KEY ISSUES
Whilst the number of consultations detailed in this report may lead you to believe that a Parliament has just began, we all know that in fact the opposite is the case. And whilst nothing is certain in politics, it now seems most likely that the long-awaited General Election will be held on 6th May.
The pre-election campaigning has of course already commenced, with Labour and the Opposition parties all seeking to set the news agenda through their policy launches and other events. We are increasingly seeing signs of this campaigning atmosphere in our own external relations and media contacts.
There is a danger that Housing will not feature prominently once the hustings formally get underway. On the surface both main parties share a common objective of wishing to see more homes built in the years ahead. However their means of achieving that are very different.
I am delighted that both the Housing Minister John Healey and the Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps have agreed to my invitation to take part in a Housing ‘Question Time’ style debate in London on 10th March. It should be a fascinating event and I do hope that as many of you as possible will be able to come along and join in by asking the politicians questions on the key areas of their policies.
In the run up to the election we will also publish a ‘HBF manifesto’ setting out the approach we would like to see the government of the day take on housing issues. We will of course make the final version of the manifesto widely available to members, as well as sending it to parliamentary candidates and using it to generate media interest in housing as an election issue. I hope that with the Manifesto and supporting materials we will all be able to take the opportunities available to us to ensure our politicians hear the message that housing matters. If there is anything you feel particularly strongly should be included, please let me know as soon as possible.
EXTERNAL AFFAIRS
The Conservatives’ Planning Green Paper and continuing contacts
I had originally thought that by the time this report reaches you the Conservatives’ Planning Green Paper would have been launched and we would have been able to provide our assessment of it. The wider considerations of pre-election strategy have, however, apparently delayed the launch which continues to be expected shortly.
Given the delay to the Green Paper, we have maintained an active informal dialogue with the Conservative Shadow CLG team, impressing on them the concerns that the industry has about transition to a new ‘localist’ planning system, particularly when the details of a framework of minimum national policy and process requirements to guide this have not been made clear. We shall continue to press for answers to our questions and to seek understanding on key points of detail in the run-up to the election campaign itself.
To this end I am pleased that we are receiving very positive signals from the front bench team and that they continue to wish to engage with us during this period. I am hopeful that as part of this engagement we shall also be able to arrange further informal discussions with Shadow Ministers involving our members. I think it is vital that we make full use of these opportunities against the possibility of a change of government.
False self-employment
There have been no major developments since my last report, but we are continuing our lobbying activity with the Federation of Master Builders and others against the possible risk that the Government might seek to include changes to the current tax rules on self-employment in the expected Budget in March. We will of course let you know of any developments in the meantime.
Zero carbon
Following the conclusion of the Zero Carbon Hub’s task group work on a proposed minimum fabric energy efficiency standard under the zero carbon policy – currently under consultation alongside the review of the Code for Sustainable Homes – the Hub is actively planning its work programme for 2010.
I believe that this will be a critical year if we are to be able to understand how zero carbon might be delivered in a practical way as affordably as possible. Important work will need to be undertaken on how to achieve the policy’s proposed 70% on-site improvement on 2006 Part L requirements through a combination of fabric efficiency and on-site renewables.
Equally important will be to find a practical mechanism for delivering “Allowable” off-site measures to provide the remainder of the zero carbon outcome. For this, there seems to be much support in principle for the idea of a Buy-Out Fund that could remove regulatory risk for house builders and help optimise costs by removing the need for developers to provide off-site solutions directly themselves. We need, however, to understand much better how this might work and what the likely costs per unit of carbon saved might be.
The work of the Hub is becoming increasingly important on these and other issues and we will work closely with them to ensure that you as members have as much opportunity as possible to input your views to these important discussions.
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Pre-Budget Report
In my December Update I summarised the many housing reviews and consultations announced in the Pre-Budget Report.
From our perspective in December, the Government’s “national baseline for regulatory costs across Government” looked like a very welcome response to all the representations we had made on the cumulative burden of regulation on land values and viability. Sadly, all is not what it first seemed.
Further discussions with officials have revealed that the national baseline will in fact be restricted to central Government policies and regulations, and then only those which can be converted into a standard measure, such as a price per dwelling. So it looks like the national baseline will cover little more than Building Regulations, thereby ignoring the many other areas of central Government policy and regulation, all local authority policies and regulations, and the many costs imposed by public agencies such as the Environment Agency, Natural England and CABE.
This is a discouraging outcome because it fails to address the core problem, namely the cumulative burden of all policies and regulations from across the public sector.
CLG’s answer is that it is urging local authorities to respond flexibly to economic conditions in order to support housing supply. But this appears to leave the industry in pretty much the same position as it is now, having to engage in costly and time-consuming negotiations with local authorities to try to restore viability to housing sites. It also means no one within Government will be monitoring and trying to control the multitude of demands from across the public sector.
