Friday, 11th September 2009 Top stories this week Stewart Baseley writes to Caroline Spelman on localism......read more HBF meets Lord Myners on mortgage issues.....read more Healey announces quarter of a billion pound affordable housing boost....read more Halifax house price index.....read more Bank maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and continues with £175bn Asset Purchase Programme.....read more Bob the Builder gets New Homes Week underway.....read more Quick Links HBF news Government and political news Industry news Housing market news Economic news Events HBF news Stewart Baseley writes to Caroline Spelman on localism In the light of Shadow Communities Secretary Caroline Spelman's leaked letter to Conservative MPs about her Party's plans to introduce a new locally based planning system for housing if elected as the next Government, HBF Executive Chairman Stewart Baseley has written to Mrs Spelman to set out the concerns expressed by HBF members about her letter. Stewart's letter explains HBF concern that Mrs Spelman has not recognised the extent of housing need and by supporting local authorities in going slow in implementing current requirements pending any new local system would create a hiatus both damaging to recovery and exacerbating the existing under supply of homes. HBF meets Lord Myners on mortgage issues On Tuesday, HBF Executive Chairman, Stewart Baseley, attended a meeting of Treasury officials and mortgage lenders, chaired by Lord Myners, Financial Services Secretary. He was able to explain the particular mortgage problems encountered in the new homes sector, such as lower loan-to-value rates than in the second-hand market, and continuing difficulties with new home valuations. to top Government and political news Healey announces quarter of a billion pound affordable housing boost Housing Minister John Healey this week provided a double boost for the Government's investment in affordable housing. Yesterday he announced almost £250m to provide 3,400 affordable homes and create around 5,000 jobs through housing associations. Every region of the country will receive funding which is shared between 43 associations and other bodies operating across 97 local authority areas. On Wednesday Mr Healey gave the green light to the biggest programme to build new council homes for almost two decades. Together Mr. Healey's two announcements add up to a half billion pound boost to public housing to provide 5,400 new affordable homes, creating around 10,000 jobs. Projects in all regions of the country will benefit from the government investment, with 122 local authority areas receiving a share of funding for much needed homes. John Healey said: "We are ready to use the power of Government and the benefit of public investment to help the country pull through recession by building the homes people need and creating the jobs that keep people in work. "The £250 million funding I am announcing today will help tackle the shortage of affordable homes across the country, so associations can build the homes that families need. It will also provide a much needed shot in the arm for construction jobs. "Yesterday I gave the green light for the biggest council building programme for nearly two decades with nearly £250 million public investment. Together we'll now see nearly 5,400 new affordable homes built across England, with work on many sites starting this year." All the new homes will be affordable said the Minister with more than four in five built for low cost rent and the rest for first time buyers. Read more to top HCA: Local authority bids mark new stage in affordable house building In relation to Wednesday's announcement, local authorities have revealed their appetite for building new social rented homes through the first results of a £460m bidding programme managed by the Government's Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). The HCA has given the go ahead to 47 local authorities in England to receive grant funding totalling £127m to build up to a total of just over 2,000 new homes. Sir Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of the HCA said that the response to the Local Authority New Build programme (LANB) "marked a new era in affordable house building". Speaking after the Minister's announcement Sir Bob said: "The reaction to this funding programme by local authorities has been outstanding and proves that councils are geared up, confident and enthusiastic about developing their own homes. LANB is another important stimulus to the housing market, empowering councils and allowing them to call the shots when it comes to local housing needs." This first round announcement will see 205 schemes receive funding with the largest number of homes due to be delivered in Yorkshire & Humberside (453). Bidding, which closed at the end of July, was open to local authorities to deliver new social housing on land they already own, prioritising schemes that offered higher energy efficiency standards. Read more Government takes first steps towards extending planning permissions On Tuesday the Government published the Statutory Instruments necessary to allow the extension of planning permissions and the making of non material changes to planning permissions. SI 2009 2261 can be downloaded here. The new procedures will come into force on the 1st October 2009. As previously advised applications to extend planning permissions will attract a standard fee and this will require a change to the fee regulations which will not occur until later in the year/early 2010. However, the Government is now proposing to set this fee at £500 for major applications, £170 for minor applications and just £50 for householder applications. This proposed changed fee structure appears to be unjustifiable given that the process is merely an administrative one with apparently no additional work required between any type of application. Members should also note that until the fee regulations are revised the full planning application fee will be required to make an application for an extension