Friday, 18th September 2009 Top stories this weekHCA unlocks 750 homes through Kickstart's first £10m and announces Kickstart round 2......read more CLG house price index - July 2009.....read more CML: July house purchase lending up on a year ago for first time in over two years.....read more Bank of England: Trends in lending September 2009.....read more Quick LinksWales news Industry news Housing market news Economic news Government and political news Events Wales news Wales leads UK in flow of homes coming on market There are strong signals that sellers are returning to Wales’ property market. After months of constricted supply new vendors are coming back to the Welsh market, research has shown. Surveyors in Wales have seen more new properties come onto the open market than in any other part of Britain. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), homeowners have been “encouraged” by reports of a surge in interest in the sector and feel confident property prices will not collapse any further. Welsh surveyors said they sold an average of 17 homes over the last three months, up from 14 completed purchases recorded during July. Read more to top 2006-based population projections for National Parks Statistics on 2006-based Population Projections for National Parks in Wales produced by the Welsh Assembly Government were released on 16th September 2009 according to the arrangements approved by the UK Statistics Authority. These projections have been calculated by apportioning the 2006-based unitary authority projections (published in June 2008). The Welsh Assembly Government hope to produce National Park projections which are based on the same methodology as the unitary authority projections (i.e. based on births, deaths and migration data at the National Park level) later in 2009. These apportioned National Park projections are published in the interim. The key points from the release are: The population of each National Park is projected to increase throughout the projection period; Generally, the trends for each age group in each National Park are similar to the projected national trends; Brecon Beacons’ population is projected to increase from 33,000 in 2006 to 38,700 in 2031, and Pembrokeshire’s population is projected to increase from 22,300 in 2006 to 26,200 in 2031; The population of Snowdonia is projected to increase by 12.8% from 25,700 in 2006 to 29,000 in 2031; The number of people aged 65 and over in each National Park is projected to increase considerably over the projection period. The largest percentage increase is projected to occur in the Brecon Beacons, where the number of people aged 65 and over will increase by 85.3% between 2006 and 2031 (to 12,900). Read more to top Rhodri Morgan asks for £100m advance from Westminster The Assembly Government has asked the Treasury for a £100m advance to spend on new roads, schools and hospitals in the run-up to the next Assembly elections. Last year First Minister Rhodri Morgan persuaded the UK Government to bring forward a similar figure from Wales’ 2010-11 allocation, and he now wants to repeat the exercise by moving cash meant for 2011-12 into next year’s budget. The move is vital to help the beleaguered construction industry hit hard by the recession, the First Minister stated. Rhodri Morgan and Ieuan Wyn Jones, put the £100m request to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liam Byrne at a meeting in Westminster this week. Read more to top Aberdare to lead green energy drive as first low carbon town in Wales A town in the South Wales Valleys that was once at the centre of iron making and coal mining is set to become the first low carbon town in Wales and one of the first in the UK. The latest renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures will be championed in Aberdare as part of the wider initiative to establish the Heads of the Valleys region as one of the largest low carbon zones in the UK. The move is being driven forward by the Heads of the Valleys strategic regeneration programme and designed to create economic benefits - including the development of a new industry base with new job opportunities - as well as social and environmental benefits. Ambitious targets have been set for the 15 year Low Carbon Zone project, which initially includes: Assessing 65,000 homes for energy efficiency measures; Improving the energy efficiency of 40,000 homes including the installation of renewable energy technologies where appropriate, and; Developing the largest concentration of renewable energy businesses in Europe. Read more to top Industry news HCA unlocks 750 homes through Kickstart's first £10m and announces Kickstart round 2 A 141 home scheme in Redcar is the largest development to get Kickstart funding from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) in the first batch of successful bidders announced this week. Housing Minister, John Healey, revealed the first 10 developments to get the go ahead for a slice of more than £1bn made available through the budget and the Housing Pledge. In this week’s announcement total funding of more than £10.2m was awarded to ‘kickstart’ 740 homes, that are a mixture of market sale and affordable. Chief Executive of the HCA, Sir Bob Kerslake said: “Kickstart isn’t just about unlocking more homes, it will also be the catalyst that delivers a much wider set of benefits to local communities including job opportunities, apprenticeships and accommodation for vulnerable people. This first set of successful bidders is just the start, we’ll now be working through the remaining bids with the aim of finalising all the allocations for this first round in the next two months to ensure that schemes start-on-site by March 2010.” Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation added: “Kickstart is a real boost to the home building industry, home buyers and the economy. It will help deliver more of the homes we know this country needs, create new jobs, as well as help maintain much needed industry capacity that will ensure the industry is better able to boost future housing supply. HBF worked closely with the HCA to devise the scheme and will continue to work with them to help ensure house building begins as quickly as possible on Kickstart sites.” The Minister also announced that Kickstart round 2 is open for bids: Funding will be available to housing associations, private sector developers and other organisations who can put forward housing led schemes with a minimum of 50 homes (fewer in rural areas or if the scheme delivers to Code for Sustainable Homes Level 5 or 6). Sites should be in the control of the applicant and have detailed planning consent in place or the ability to achieve this by the end of March 2010. Sites should also have funding in place. It is an expectation that those who receive funding under this round of Kickstart will have in place or work to offer an apprenticeship scheme and local job opportunities. Read more to top HCA: New homes and strong house builders vital to recovery The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) also gave its backing to New Homes Week and reaffirmed its commitment to helping maintain house builder activity as a route to wider economic recovery. Sir Bob Kerslake said: “At the HCA we have a strong focus on delivery of new and affordable housing and we will always need strong private sector house builders. Affordable homes are intrinsically linked with delivery of those for private sale and it is widely accepted that a strong house building industry is a catalyst for wider economic activity. “So I wholeheartedly support the HBF’s activity during New Homes Week, as they seek to promote the benefits of buying a new home. “At the HCA we have placed a premium on new build housing during the downturn, with a particular focus on affordable homes alongside our wider role of regeneration and refurbishment in helping to create thriving communities, and we will carry on with that through initiatives like Kickstart, HomeBuy and direct development by local authorities.” Read more to top Launch of the Property Standards Board The Property Standards Board was officially launched this week. The Board has been established with the support of a number of bodies, including RICS, following the report to them by Sir Bryan Carsberg last year. The stated role of the PSB is to raise standards across the residential property industry, so as to embed consistent levels of service and competence across the sector. The Board is committed to improving consumer awareness and experience, and to providing and endorsing standards against which redress mechanisms and consumers alike can judge the performance of service providers. The Board's terms of reference are to: Promote the interests of consumers in the sale, purchase, leasing and letting of residential property, with regard to choice and quality of service, having regard to the wider public interest; Work with OFT and other stakeholders to endorse Codes of Practice for all aspects of the sale, purchase, letting or leasing of residential property, and to keep these under review, amending and updating as necessary following consultation with all relevant stakeholders; Contribute to ensuring that systems of registration, compliance monitoring, discipline and complaints handling are in place to cover all aspects of buying, letting and leasing, identifying any gaps and encouraging and promoting the establishment of suitable bodies to fill them, and ensuring a single (or simple) entry redress portal for all consumers; Work with all relevant bodies (Government, sponsoring organisations, consumer representatives, relevant regulators, market players and others), as deemed appropriate, to further the interests of consumers, whether this relates to the law, the working of the market or any other relevant issue; Publish and promote the Board's activities (including consumer access to regulatory information) as required; Ensure that any standards recommended are proportionate in their application, and do not impose an administrative or cost burden disproportionate to the consumer benefit they provide; Establish and maintain a funding model that ensures the Board’s independence in relation to any participating organisations. For more information, please click here to visit the PSB website to top Keep up to date with industry developments from Housebuilder news Housebuilder is now operating a news alert service. The updates contain the latest information from within the house building industry - all you need to do is register! Recent alerts have included; • Conservatives to abolish RDAs and RSSs • Minister announces Kickstart go ahead for ten stalled schemes • Tutte appointed Redrow group md • New Lloyds confidence survey says housebuilding strongest sector To register for the FREE service go to www.house-builder.co.uk to top Miller launches zero carbon home Miller Homes last week officially launched its 'Miller Zero' initiative