Friday, 24th April 2009 Top stories this week 2009 Budget – action for house builders...read more HBF annual lunch.....read more HBF Customer Satisfaction Survey published.....read more CML; March gross lending figures.....read more Quick LinksWales news The Budget HBF news Economic news Government and political news Industry news Events Wales news HBF – WAG meeting on affordable housing delivery On Thursday 23rd April, HBF members met with the Welsh Assembly Government to discuss housing delivery and affordable housing. At the seminar, HBF members explained the issues the industry is facing at present and the likely effect this will have on the delivery of affordable housing in Wales. The seminar also identified a number of potential solutions for the WAG to consider, particularly in terms of the funding available for housing delivery and how the WAG could work in partnership with developers to bolster certainty on proposed developments to ensure delivery in the current market climate. The seminar concluded with an agreement from the WAG to consider the suggestions raised with a view to organising a further meeting in the very near future to facilitate action. to top HBF meeting on affordable housing development viability On the 23rd April, the HBF also met with members of the South East Wales Strategic Planning Group (SEWSPG) in order to discuss a suitable methodology for assessing the viability of affordable housing planning policies within forthcoming LDPs. The HBF has raised continual concerns with the nature of emerging local planning policy on affordable housing and the fact that it does not give sufficient regard to the important issue of development viability. In light of this, we have secured agreement from the SEWPG to work in partnership with the industry to adopt a suitable methodology for assessing the viability of affordable housing policy in forthcoming LDPs. If we are happy with the approach taken, we are hoping to use this as a template for good practice across Wales. to top Welsh Assembly Government statement on the UK budget The WAG has made a statement on the recent budget from the Chancellor Alistair Darling. Read the statement in full to top Design statements to accompany planning applications in Wales from June 2009 onwards. From the 1st June this year Design and Access Statements will need to accompany planning applications and/or listed building consent. The statements will show how the final design was reached and contain information on the sustainability of the development. There are five aspects of design which will need to be addressed by the Design and Access Statement: accessibility environmental sustainability character (layout, scale etc) movement to, from and within the development community safety The Welsh Assembly Government expects applicants and all local planning authorities to implement this legislation once it is in place. Training for local planning authorities will be rolled out shortly. A revision of TAN 12: ‘Design’ will also be available from this date to provide up to date guidance on design and access issues. to top 2009 Wales Planning Conference The 2009 Wales Planning Conference will take place on Tuesday 2 June 2009 and will be held at City Hall in Cardiff. The programme will involve seminars on key areas such as housing and design and will provide opportunities to debate these issues. In addition to this, a plenary debate will take place with a panel to represent different perspectives of the planning community. The main conference programme is preceded on the 1st June by a programme of Site Study Tours and a networking event. View the conference brochure and download the booking form to top Implementing Essex: Have your say in delivering change Since publishing the Essex Report last year the Welsh Assembly Government, Community Housing Cymru, the Welsh Local Government Association and social housing sector in Wales have been finding ways to ease the delivery of affordable housing in Wales. In light of this the WAG are holding two seminar events to give stakeholders a chance to hear about and influence work in progress. The seminars will be held at the following venues on the dates described below and will comprise six workshops for stakeholders to share their views. The dates and venues are – North Wales 27th April - Venue Cymru, Llandudno South Wales 29th April - Liberty Stadium, Swansea Workshops held in both the morning and afternoon will cover:- A new Social Housing Grant system A new Regulatory Framework for Welsh RSLs Workshops held either in the morning or afternoon will cover:- A new Intermediate Rent product Making best use of public sector land The Local Authority strategic housing role A potential Welsh Housing Bond Delegate costs are £50 per head (to cover costs only) and includes lunch. For more information and booking please contact Community Housing Cymru on tel - 02920 557400 visit the website. to top The Budget 2009 Budget – action for house builders This week’s Budget included some significant measures aimed at kick starting the housing market; These included; £400M to get building on mothballed private sector sites underway as the major part of a £600M fund to stimulate housing supply and construction activity in the short-term (the overall housing package was stated to be £1BN including other elements such as the mortgage rescue scheme) Implementation of Sir James Crosby’s recommendations to boost funding for mortgage lending Formal recognition of, and a commitment to work with, stakeholders on the impact of regulation on house building. The HBF has in recent months been