of time. Nevertheless, the speed at which the Government has introduced these new provisions is almost unprecedented and is, in itself, to be applauded. to top Industry news New orders in the construction industry, July 2009 The Office for National Statistics published the latest data regarding new orders in the construction industry this week. The report stated that orders in the three months to July 2009 rose by 2% compared with the previous three month period. Orders in the 12 months to July 2009 fell 24% compared with the previous 12 months but orders in the three months to July 2009 fell by 10% compared with the same period a year earlier. Private housing orders in the three months to July 2009 fell by 7% compared with the previous three month period, and fell by 35% compared with the same three month period a year earlier. Private housing orders in the year to July 2009 fell by 48% compared with those in the previous 12 months. Public housing and housing association orders in the three months to July 2009 rose by 15% compared with the previous three month period, but fell by 12% when compared with the same three month period a year earlier. Public housing and housing association orders fell by 16% in the 12 months to July 2009 compared with the previous 12 months. Read more RICS: Construction insurance guidance note released To help ensure that professionals have a full understanding of the classes of risk that are available when undertaking a construction project RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) has published comprehensive guidance on the levels of insurance required. Construction insurance can be extremely complex. The insurance cover for any site will need to protect all parties against a range of possibilities that embrace material damage, consequential losses, third party liabilities stretching far into the future and even non-negligent liability. To complicate things further the responsibility for arranging the insurances will usually rest with several different parties. The guidance note aims to help project management surveyors, quantity surveyors, building surveyors and all other property professionals find their way through this maze. The various types of insurance that may be required are outlined clearly and some of the problems that can arise are explained. In particular it outlines any areas of legislation which have impacted on the need for insurance, such as waste management regulations which would need to be covered by environmental insurance. Read more Download a copy of the guidance note to top RICS to 'value' sustainability As a step towards embedding sustainability as a core consideration in the valuation process, RICS is issuing an Information Paper on "Sustainability and Commercial Property Valuation". Effective from Tuesday 15th September 2009 the paper aims to heighten awareness and therefore valuers' working knowledge of sustainability in order to further advance awareness of its potential to impact on the valuation process. The paper outlines ways in which sustainability can be defined; how a building's green credentials may be assessed and how such characteristics might be reflected within a valuation - whether that be quantitatively or qualitatively. Sustainable characteristics which are highlighted in the paper include the build quality and life cycle, the type of building materials used, the health and human performance of a building, building services such as air-conditioning, energy efficiency, waste management as well as location and accessibility considerations and the impact of regulation, tax and financial incentives. Read more Delay of the coming into force of the changes to Part G of the Building Regulations Following consultation on changes to Part G (Sanitation, Hot Water Safety and Water Efficiency) of the Building Regulations and its Approved Document, HBF has learnt that the coming into force of the amendments to Part G, that were intended for 1st October 2009, have now been delayed until 6th April 2010. The decision to delay the implementation of the changes has been made following correspondence from the European Commission that contained representations on elements of the technical guidance, together with the lack of a competent persons scheme being in place at the time of implementation. This was an issue HBF raised during the consultation. to top Housing market news Halifax house price index The Halifax house price index, published this week, reported that: The average house price increased by 0.8% in August. This was the second successive monthly rise and the fourth in the first eight months of 2009;Prices were largely unchanged over the first eight months of 2009 as a whole. The average house price in August was £160,973 compared to £160,861 in December 2008;Prices in the three months to August compared to the previous three months were 1.7% higher. This is the biggest increase on this underlying basis since July 2007;House prices in August were 10.1% lower on an annual basis. The annual rate of change (measured by the average for the latest three months against the same period a year earlier) improved for the fourth successive month and has fallen from -17.7% in April. It is at its lowest since July 2008 (-8.8%);The proportion of disposable earnings devoted to mortgage payments - a key affordability measure - has fallen significantly over the past 21 months. Nationally, typical mortgage payments for a new borrower have fallen from a peak of 48% of average disposable earnings in 2007 Quarter 3 to 29% in August 2009. Notably, mortgage payments relative to earnings are now below the long-term average of 35% recorded over the past 25 years;Housing market activity continued to improve, but remained less than half the level in mid 2007. Bank of England industry-wide figures showed that the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchase - a leading indicator of completed house sales - increased for the sixth successive month in July, on a seasonally adjusted basis. Approvals were 53% higher than in July 