place on Friday 10th September at the Midland Hotel in Manchester. Everyone is welcome at an event that attracts members from across the North and Midlands. Always a lively and fun event, regular attendees are booking keenly for what will be a fun filled industry evening. Please click here to find out more. to top Housing Market Intelligence 2010 – 12th October, Savoy Place, London This year’s Housing Market Intelligence conference and annual report launch will be held on Tuesday 12th October at Savoy Place in London. Now in its eighth year, Housing Market Intelligence has become the leading strategic conference for the house building industry. This year the event is expected to sum up the new political climate nearly six months after the election, as well as providing analysis and insight into the market, the economy, the sustainability agenda, mortgages and all the key issues for house builders and associated companies. Full details will be published over the summer but note the date in your diary today! EARLY on-line booking is now open – please click here for details or contact events@house-builder.co.uk to top HBF Planning Conference This year’s HBF Planning Conference will take place on Thursday 16th September at the Hilton Hotel in Bristol. More details to follow. to top Housebuilder Awards 2010 - Thursday 28th October, London This years Housebuilder Awards has attracted a record number of entries. Shortlisted schemes will be announced in June. Now in its sixth year - the prestigious awards bring together the best of innovation and excellence in the house building industry. The Housebuilder Awards are the highlight of the house building calendar, celebrating the very best of the industry and recognising the achievements of those leading the way in innovation. This year the winners will be announced at a glamorous black tie event on the night of Thursday 28th October at the Millennium London Mayfair Hotel. The short list and booking form will released in June, but for further information and updates, please visit http://www.house-builder.co.uk/awards/ to top HBF Ball – Friday 10th December – London. The early booking discount ends Friday 16 July – Don’t miss out! The HBF Ball will this year take place on Friday 10th December. Traditionally the social highlight of the industry’s year it will take place at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, London For more details please click here to top Robust Details Roadshows 2010 These Robust Details seminars will provide delegates with a full update on robust details’ developments. As well as the ‘latest news’ affecting Part E and sound insulation, the seminars will anticipate the effects of the new Part L on the design of separating walls and floors. A full panel of experts will be on hand for all your sound insulation concerns The 2010 RDL Roadshows will provide a full update on what we have found 'in the field' and will pass on some of the lessons learned from tests and site inspections. Dates and venues: 30th June - Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield 1st July - RICOH Arena, Coventry 15th July - Sandown Racecourse, Surrey Importantly, you'll have an opportunity to look at what's coming next. Amongst other things, the effect the new Part L and changes to The Code for Sustainable Homes will have on the construction of separating elements. Please click here for more information, to book a place and to view the agenda, or call events on 020 7960 1646 with any queries. to top For other HBF events visit the website http://www.hbf.co.uk/index.php?id=eventsandmeetings For HBM events visit http://www.hbmedia.co.uk/ to top Rosie Hinchliffe View Previous Weekly News Summary
