Friday, 19th March 2010 Top stories this week HBF members meet John Healey and Grant Shapps.....read more HBF’s 2010 Budget Submission.....read more John Healey: Killian Pretty reforms to remove 10,000 planning applications from the system and cash for councils to help deliver homes.....read more CML: February gross mortgage lending.....read more Bank of England: Trends in Lending.....read more Building regulation changes announced for Parts L, F and J.....read more CLG House Price Index - January 2010.....read more Quick Links Wales news HBF news Government and political news Economic news Industry news Housing Market news Events Wales news Planning review states action is needed A review of the Welsh planning system has found significant variations in the quality of decisions being made across the country. In a comparison of appeals, Caerphilly Borough County Council fared worst with 73% upheld, while at Pembrokeshire Coast national park only 10% were successful. The average is 37%. The report lists 16 recommendations for improvement. Priorities include a policy statement on economic development, design and access statement guidance and a national list of validation requirements. Read more to top European funds to make Welsh homes more energy efficient The Welsh Assembly Government plans to use up to £34m of European funding to improve energy efficiency in existing homes Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones announced this week. Following changes introduced by the European Commission, for the first time European funding will be used to support investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy generation measures. The move will help cut carbon emissions and fuel bills as well as providing a major boost to support green jobs in Wales. The funding will be targeted at those living in Wales' most deprived communities. It will also contribute to the Assembly Government's commitment to cut annual emissions by 3% a year from 2011. Mr Jones said, "Making homes more energy efficient is a key part in our ambitions to reduce Wales’ carbon footprint. I am delighted that for the first time we will be able to use European funding to help those who most need it make their homes more energy efficient. “Improving energy use in the home is also an important step in the delivery of our Green Jobs Strategy for Wales, developing skilled jobs for local people. Domestic energy efficiency is a growing industry, and we have the opportunity to position Wales at its forefront through this investment. “I will now be looking carefully at the options available to maximise the economic, social and environmental impact of these changes as soon as possible." Read more to top 'Wales can meet energy needs with renewables' – says Minister Environment Minister Jane Davidson has promised a low-carbon revolution and claimed Wales has the potential to produce nearly twice the amount of electricity it currently uses through wholly renewable sources by 2025. The new energy strategy is intended to give Wales a secure and resilient supply of power through marine, wind, water and biomass generation. It is also intended to boost opportunities for new jobs and skills. Ms Davidson launched the policy at Newport-based chemical company Solutia, where two new wind turbines supply up to a third of energy needs. She said: "The Energy Statement details how Wales has the potential to produce twice the amount of electricity it currently uses from renewable sources by 2025 – with about 40% coming from marine, a third from wind and the rest from sustainable bio-mass power or smaller projects using wind, solar, hydro or indigenous biomass. Read more to top House-price growth ends with surge in sellers on the market New year house price growth has already fizzled out with the market becoming more unpredictable in 2010, a leading property website says. In Wales, the early spurt in prices seen in January has slowed, with the 1.9% increase leaving the price of an average property for sale in Wales at £164,606, according to Rightmove. The website said the £216 rise in average asking prices in England and Wales was the lowest it had ever recorded for March and compared with an average jump of 1.3% for the period during the previous eight years. It attributed the low figure to a surge in the number of people putting property up for sale in the four weeks to March 6. The number of properties on the market jumped by 17.5% compared with the previous month and 34% compared with the same period of 2009 to stand at its highest level for 18 months. Read more to top HBF news HBF members meet John Healey and Grant Shapps Stewart Baseley chaired HBF member meetings with both Housing Minister John Healey and his Conservative shadow Grant Shapps this week. The dinner meeting with Grant Shapps followed a similar meeting last week and provided a further opportunity for members to raise questions about the Conservatives’ recent planning green paper as well as their position on wider housing policy. The meeting with Mr Healey focused on how the industry and Government might best work together in future, including to tackle the constraints on building levels. The cumulative impact of regulation on future housing land supply was raised with both Mr Healey and Mr Shapps. to top HBF’s 2010 Budget Submission HBF made its formal Budget Submission this week, seeking action on mortgage availability, continued help for first-time buyers and follow-up on both the impact of regulation and housing land supply. Please click here* to view a copy of the HBF’s 2010 Budget Submission to HM Treasury. The Budget is scheduled for Wednesday, 24th March, at 12.30 pm. *HBF member only content – please remember to sign in to view to top