at The Pinnacle, in Merton Rise, Basingstoke. The development is a range of eco-friendly properties constructed by the UK’s sixth largest housebuilder. The home designs have been significantly enhanced to comply with the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes, a national standard to reduce carbon emissions and create more sustainable homes. The development includes the first for sale carbon zero home to be built by a volume housebuilder on a live development. Speaking at the launch, HBFs Executive Chairman Stewart Baseley said: “Zero carbon is a very stretching objective for all our members, but in practice it is the larger firms who can best try to work through the issues at this stage and who will in due course help provide guidance or pathways for others. Miller’s commitment to exploring how zero carbon standards can be achieved effectively is therefore most welcome.” to top Housing market news CLG house price index - July 2009 The latest UK house price index statistics produced by Communities and Local Government were released this week. The latest statistics release includes data based on mortgage completions during the month of July 2009. The key points from the release are: UK house prices were 8.3% lower than in July 2008 but 1.4% higher than in June 2009 (seasonally adjusted); The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK stood at £196,338 in July 2009 (not seasonally adjusted); UK house prices rose by 2.1% in the quarter ending July 2009. This compares with a fall of 2.8% for the quarter ending April 2009 (seasonally adjusted); Annual average house prices fell in England (-8.4%), Wales (-6.4%), Scotland (-4.4%) and Northern Ireland (-22.2%); Annual average house prices paid by first time buyers in July 2009 were 9.1% lower than a year ago. By comparison average house prices paid by former owner occupiers were 8.0% lower; Annual average house prices paid for new properties in July 2009 were 12.6% lower than a year ago. By comparison average house prices paid on pre-owned dwellings were 8.0% lower. Read more to top CML: July house purchase lending up on a year ago for first time in over two years Although remortgaging remained unsurprisingly weak, lending for house purchase showed its first material annual growth in July since early 2007, according to the latest Council of Mortgage Lenders' survey. At £14.5bn, total gross lending rose significantly for the second month running, but was still 42% lower than in July last year. Within this, house purchase lending accounted for 56,000 loans totalling £7.5bn - up from 47,000 loans totalling £7.1bn in July last year. The rise in house purchase lending in July was concentrated more heavily towards home movers than in June, when the largest rise was seen in first-time buyer activity. There were 20,400 first-time buyer loans and 35,700 home mover loans in July, up 18% and 28% respectively on June. But compared with a year earlier, the rise in first-time buyer numbers was higher, up 22% compared with a 17% rise in the number of movers. In terms of product choice, over three quarters of mortgages taken out in July were at fixed rates, with borrowers able to lock in to an average fixed rate of 4.7%, well below the average of 5.57% over the past decade. Commenting on the latest survey data, CML Economist Paul Samter said: “It's tempting to call the turn in the mortgage market at this point, and there is certainly concrete evidence that lending for house purchase is increasing. But there are still constraints affecting the lending industry's capacity to fund increased lending, as well as less consumer motivation to remortgage for the time being. The overall lending picture is likely to stay relatively subdued for some time, especially as the wider economy is far from robust as yet." Read more to top RICS: Price balance turns positive The latest RICS UK housing market survey, published this week, reported that the RICS house price net balance turned positive for the first time in two years. The net balance of Chartered Surveyors reporting rises rather than falls in house prices reached a positive reading of 10.7% from a negative reading of 5.7% - this is the highest result since May 2007 when the net balance was 24.8%. The national average has been boosted by the data from the South of England. The net balance of surveyors reporting price rises rather than falls for London and the South East rose to 43% and 39% respectively. There are further signs that the change in news flow on the housing market may be slowly encouraging vendors back into the marketplace. A net balance of 12% of surveyors reported that new instructions had increased in August, compared to a reading of 4% in July. Correspondingly, the average number of unsold properties on surveyors' books also rose to 63 from 61 properties. Despite this, the sales to stock ratio - a measure of market slack and a lead indicator of future prices- continued to edge upwards. It has now risen for eight consecutive months and stands at 27, its highest level since January 2008. While activity in the housing market continues to improve, the pace of improvement did slow slightly last month. The net balance of surveyors reporting an increase rather than a decrease in new buyer enquiries edged down, from 61% in July, to 49% in August. Read more to top BSA: Cautious optimism continues in the property market The perceived increase in the availability of mortgage finance is seeing cautious optimism