working closely with Government and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) to encourage them to take action in all these areas. And whilst in the current economic climate it is inevitable that more than was announced would be demanded, for house building to receive such support above many other sections of the economy which have also been demanding assistance measures in a constrained Budget settlement, demonstrates the realisation by Government of the importance of the house building industry to the wider economy and the role of HBF member companies in delivering its objectives in this field. Click here for a full breakdown of measures. In a press statement, Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF said: “We are delighted that money has been made available to unlock mothballed sites. We now need to work with Government to identify sites and get work started as quickly as possible. The benefits of doing so are quite clear in terms of employment and for the wider economy.” to top Other reaction: CML - The Council of Mortgage Lenders responded to the measures announced by the Chancellor as helpful, but unlikely to make much of an impact overall on the housing market. Read more Shelter - “Housing is at the heart of the recession with millions of people suffering through threat of repossession, lack of affordable housing and homelessness. “A £1BN package is a welcome recognition that housing has to be a top priority for Government now and for the next decade.” CBI – “The key question for this Budget was whether it set out a credible and rigorous path for restoring the public finances to health. The CBI’s preliminary judgement must be that it does not.” Read more Conservatives – “This is a Dishonest Budget.” Read more to top HBF news HBF annual lunch Addressing the HBF’s annual lunch, just after the Chancellor had sat down, Sir Bob Kerslake, Chief Executive of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) explained how it would be implementing the measures announced in the Budget. He said that companies interested in accessing the newly announced funding streams should contact their regional HCA offices, and described the total £1BN housing-related package as an ‘extraordinary achievement’ for the industry. Read the HCA letter to the industry on how to apply for funding Kerslake went on to praise the HBF as a ‘strong voice’ acting on behalf of the industry, an industry he believes has a bright future because of the demand for new homes and its ‘creative and innovative talent’. He said that the HCA’s role was to bring together the public and private sectors and that its focus was on maintaining delivery and protecting house building industry capacity. He said that he believed that the house builders’ model had proved more resilient than many had predicted and committed to continuing to work ‘collaboratively’ with the HBF and the industry to deliver much needed housing. He added that the future issues his agency were focusing on were design and sustainability; employment; and identifying new forms of finance. Speaking before Sir Bob at the event - attended by over 200 industry leaders - HBF executive Chairman Stewart Baseley said the huge demand for places at the lunch showed the industry’s resilience and demonstrated the determination to recover and deliver. View Stewart Baseley’s speech to top HBF meets MPC HBF Executive Chairman, Stewart Baseley, Economic Affairs Director, John Stewart, and senior executives from a number of major house builders met members of the Monetary Policy Committee on Monday. The discussion covered current trends in sales and house prices, including the impact of valuations on new home prices, prospects for recovery, and longer-term barriers to expanding housing output, including mortgage finance, development finance and permissioned land. to top HBF Customer Satisfaction Survey published The HBFs annual customer satisfaction survey was published this week. The survey, covering the period from October 2007 to September 2008 showed that over three quarters of purchasers questioned were satisfied with the quality of their homes and also an improvement on the previous year’s result. The survey, set up in response to the recommendations of the Barker review in 2004, is a self completion postal census of the new home purchasers of 15 larger homes builders. The survey also showed that the vast majority of new home buyers would recommend their home builder to a friend. View the results and press release to top Economic news GDP figure published The UK economy shrank 1.9% in the first three months of 2009, according to gross domestic product (GDP) data from the Office for National Statistics published today (Friday). The figure was much worse than the expected level of about 1.5% and followed the contraction of 1.6% in the previous three month period. Taken together, it was the worst six-month decline in GDP since the ONS began publishing the figures. to top Bank publishes lending statistics The Bank of England this week published its first Trends in Lending report, a new monthly publication that presents the Bank’s assessment of lending to the UK economy. The report draws on a range of data sources, including the existing monetary and financial statistics collected by the Bank and data from six major UK lenders that participate on the Lending Panel established by the Chancellor in November 2008. Read more; to top CML; March gross lending figures The Council of Mortgage Lenders this week released its gross lending figures for March. Gross mortgage lending was an estimated £11.5 billion in March, a 