Industry groups issue joint General Election Manifesto: More homes and less carbon Following last week’s launch of the HBF election manifesto the HBF has also joined with other industry bodies, including the Federation of Master Builders, the Builders’ Merchants Association and the Construction Products Association, to support a joint election manifesto detailing key aspirations of the house building and home refurbishment industry. The document complements the HBF’s manifesto and amongst other things calls for: The completion of existing housing projects and the building of more homes of all tenures; The promotion of public-private partnerships that share the risks and benefits of housing delivery; The identification and release of a sufficient supply of permissioned developable land to meet local needs. Read more to top Government and political news John Healey: Killian Pretty reforms to remove 10,000 planning applications from the system and cash for councils to help deliver homes Housing and Planning Minister John Healey has confirmed further reforms to the planning system, which could remove around 10,000 full applications to cut costs and red tape for businesses, potentially saving up to £43m a year. Mr Healey also confirmed the final grant allocations for councils from the £135m fund to support councils in planning and building more homes. The Housing and Planning Delivery Grant (HPDG) funding, pledged in December last year, acts as an incentive to strengthen councils' responses to local housing pressures by using the most efficient planning procedures. The confirmation of reforms to the planning system, consulted on last year and recommended in the Killian Pretty Review, aims to remove 10,000 full planning applications from the system and allow industrial premises, offices, shops and schools to quickly and easily undertake minor developments without the need for planning permission - saving both time and money. John Healey said: "Taking simpler applications out of the planning system will help councils process major applications faster, and save businesses up to £43m a year. This is in addition to over £120m worth of savings from cutting the amount of information required in planning applications and making planning permissions more flexible. This will give businesses a much needed helping hand during the economic recovery. "I am also determined to see more affordable homes both to support first time buyers and to reduce the pressure on waiting lists for council homes. The extra funding is a direct incentive for councils to plan and give the go-ahead to good quality local homes in their area. Supplying land for housing is crucial to make sure as many homes as possible are built to help keep the country on the road to recovery." Read more to top Housing and Planning Delivery Grants for 2009/2010 On Friday 19th March the Housing Minister, John Healey, confirmed the Housing and Planning Delivery Grants for 2009/2010 in the House of Commons. The £135m pot is designed to reward those authorities that ensure delivery of housing in their administrative areas through adoption of appropriate planning policy documents and actual delivery of housing completions. Click here to view details of each Local Authority’s Grant which will be published shortly. to top Councils seek freedom to build up to 500,000 new homes Councils could deliver up to 500,000 new homes for low income families over the next decade if they are given new freedoms over their budgets, town hall leaders said today. The Local Government Association, which represents more than 350 councils in England and Wales, said more than 450,000 new homes could be built by councils if restrictions on housing budgets and planning were lifted. A five-point plan published this week calls for root and branch reform of the way social housing is funded to meet the burgeoning demand for homes. Cllr Gary Porter, chairman of the LGA Environment Board, said: “Councils up and down the country want to provide much-needed affordable homes for people and have been pressing for practical changes to the way things are run to let them do that. “It is good news that the Government is consulting on far-reaching reforms of the way council housing is funded and we look forward to seeing their proposals soon. Town halls want nothing less than a renaissance in council house building to meet pent-up demand for homes that low income families desperately need. “With house prices rising once more it is increasingly difficult for people with modest incomes to buy a home. Councils know this is a problem and have been campaigning for years to deliver homes for residents.” Read more to top MPs slate Decent Homes programme A committee of MPs has slammed the way the Decent Homes programme has been run, and called for clear proposals on its future. In a report looking at the scheme, the Public Accounts Committee says the £19bn estimate of the cost of the programme was ‘not fit for purpose’ and the true cost is likely to be around £37bn. It also says it is ‘unacceptable’ that the Government lacks ‘basic information, such as the total number of homes made decent’. The MPs acknowledge that the scheme has improved more than a million homes since 2001, but note that it will fall short of its original aim to bring all social housing up to standard by December 2010, with around 305,000 homes still needing work by that date. The committee says that if the decent homes programme is to achieve value for money in the long term then local authorities need to have clear plans to prevent a similar maintenance backlog occurring in the future. Read more to top Easter recess dates announced Harriet Harman has announced that the House will rise for Easter recess on