Perhaps I am being too pessimistic, and that something more comprehensive will emerge from the Budget. We continue to discuss the regulatory burden with Treasury, the Better Regulation Executive and the PM’s housing advisor, as well as CLG.
I should also note that we have not yet seen any of the various reviews and consultations that were promised in the early months of 2010: an end-to-end review of the call-in process, a review of the Lifetime Homes standards, and a consultation on the appropriate use of S106 agreements. Hopefully these will emerge fairly soon.
The Planning Inspectorate is undertaking a study of local authority five-year housing land availability, a requirement of PPS3, based on PINS records of recent LDF enquiries and appeals. Nearly 90% of authorities have told CLG they have a deliverable five-year supply, a figure that many house builders would regard as pure fiction.
HomeBuy Direct (HBD)
We continue to hold our valuable monthly member meetings with the HCA to review and improve progress with HBD. Based on trends to date, the HCA is confident we will achieve 7,000 HBD sales by the end of March, which suggests the overall 10,000 target should be achievable by the end of September when the current scheme comes to an end.
We have also begun discussions with HCA officials, through our new Public Private Initiatives Group, on the future of Affordable Housing, including looking at whether HBD should become a more permanent form of support for new home sales.
Kickstart
I understand that almost all the Kickstart 1 legal agreements have finally been signed. We should begin to see the impact of this initiative in CLG’s first-quarter house building starts statistics, due out in early May.
Mortgage Regulation and Funding
The key message of HBF’s submission to the FSA Review of the Mortgage Market was that the FSA needs to take account of the likely impact of any new mortgage regulation on the home building industry. We expressed particular concern about the proposal to regulate second-charge mortgages because this would encompass house builders’ shared-equity schemes, including HomeBuy Direct. In effect, regulation would kill off these schemes. We have offered to work with lenders and the FSA to find a way to avoid what would clearly be a very unwelcome unintended consequence of regulation.
I have circulated to all members a most interesting, if worrying, CML paper on the future of mortgage funding. This paper makes clear it is going to be a long time – several years – before we get back to a situation in which the mortgage market can adequately fund the housing market. This highlights the need for the Government to continue supporting HomeBuy Direct, a scheme designed to help first-time buyers overcome the enormous deposit gap created by the shortage of mortgage finance.
Consumer Code
The new Code is on schedule to be launched at the beginning of April. NHBC and Premier are currently running briefings for their registered builders.
PLANNING AFFAIRS
Planning News
As a Christmas present, I suspect that 300 pages of consultation documents from CLG on proposed changes to the planning system that was published on the 23rd December might make you think you were on Santa’s naughty list. However, the three separate consultation papers are all direct responses to recommendations made in the Killian Pretty Review, and are all meant to introduce changes to ensure that the planning application process becomes more efficient.
Unfortunately, whilst very welcome in so far as they go, none of the consultations proposes any changes to regulations or legislation. Instead they either reiterate existing guidance or provide “encouragement” for a change of culture within the planning process from local authorities, statutory undertakers and, just as importantly, ourselves as users of the planning system.
Planning Conditions
The first of the documents is “Improving the use and discharge of planning conditions”. This reiterates the guidance of Circular 11/95 and encourages local authorities to ensure that the conditions they impose on planning permissions meet the six tests of being:
Necessary
Relevant to planning
Relevant to the development to be permitted
Enforceable
Precise and
Reasonable in all other respects.
The reiteration of these tests is, of course, welcomed, as is the guidance that conditions should be kept to a minimum.
Unfortunately CLG has not taken the opportunity to amend the regulations which apply to charges for the discharge of conditions over which, you may recall, there was much debate and confusion when the new charge was introduced in 2008. HBF will be urging CLG to bite the bullet and change the regulations in order to provide clear and unambiguous regulation with regard to this matter.
Development Management
The second consultation paper introduces the new concept of “development management” which is set to replace the term “development control” in planning lexicon. The latter was seen as a negative approach to planning while the new approach is designed to be one of effective engagement and negotiation.
It is difficult to argue against anything in the consultation paper concerning the need for applicants and local authorities to work together to deliver acceptable solutions. But it is disappointing that the paper offers little more than kind words and an unhealthy over reliance on the pre application stages of the development process as a solution.
However, we should not be too downhearted about the consultation. We should be bold and challenge those local authorities who are not providing development management services such as those outlined in the paper. We should also ensure that we play our part in establishing a collaborative approach towards development proposals and not leave ourselves open to accusations of being the problem rather than a part of the solution.
The role of Consultees
The third consultation deals with the role of statutory and non statutory consultees in the planning process. Once again the paper focuses on the necessary changes to culture within the various bodies rather than setting out any concrete changes to the process or ensuring that effective performance targets are set or met. However, it is a step in the right direction (albeit a rather small step). And while we will be welcoming the proposals we will, nevertheless, be asking if there is anything more tangible that the government can do to ensure better inclusion of consultees in the planning process. We are well aware of the problems that members encounter on a day to day basis, with inconsistent advice and late engagement from both statutory and non statutory consultees, and we will continue to press government to ensure that these problems are solved rather than perpetuated by any new practices.