2008, at 50,123, but were 55% lower than in July 2007 (112,446). Read more to top RICS residential lettings survey The RICS residential lettings survey May to July 2009, published this week, reported a slowdown in the number of properties coming on to the rental market, which saw the rate at which rents decreased ease slightly in the three months to July. The net balance of Chartered Surveyors reporting falls rather than rises in rents narrowed to 29% from the historic low of 55% recorded in the previous three month period. The main driver for this improvement in sentiment was a reduction in the number of respondents seeing the level of new instructions increase. Only a net balance of 6% of Chartered Surveyors felt that the level of new instructions was still rising rather than falling, compared with 21% in the previous period. This may be the first indication that the stabilisation in the residential sales market is having an impact on the number of accidental landlords entering the lettings sector. Demand for property is still increasing, albeit at a slower pace, with 12% more Chartered Surveyors reporting a rise rather than a fall in the number of people looking to rent, slightly lower than the 16% recorded in the February to April report. The outlook for rents is steadily improving offering some encouragement for landlords, with the rental expectations net balance reaching -6%, up from the previous reading of -25% and offering the best reading since the spring of 2008. Read more to top Economic news Bank maintains Bank Rate at 0.5% and continues with £175bn Asset Purchase Programme The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%. The Committee also voted to continue with its programme of asset purchases totalling £175bn financed by the issuance of central bank reserves. The Committee expects the announced programme to take another two months to complete. The scale of the programme will be kept under review. The minutes of the meeting will be published at 9.30am on Wednesday 23rd September. Read more to top CML comments on mortgage rates after MPC rate hold Following the Monetary Policy Committee decision to maintain the Bank Rate, CML Director General Michael Coogan commented: "It is utterly misleading to look at any individual benchmark rate - whether Bank rate, Libor, or swap rates - and assume that the margin between that rate and the mortgage rate is pure "profit" in the way that some recent commentary has implied. "The real picture is not nearly so simple - lenders face a broad range of pressures, both in terms of the cost of funds and the cost of liquidity management and capital. This is causing a change in the relationship between benchmark rates and mortgage rates in comparison with the pre-credit crunch era. In addition, not all lenders fund themselves in the same way - but most are relying more on retail savings more than they used to, and the cost of attracting savers is relatively high in an environment where policy rates are so low. Many bonds are currently paying well over 4%, for example. "Lenders want to meet consumer demand, and they also want to price their business appropriately. They are trying to balance these aims, and mortgage choice is successfully beginning to widen. However, this is against the backdrop of funding markets which remain dysfunctional and cautious." Read more to top Events Bob the Builder gets New Homes Week underway. Bob the Builder officially launched New Homes Week today on a house building site in East London. Nearly 2000 of Britain's house building sites are involved in New Homes Week, which aims to promote to consumers the benefits of new build homes. National and local newspapers will throughout the week be carrying editorial about the initiative that is hoped will boost site visitor levels and drive sales. The industry's own new-homes.co.uk search engine was this week re-launched in time for New Homes Week and now has thousands of for sale properties listed. For more information about New Homes Week contact nhw2009@hbf.co.uk or visit www.nhw2009.co.uk or call Steve Turner on 020 7960 1606. to top Latest industry survey shows sales up..... and builders' confidence increasing: Housing Minister - "New Homes Week off to a flying start" The Home Builders Federation's latest survey released this week shows that July's new homes reservations were up strongly on a year ago, the fourth successive month of year on year growth - and that builders expect a rise in their new homes sales in 2009. And with builders already reporting a busy August, the survey demonstrates the clear improvement in both the market and industry confidence and comes as a major boost for the industry as it launches New Homes Week 2009. The week will see events taking place on 2,000 housing sites across Britain as builders demonstrate the many benefits of new homes. Read more 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 http://www.house-builder.co.uk/awards/ 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 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. ds@globespanmedia.com. Or download a booking form from www.whathouse.co.uk/awards to top HBF Annual Planning Conference 2009 - Staverton Park, Daventry Planning viability - 15th September 2009 In the current economic crisis much has been discussed about fiscal policy and incentives but what of planning policy in these challenging times? Is it business as usual or is the current model broken? The 2009 HBF Planning conference will seek to address this and more. Please click here for booking details or contact kellie.kent@house-builder.co.uk 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 MinisterGrant Shapps MP, Shadow Housing MinisterSir Bob Kerslake, Homes & Communities AgencyStewart Baseley, HBFMichael Coogan, Council of Mortgage LendersJohn Stewart, HBFImtiaz 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 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=eventsandmeetings For HBM events visit http://www.hbmedia.co.uk/ to top Rosie Hinchliffe View Previous Weekly News Summary