Tuesday 30th March and return on Tuesday 6th April. It is provisionally expected that the date for the General Election will be announced on Tuesday 6th April, with the wash-up process for legislation taking place on Wednesday 7th April and Thursday 8th April. Read more to top Economic news CML: February gross mortgage lending Gross mortgage lending in February increased to an estimated £9.2bn, a 6% rise from £8.7bn in January, according to new data published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The CML state that an increase in lending in the shortest month is unusual but unsurprising this year, given that the end of the stamp duty holiday distorted lending figures considerably in both December and January. Lending in February was down 6% on £9.7bn a year earlier, but the first two months of this year are broadly in line with the CML’s forecast for lending of £150bn for 2010 as a whole. CML Economist Paul Samter commented: "As we look forward, we expect emerging signs of improvement as confidence in the economy grows and we move past the election. However, the need for the authorities to address fiscal deficit will inevitably slow the economy. At the same time the funding markets, while certainly better than a year ago, remain difficult and will likely limit the flow of available housing finance. "Given the short-term weakness and distortions in the housing market, in addition to signs of more properties coming onto the market, it was perhaps unsurprising to see falls in some of the monthly house price indices in February. With activity unlikely to pick up much in the short term, we would expect to see further modest volatility in the coming months." Read more to top Bank of England: Trends in Lending This publication presents the Bank of England’s assessment of the latest trends in lending to the UK economy. The data set — referred to as ‘Lending Panel data’ — covers the major UK lenders: Banco Santander, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland. The latest publication stated that the flow of net sterling mortgage lending by all UK-resident mortgage lenders rose in January, despite a decline in gross mortgage lending. The annual rate of growth in the stock of lending remained broadly unchanged. According to Lending Panel data, net mortgage lending by the major UK lenders increased in February as gross lending increased by more than repayments. The data indicated that gross lending for house purchase picked up slightly in February, returning to the monthly flow seen before the fluctuations around the turn of the year. Remortgaging activity remained low. Similar to the pattern for gross lending, mortgage approvals for house purchase fell sharply in January. Lending Panel data indicate that mortgage approvals for house purchase made by the major UK lenders fell slightly further in February. The February edition of “Trends in Lending” reported the view of some major UK lenders that the recent slowing of gross lending and approvals for house purchase was partly due to one-off factors. Some homebuyers were reported to have brought forward house purchases before the removal of stamp duty relief on 1st January 2010 and the severe weather around the turn of the year was said to have reduced activity. In recent discussions, some major UK lenders reported that while those one-off factors had receded, approvals and completions were still being affected to some extent given the lags involved. Demand for secured lending recovered somewhat in February, according to some of the major UK lenders, but remained weaker than they expected. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ new buyer enquiries index rebounded in February to levels consistent with rising demand for mortgages for house purchase, though remained lower than levels seen during 2009. On the supply side, some major UK lenders reported that credit availability had not changed significantly during the past month. Over the past six months, however, the numbers of advertised fixed and floating-rate mortgage products have increased, including those with higher loan to value (LTV) ratios. Estate agent contacts continued to report that the availability of mortgage finance had improved somewhat in recent months, though remained a restraint on activity. Read more to top Bank of England: Minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting The Bank of England this week published the minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee meeting held 3rd and 4th March, at which it was decided to maintain both the Bank Rate at 0.5% and the asset purchase programme at £200bn. The minutes state that: “As the February ‘Inflation Report’ had made clear, considerable uncertainties around the outlook for inflation remained. On the one hand, if the economic recovery gathered momentum and upside pressures on inflation from energy prices and the exchange rate continued, there was a risk that the current period of above-target inflation would be more prolonged, with a potential knock-on effect on inflation expectations. On the other hand, the prospect of a substantial and sustained margin of spare capacity in the economy and downside risks to demand implied a risk that inflation might fall persistently below target in the medium term. Members drew different inferences about how the balance of risks to inflation was evolving. Some members considered that the upside risks to inflation had increased slightly over the month; others felt that the balance of risks had not changed materially. “Although different inferences could be drawn from recent data, all Committee members agreed that the monetary stance should be left unchanged at this meeting. That would allow the Committee to continue to