All of the consultations run until 19th March and HBF will of course be responding on each following consultations with members where appropriate
Penfold review
Adrian Penfold (Head of Planning and Environment at British Land) has been appointed by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills to lead a review that explores whether the process for obtaining non-planning consents is delaying or discouraging businesses from investing.
The review has a very short timetable, with the final report being required before the Budget. HBF is sitting on the sounding board for the review team and we will be engaging members as we develop our own submission of evidence. We will also be encouraging individual member submissions to the review before 10th February.
Although the review’s remit is considerably wider than just the issues affecting house builders, it is clear that key bottlenecks around the consents/agreements required for highways, utilities and environment/heritage issues are common across all development sectors. It is hoped that the review can make some constructive recommendations for unifying and simplifying these often long winded and time consuming processes.
TECHNICAL AFFAIRS
Gas flues in ceilings
As mentioned in my previous update, the HSE has indicated that it is broadly happy with the work HBF members have done going back to June 2007 in relation to the gas flues in ceilings issue based on the information we were able to provide following our member questionnaire. HSE does still have concerns surrounding installations prior to June 2007 but appears to recognise that it is inappropriate to put ‘at risk’ notices on all properties that cannot have their flues checked prior to that date.
The TB008 group has been asked to look at this, but was not able to meet on 14th January due to bad weather. The rearranged meeting is now 25th February. HBF will be present at that meeting and we will report the outcome accordingly.
Consultation on the Code for Sustainable Homes and the Energy Efficiency standard for Zero Carbon Homes
The consultation released just before Christmas concerns revisions to the Code for Sustainable Homes and the proposed energy efficiency standard under the zero carbon homes policy.
It runs until 24th March and covers both policy and technical changes being considered for the Code for Sustainable Homes. The most significant of the proposed changes are within the energy section of the code. There are, however, proposed changes to credit scores relating to Lifetime Homes, home security, surface water run-off and waste. Also being considered are issues surrounding the future evolution of the Code.
The consultation also seeks views on the proposed energy efficiency performance standard to be incorporated in the definition of Zero Carbon Homes from 2016, and whether this should be introduced into Building Regulations at an intermediate level from 2013. This follows the recommendations from the work undertaken by the Zero Carbon Hub on the proposed standard which John Healey said he accepted as a basis for consultation in his recent statement on the zero carbon policy.
HBF has organised two workshops with members to discuss all of the issues raised in the consultation, and will then be providing a response.
Zero Carbon for New Non-Domestic Buildings Consultation
The Consultation for Zero-Carbon for New Non-Domestic Buildings was published on 24th November 2009. The closing date is 26th February.
The Consultation relates to proposals for working towards the Government’s ambition that all new non-domestic buildings should be Zero Carbon from 2019, with the public sector leading the way by 2018.
Some HBF members build mixed use developments and, as such, it is important the requirements in this consultation do not conflict with those that will be required for new homes. HBF will therefore be responding to this Consultation.
We will be formulating with members our response via e mail. Any member wishing to take part in this response process should contact rosie.hinchliffe@hbf.co.uk
Building Regulations
Part G (Sanitation, Hot Water and Water Efficiency) which was previously delayed will now come into force on 6th April 2010
The transitional arrangements are as follows:
Where work has already started on a site prior to 6th April 2010 it can continue to be built in accordance with the previous requirements to Part G and the guidance in the 1992 version of the Approved Document.
Those who have obtained a Plans Certificate before 6th April 2010 can also build to that guidance provided they start work on that site prior to 6th April 2011.
In all other circumstances you will need to meet the latest requirements and guidance in the 2009 edition of the Approved Document.
Part F (means of ventilation) and Part L (conservation of fuel and power) - It is anticipated that these new parts will become effective from October 2010. As such, we could expect to see the revised parts and all associated information by around April 2010.
Part J (combustion appliances and fuel storage) - will also become effective from October 2010.
It is also likely that the Code for Sustainable Homes consultation mentioned earlier will be issued in October 2010.
Flood and Water Management Bill
The Floods and Water Management bill consultation closed back in July 2009. It is likely to be on the ‘Statute Book’ by Easter 2010 – the present ‘Bill’ is in essence enabling legislation and has cross-party support. It will not apply in Scotland
Overall the introduction of a more robust legal mechanism for Sustainable Urban Drainage (SUDs) is welcomed by the industry. However, the consultation does not discuss in any detail how surface water will be managed on new developments.
HBF have written to the minster voicing our concerns and will be following this very carefully.
HBF members please click here to view the HBF Response - Flood and Water Management Bill
AND FINALLY...
I hope you have found this report useful and as ever, should you require any further information on anything or indeed wish to let us have your views on any of the items please don’t hesitate to contact me or any of the team at HBF. I will report to you again before Easter.