16% rise from £9.9 billion in February but a 52% decline from £24.2 billion in March 2008, according to new data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders. Read more to top Shelter - FTB’s struggling to get on property ladder. According to recent research from Shelter, the recent tightening of lending means that first time buyers are still finding it difficult to get on the housing ladder despite the fall in house prices Read more to top Approval of new Regulation on credit rating agencies. The European Commission has welcomed the respective approvals from the European Parliament and from the European Council on the proposed Regulation on credit rating agencies (CRAs). The Regulation will have a major impact on the activity of credit rating agencies, which issue opinions on creditworthiness of companies, governments and sophisticated financial structures. Read more to top Government and political news Mortgage support scheme launched The Housing Minister, Margaret Beckett, has announced the commencement of a new support scheme to help homeowners remain in their homes if they fall on difficult times. This support will be available from this week. Read more to top Conservative reaction Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps condemned the mortgage support package as "a triumph of spin over substance" and criticised the five-month delay between the Government announcing the scheme at the time of last year’s Pre-Budget Report and it actually launching: Read more to top Industry news Rural affordable housing guidance launched A new initiative to provide support and advice to local authorities and their partners on the delivery of rural affordable housing was launched by the Homes and Communities Agency on Friday at an event in Bristol. Read more to top Affordable housing survey shows 61% of schemes to be ‘average’ CABE and the Home and Communities Agency (HCA) have pledged to improve affordable homes after the publication of the first national survey of the design quality of affordable housing. The Affordable Housing Survey of 218 schemes was commissioned by the Housing Corporation, now part of the Homes and Community Agency (HCA), and produced by CABE. The survey shows that while nearly two thirds of schemes (61 per cent) were judged to be ‘average’, a fifth of schemes (21 per cent) were rated ‘poor’ and 18 per cent of schemes were judged either ‘good’ or ‘very good’. Read more to top CLG looks to get industry moving The DCLG is looking at how to bring in secondary legislation to extend permissions to help get the construction industry moving. Read more to top Events Zero Carbon, Part F and Part L - The cost and impact on housebuilders Wednesday 20th May 2009 - Think Tank, BirminghamWith the consultations for Building Regulations Parts F & L and the zero carbon definition taking place this year, this conference will help housebuilders understand the impending changes and their cost and impact on the industry. It will also provide delegates with valuable and practical insight into the future of Building Regulations. This full day event will specifically examine zero carbon, Part F and Part L over three morning sessions. The afternoon session will concentrate on the introduction of the new SAP methodology later this year with real life examples and a software demo. The conference will also analyse the real cost of sustainable housebuilding, looking at delivering to code level 3 and 4 and higher level schemesTo book online please click here or for further information please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646 or events@hbmedia.co.ukto topHope Challenge: 12 - 14th June 2009, Peak DistrictHBF's nominated charity, Habitat for Humanity, which builds safe, decent homes for families living in poverty, is organising a fundraising event to take place in the summer. Taylor Wimpey, Bovis and HBF are amongst the teams already registered for the Hope Challenge 2009, and they are looking for more house builders to enter an event that was born out of industry activity. It is a challenge event for teams of 3-6 people that will test your initiative, your teamwork and your fitness. And by sleeping in your very own shelter you will experience some of the challenges faced by those who live in poverty housing. The event involves:2 days and 2 nights in the great outdoorsMental and physical team challengesThe Shelter Build challenge - sponsored by NHBC1000m of hill ascent and 20 miles of trekkingA balance of fitness, strategy and team work HFH is looking for teams of people who want to rise to the challenge of raising funds in support of the 2 billion people living in poverty housing around the world. If you would like to sponsor the HBF team please click here Click here for more information and entry requirements to top The Housebuilder / HBF house building Innovation Awards 2009 Entries are now invited from all parts of the industry for the prestigious Housebuilding Innovation Awards 2009. The awards, run by Housebuilder Magazine and HBF and in conjunction with the NHBC, have become recognised as the most coveted of the industry awards and are endorsed by Government. Entry is FREE and there are eight categories covering all aspects of the industry including sustainability, marketing, design, customer satisfaction and partnerships. The entry deadline is May 8. To download a copy of the entry form go to www.hbmedia.co.uk/hbm_awards.php to topFor other HBF events visit the website http://www.hbf.co.uk/index.php?id=eventsandmeetingsFor HBM events visit http://www.hbmedia.co.uk/ to topRosie HinchliffeView Previous Weekly News Summary