assess the effects of the cumulative loosening of monetary policy since September 2008, alongside emerging evidence on the upside and downside risks to inflation.” Read more to top Industry news Building regulation changes announced for Parts L, F and J The Statutory Instrument (SI) amending Parts L, F and J of the building regulations (Conservation of fuel and power, Means of ventilation and Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems) was laid on the 12th March and the regulations take effect from October 2010. Revisions to the relevant supporting technical guidance (Approved Documents and Compliance Guides) will be available shortly, together with a summary of responses to last year's consultations on Parts L, F and J. The SI also makes changes to the Building Regulations Competent Persons Schemes (CPSs) and minor technical amendments to Part G of the Building Regulations. The Part G and CPS amendments will take effect on 6th April 2010 and Approved Document G should now be available. The SI that made substantive amendments to Part G was laid in May 2009. The changes to Part L will require a 25% improvement above current standards for every new home. This improvement will be on the flat rate approach which the Government preferred in the consultation. An aggregate approach will be used for improvement of new non-domestic buildings to deliver an improvement of 25% overall, rather than for each individual building. The Government has made this distinction because there is greater variety among non-domestic buildings and some will be much easier than others to make efficient. The changes to Part L will increase the minimum levels of energy efficiency for building fabric and services. When further technical details of the new requirements are confirmed HBF will issue a technical guidance note to members. to top CML publishes new 'Mortgage Market Manifesto' Before the last election, the CML published a “Mortgage Market Manifesto” and in two newly published documents, they set out their views on how the Government can help promote home-ownership and the restoration of an efficient mortgage market – both in the forthcoming Budget and over the course of a new five-year Parliamentary term. The original “Mortgage Market Manifesto”, charted the emergence of the modern UK mortgage market and set out proposals for its development following the 2005 general election. CML’s current Budget submission and briefing document for Parliamentary candidates together comprise a new, post-credit crunch manifesto for the mortgage market over the lifetime of the next Parliament. Read more to top UK Government welcomes emerging findings from the Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team Emerging findings on the challenges and opportunities arising from a low carbon future for the construction sector were published this week by the Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team (IGT). The IGT aims to identify how the construction industry can best deliver the future carbon reduction commitments for 2020 and beyond. Chaired by the Chief Construction Adviser Paul Morrell, the emerging findings highlight the challenge for the industry and its customers to work together in new ways to reduce costs, stimulate innovation and develop a clear proposition for low carbon retrofit and new build. The IGT comprises experts from the construction industry and from Government. It will publish its final report later in the year, including recommendations to Government to help inform policy development. The interim findings identify four major opportunities for the sector if the challenges and barriers are effectively addressed: To carry out a huge programme of work, stretched out over at least the next 40 years; To make use of that workload to reform the structure and practice of the industry; To export the products and skills of a modernised industry; To excite future generations of potential recruits into an industry with a noble cause. The Secretary of State for Business, Lord Mandelson, said: “The Construction Industry is central to the UK meeting our stretching carbon targets and I welcome the findings from the construction IGT which clearly show they are up to this challenge. "As we have seen as part of our New Industry, New Jobs programme, there are huge business opportunities for growth and green jobs in the low carbon economy which will benefit construction. To support the industry to take advantage of this we are also setting up a National Skills Academy for green building services." Read more to top Entries now open for the 2010 Building for Life awards Entries are now being accepted for this year’s Building for Life awards. The awards celebrate the best new housing developments. Last year’s awards gave cause for optimism, despite difficult market conditions. Seven schemes received Building for Life awards in 2009, selected from a record 36 schemes receiving a Building for Life standard. The awards are organised by CABE and the Home Builders Federation. All entries are formally assessed by some of Britain’s leading housing experts using the Building for Life criteria. They select outstanding schemes to receive a Building for Life award at a prestigious event later in the year. If you have worked on, been involved with, or know about a new housing development that you think deserves recognition, enter it for the Building for Life awards now. The deadline for entries is 28th May 2010. Read more to top Guidance on information requirements and validation of planning applications On 16th March, CLG published a guidance note on the changes to the requirements for information to be provided with planning applications due to come into force on 6th April 2010. The new