continue in the property market according to the Building Societies Association’s Property Tracker survey. The survey found that access to a mortgage was viewed as a barrier to buying by just 49% of people, compared with 55% back in June and 58% in March. The survey also found that over half (58%) of respondents believe that now is a good time to buy, and that respondents expect property prices to rise by 1.6% over the next year. However, a lack of job security remains the most significant barrier to property purchase, chosen by 58% of respondents. With unemployment forecast to rise into 2010, this is likely to remain a critical influence on the confidence of house buyers. Commenting on the survey's findings, Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage Policy at the BSA, said: “It is clear that home buyers are increasingly viewing the property market in a positive light as confidence increases in the market. “The majority of respondents believe now is a good time to buy. With mortgage availability perceived to be increasing, prospective buyers are more confident of securing funding to purchase a property. “However, buyers are clearly treading with care, and worries over job security continue to deter many from buying. Lack of job security remains the most significant barrier. “Raising a deposit is also seen as a barrier by over half of the respondents to the survey, and this may further constrain house price growth in the future.” Read more to top Economic news Bank of England: Trends in lending September 2009 This publication presents the Bank of England’s assessment of the latest trends in lending to the UK economy. It draws mainly on long-established official data sources, such as the existing monetary and financial statistics collected by the Bank. According to the September edition, the flow of total net mortgage lending by all UK-resident banks and building societies was negative in July, the first net repayment since the monthly series began in 1993. That reflected a decline in net lending by specialist mortgage lenders, who continue to shrink their mortgage books because it remains very difficult for them to raise new finance in the wholesale markets. Net mortgage lending by the major UK lenders remained positive as they reported a slight pickup in net mortgage lending in August. That reflected an increase in gross lending and a decline in repayments. Data collected from the major UK lenders for the Lending Panel provide a split of gross lending — lending before repayments are deducted — between house purchase and the refinancing of existing mortgages (remortgaging). Gross mortgage lending for house purchase continued to increase in August, offsetting a further slight decline in remortgaging activity. On the supply side, the major UK lenders reported that the proportion of mortgages approved edged higher to just over 80% in August, compared to around 70% at the turn of the year. In earlier months, some major UK lenders had reported that signs of stabilisation in the housing market, lower-than-expected arrears, and the spreads prevailing on higher LTV products, had made them a little more inclined to lend at higher LTV ratios. Data collected for the Home Finance Forum (see the box on page 10) show that this has been reflected in a slight increase in the proportion of loans for house purchase advanced with LTVs of 76%–90%. However, the proportion of new lending accounted for by mortgages with LTVs of greater than 90% has fallen a little since the beginning of the year. Read more to top FSA: Statistics on mortgage lending – September 2009 edition Since the beginning of 2007, some 300 regulated mortgage lenders and administrators have been required to submit a Mortgage Lending & Administration Return (MLAR) each quarter, providing data on their mortgage lending activities. The Financial Services Authority published the first set of statistics based on these data in August 2008. The latest edition covers the period from 2008 Q1 to the end of 2009 Q2. Key results include: The total value of outstanding loans is now £1,200bn, an increase of 1% compared to a year earlier; New lending volumes stabilised in Q1, with results for Q2 showing slight improvements, particularly for new commitments; New advances were up by £1bn or 3% to £33bn in Q2, although still lower than the £72bn recorded a year earlier and the peak of £102bn seen in Q3 2007; The stronger improvement in new commitments, which were £10bn higher at £38bn in Q2, suggests the market has stopped falling and may now be picking up, helped by lower interest rates and improved confidence amongst borrowers; Lending for house purchase now represents a stronger share of new lending than remortgage business for the first time since late 2007. In Q2 it accounted for 51% of new advances (after 37% in Q1) and for 55% of new commitments (after 44% in Q1); Proportions of new lending done at an LTV of more than 90% continue to fall. From a peak of 15% of new lending in early 2007, this fell to 6% in late 2008, and to just under 3% in Q2; Although numbers of new possessions have grown significantly since Q3 2007, the sharply rising trend noted up to Q3 last year appears to have moderated in the last three quarters. After 14,884 cases in Q1, numbers fell by 9% to 13,610 in Q2. New possessions in Q2 were nonetheless 23% higher than a year earlier. Read more to top CML: Gross lending estimated at £12.6bn in August Gross mortgage lending totalled an estimated £12.6bn in August, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This represents a decline of 13% from July's revised total of £14.5bn, but a seasonal fall in lending activity in August is to be expected. Estimated gross lending in the month was 37% lower than last August's total of £19.9bn. CML Economist Paul Samter commented: "The likelihood of a significant pick-up in lending remains weak, but the prospects for wholesale funding markets are improving. This could result in a gradual easing in constraints on the supply of funding over time. However, demand from consumers and a prudent approach to lending criteria are likely to mean that the market remains subdued.” Read more to top Government and political news Government and industry launch progress report on Strategy for Sustainable Construction A progress report on the Government and industry Strategy for Sustainable Construction was published this week setting out the achievements made so far on its commitments to change radically the way the UK construction industry designs and builds. The Strategy was launched in June 2008 to demonstrate joint working between industry and Government in this field. The report shows that a number of significant achievements have been made in the last year, with the passing of the Climate Change Act, developments under New Industry New Jobs, publication of the Low Carbon Industrial Strategy, and the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan. One example of steps towards a greener construction industry cited in the report is the commitment, by construction organisations representing more than a quarter of the industry by value, to the Strategy’s Halving Waste to Landfill target. Read more to top Events New Homes Week New Homes Week was officially launched in London by Bob the Builder last Friday. The initiative, organised by the New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB) lasts until Sunday. Throughout the week, events have been taking place across Britain on many of the 2000 house building sites that signed up to partake. These have helped generate hundreds of newspaper articles and radio news items to promote the benefits of new build homes which will hopefully have resulted in increased visitor levels to member’s sites. The NHMB will be contacting all member representatives who took part in New Homes Week in the near future for feedback on the initiative. to top Housebuilding Innovation Awards 2009 - BOOK NOW! Housebuilder Media is delighted to announce that Gyles Brandreth, broadcaster, journalist and ex MP, will be presenting at the Housebuilding Innovation Awards on Thursday 5th November 2009. The shortlist for the Awards was unveiled earlier this month, and reveals the outstanding innovative achievements the industry has made in the past year. Click here for full details The Awards, which are supported by the Government, have become among the most sought after in the industry as they recognise excellence in innovation in all aspects of the housebuilding business. The culmination of the Awards is the announcement of the housebuilding firms deemed to be the overall Innovators of the Year –previous winners have included Redrow, Barratt, Explore Living and Midas. The winners will be announced at a glittering black tie awards ceremony on Thursday 5th November at the Millennium London Mayfair Hotel. For further information or a booking form please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646 or visit www.house-builder.co.uk to top WHAT HOUSE? Awards 2009 – gala presentation luncheon Tickets and tables are now available for the 2009 What House? Awards, taking place at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Friday 20th November. The event is one of the highlights of the house building calendar, as the industry meets to salute the best new homes in Britain. To book your seats for this prestigious event please email Derek Smith. Or download a booking form at www.whathouse.co.uk/awards to top Housing Market Intelligence Conference – Housing Minister confirmed Savoy Place, London -Tuesday 13th October 2009 Housing Minister John Healey has now been confirmed as a speaker for October’s HMI Conference completing a heavy weight line up of expert speakers for the industry’s leading annual policy conference. Confirmed speakers now include: John Healey MP, Housing Minister Grant Shapps MP, Shadow Housing Minister Sir Bob Kerslake, Homes & Communities Agency Stewart Baseley, HBF Michael Coogan, Council of Mortgage Lenders John Stewart, HBF Imtiaz Farookhi, NHBC For further information or a booking form please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646 or visit www.house-builder.co.uk to top HBF Annual Technical Conference 2009 – The TechnoCentre, Coventry The Building Regulatory Agenda – from here to 2016 Wednesday 18th November 2009 The conference aims to look at the forthcoming amendments to the Building Regulations, addressing CLG’s policy overview and in particular concentrating on the recent Parts F & L consultation. Expert speakers from CLG, BRAC, NHER, Zero Carbon Hub and BRE will be there to answer your questions on all building regulation issues. For further information please visit www.house-builder.co.uk or contact the events team on 020 7960 1646 to top For other HBF events visit the website http://www.hbf.co.uk/index.php?id=eventsandmeetingsFor HBM events visit http://www.hbmedia.co.uk/ to top Rosie Hinchliffe/Steve Turner View Previous Weekly News Summary