guidance requires local planning authorities to review their existing local list of information requirements before December 2010 and, in effect, now allows them to require any information that they consider meet the 5 tests of “necessity, precision, proportionality, fitness for purpose and assistance”. Proposed changes to local lists must be open to an 8 week public consultation period and consultation responses should be “taken into account” when preparing the final list. All lists must be published on the Council’s website and through the Planning Portal. The guidance is unclear in that while it states, in paragraph 34 that that the adequacy or quality of the information provided is not a reason for invalidating a planning application, it goes on to state, in paragraph 38, that LPAs may, occasionally, not validate applications on this basis and that the applicants have a right of appeal on such a decision. Click here to view the full guidance document to top Penfold Review of Non Planning Consents - Interim Report published The interim report of the Penfold Review of non-planning consents was published on 18th March. This first phase of the Review has identified areas where problems appear to exist and opportunities for improvement. The outcome the Review is now working towards is a non-planning consent landscape that is less complex for developers and investors; where unforeseen delays are fewer and shorter in duration but where the important policy objectives underpinning specific non-planning consents continue to be upheld. With this in mind, future work of the Review will focus on four areas aimed at: Simplifying the non-planning consent landscape; Improving the interaction between planning and non-planning consents; Changing working practices and addressing resource constraints in consenting bodies; and Identifying appropriate owners and mechanisms that will be required to implement changes. The Review will issue a Final Report in the summer. Click here to read the report to top Housing market news CLG House Price Index - January 2010 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 January 2010. The key points from the release are: UK house prices were 6.2% higher than in January 2009 and 2.2% higher than in December 2009 (seasonally adjusted); The mix-adjusted average house price in the UK stood at £207,159 in January 2010 (not seasonally adjusted); UK house prices rose by 4.8% in the quarter ending January 2010. This compares with a smaller rise of 2.3% for the quarter ending October 2009 (seasonally adjusted); Annual average house prices rose in England (6.6%), Scotland (7.1%) and Wales (1.3%), but fell in Northern Ireland (-13.7%); Annual average house prices paid by first time buyers in January 2010 were 8.9% higher than a year ago. Average house prices paid by former owner occupiers were 5.2% higher; Annual average house prices paid for new properties in January 2010 were 2.1% lower than a year ago. Average house prices paid on pre-owned dwellings were 6.8% higher. Read more to top BSA: Homebuyers' confidence fragile ahead of the election Confidence in the housing market remains fragile according to the Building Societies Association’s Property Tracker survey, with buyers forecasting that property prices will grow, but uncertain if now is a good time to buy. Although the survey found that people expect property prices to rise by 2.2% over the next twelve months, just 49% agreed that now is a good time to buy property. This compares to 58% in December 2009, and is the first time that the proportion agreeing that now was a good time to buy property has fallen below half since December 2008. Commenting on the report’s findings, Paul Broadhead, Head of Mortgage Policy at the BSA said:- “It is no surprise that people are uncertain if now is a good time to buy property. Potential buyers will be waiting to see the effect on the property market of the end of the Stamp Duty holiday. The forthcoming budget and general election provide further levels of uncertainty to potential homebuyers. “However, despite these concerns, people still expect property prices to rise over the next year, showing that they believe that property remains a good investment. Once the election is over, and people are more confident about the economic outlook, we hope that buyers will return to the market.” Read more to top NAEA: Winter chills do little to curb house hunters enthusiasm The National Association of Estate Agent’s market report for February showed that the bad weather did little to curb the enthusiasm of house hunters. While the bad weather had an impact on the number of people registering with an agent, the number of houses sold increased from six (5.7) in January to seven (6.8) in February. Only 258 house hunters registered with an agent compared to 291 in January, the lowest number recorded over the last 12-months. The number of houses available for sale increased slightly from 55 per branch in January to 56 in February meaning there were still four house hunters for every property. The percentage of sales made to first time buyers increased in January from 23% to 24% this month. President of the NAEA, Gary Smith, said: “It’s encouraging to see that the bad weather hasn’t deterred agents from making sales this month even if it has stopped some house hunters from registering with an agent. “These figures suggest that there’s an increasing appetite for property which will feed recovery over the next few months as the weather improves. This growing confidence is reflected in the fact that first time buyers now take up a quarter of the market. “Supply and demand continues to be an issue and one we are taking up with the Government ahead of the budget. More needs to be done to make house building a top priority over the next 12 months if we want the market to strengthen rather than stall.” Read more to top Centre for Cities: Free up more land for homes in buoyant cities - or choke off future economic growth A new Centre for Cities report has found not enough houses are being built where they are most needed - in the least affordable UK cities with the strongest economies. The report recommends scrapping the national brownfield target, introducing new incentives for local authorities to build homes and devolving decisions about the green belt to councils. The report recommends: Abandoning the national brownfield target (currently 60% of all homes must be built on brownfield land). The target's benefits no longer outweigh its costs. Councils should be able to determine local priority land for development; Devolving responsibility for protecting the green belt to local authorities. National protection should be reserved for places with outstanding environmental or social value only; Pilot land auctions in a small number of cities, allowing local authorities to keep a greater portion of the increased land value from granting planning permission - to reinvest in local communities. Read more to top Haiti earthquake appeal Following the earthquake in Haiti, HBF launched an urgent appeal to the house building industry on behalf of its nominated charity Habitat for Humanity (HfH). The earthquake decimated the country's infrastructure and thus its ability to cope with the devastating impacts. It is a catastrophe of major proportions with early estimates suggesting that up to three million people have been killed, injured or made homeless. Habitat for Humanity has been present in Haiti, working with poor and low-income families in need of decent housing since 1981. It has a Disaster Risk Assessment Team on the ground, establishing a clear picture of the situation and providing specialist shelter provision and reconstruction assistance. Further information about this is available on their website http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk Whilst appreciating the difficult economic climate in which members are operating it only seems appropriate that our industry should support a charity that specialises in shelter provision, housing repair and reconstruction. How quickly we raise funds will directly affect Habitat for Humanity's ability to assist now, when their help really is needed. Please help by making a secure online donation today. http://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk to top Construction ‘On Thin Ice’ Mark Starling, Safety, Health & Environmental Manager, Kier Partnership Homes is starting on an adventure to the 1996 Position of the Magnetic North Pole covering a distance of 360 nautical miles. In March 2010 he will set out from Resolute Bay in the high Canadian Arctic heading to the Magnetic North Pole. If successful the expedition will be the first all British team to attempt the pole completely unsupported. Unsupported means the team will be pulling all of their food and equipment throughout the trek on pulks; there will be no resupplies or checkpoints en route. The course will take Mark through the high Canadian Arctic on the sea ice where he could experience temperatures as low as -50°C and will be travelling through the home of the polar bear. This is one of the harshest yet most beautiful environments in the world. This is an exciting union between COINS and Kier Group, with an objective to raise minimally £50,000 that will go directly to COINS Foundation projects. Mark’s place has been sponsored by COINS and the Kier Group have given Mark five weeks leave of absence to train for and complete the expedition. The COINS Foundation seeks to work in genuine partnership to address the needs of the most excluded communities in the world, building schools, hospitals and homes. If you would like to sponsor Mark in this epic expedition, you can at: www.justgiving.com/markstarlingnorthpole2010 For more information please contact: Jo Franklin, COINS Marketing Director on +44 (0) 1753 501000 to top Events Housing Lecture 2010: Labour's Agenda Tuesday 23rd March 2010 The New Homes Marketing Board and the Centre for Social Justice are hosting an event in association with the Smith Institute that will look at Labour’s housing policy proposals. Speakers will include; Rt. Hon. John Healey MP, Housing Minister and the NMHB chair David Pretty CBE It will be chaired by Paul Hackett, Director, The Smith Institute. The event will run from 1800-1930 and be followed by a drinks reception Limited spaces available, to request a space please email housinglecturead@smith-institute.org.uk to top HBF: Event diary dates HBF has announced the return of three of its most popular social events for this 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 click on the event to download the booking form: 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 Annual lunch speakers announced; Raynsford and Gummer HBF has announced that the speakers at this year’s Annual Lunch will be Labour MP and ex-housing minister Nick Raynsford and Conservative MP and ex secretary of state for the Environment John Gummer. The HBF AGM & Annual Industry Lunch will take place on Wednesday 28th 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. 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 Please click here to download a booking form 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? Find out more about Hope Challenge 2010 Register your team for Hope Challenge 2010. Take a look at the photos and video of Hope Challenge 2009. Contact HfH with any questions about Hope Challenge. 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
