HBF Wales Weekly News Summary Friday 28 September 2007

Top stories this week Wales climate change law row... Read Number of ‘eco-towns' to be doubled from five to ten... Read CLG: Government changes to Yorkshire and Humber housing figures... Read

A major constitutional row could be on the horizon as the UK Government seeks to limit the National Assembly's powers to combat climate change, according to the Western Mail.

The Western Mail has been told that one of the Assembly Government's first lawmaking proposals under new arrangements brought in since May's election is threatened with a Whitehall veto.

The Mail reports that officials in Cardiff Bay have been told by their counterparts in London that a plan to give the Assembly Government wide- ranging powers to protect the environment and crack down on pollution is unacceptable in its present form.

Read more

Any attempt by the UK Government to frustrate a Welsh Labour manifesto commitment would be a serious constitutional issue going "to the heart of devolution", the National Assembly's Presiding Officer has said.

Lord Elis-Thomas was reacting to the Western Mail's revelation that Whitehall officials are trying to water down plans to give the Assembly Government control over climate change issues.

Read more

The construction sector in Wales needs a makeover to banish old stereotypes, a major report has warned.

The sector is still associated with bad working conditions and short-term contracts, an Assembly Government-sponsored study concluded.

It calls for a "systematic campaign" to improve the image of the industry and attract the staff it needs to grow. The sector sustains some 10,000 businesses employing around 90,000 people. It is estimated it will need some 5,000 additional workers each year.

Read more

Environment Minister Jane Davidson has ordered a fresh look at a flood strategy for Wales.

Ms Davidson has ordered a three-year programme to refresh flooding policy with the aim of developing a strategy which involves "working with nature, rather than against it".

Read more

Venue: St. David's Hotel & Spa, Cardiff
Date: Friday 23 November 2007

The HBF Annual Wales Dinner will be held at the St. David's Hotel & Spa. 
This black tie evening will commence with a drinks reception at 7.30pm, followed by a superb three-course dinner at 8pm and comedy entertainment.

Tables of 8-10 are available.
Tickets are £90.00 per person excluding VAT

To book please download the booking form or if you have any queries please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646.

View HBF Events and Meetings Calendar

In his opening speech at the Labour Party Conference this week, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the doubling of the number of ‘eco-towns' from five to ten:

"And for the first time in nearly half a century we will show the imagination to build new towns - eco-towns with low and zero carbon homes. And today because of the response we have received we are announcing that instead of just 5 new eco towns, we will now aim for ten eco towns - building thousands of new homes in every region of the country."

He also expressed an aspiration to see two million more homeowners in 2010 than there were in 1997.

Full Speech

The Government has today published its proposed changes to the draft Regional Spatial Strategy for the Yorkshire and Humber, increasing the total of new homes as well as boosting the number of future jobs.
The proposed changes would increase housing growth to over 22,000 a year, and annual job growth to 29,000. These increased figures reflect not only the pressing need for more homes in Yorkshire and Humber in response to an ageing and growing population, but also its economic potential.

The Housing Green Paper made it clear that we need a national drive to increase the number of homes being built and to make housing more affordable. This is why the Government has announced an extension of the new growth points scheme to include the northern regions with 50,000 additional homes being built as well as inviting expression of interests for Eco-towns schemes.

Lords Minister for Housing Baroness Andrews said:

"Everyone should have access to a decent home at an affordable price, in an area in which they want to live and work. Lack of affordable housing is a national challenge. That is why we need to build more homes across the board - including social housing, shared ownership, family housing and more market housing too.

"Yorkshire and Humber is a thriving region with a great future, and in order to support and encourage high job growth, we need to build more homes supported by integrated transport and increased green spaces."

The Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) have released a report this week which recommends that more green space and less high-density housing be implemented in order to help keep city temperatures down. The comments on density are particularly interesting:

"Ill thought through promotion of high density to save land can do much to exacerbate the problems. Large canopy trees, green cover and green roofs where there is no space for a garden at ground level can all help to keep summer temperatures in cities cooler and minimise the risk of urban flooding."

Without moves such as this, the report claims that temperatures in UK cities could rise to 40°c on a frequent basis.

Press Release

Full Report

Speaking at Labour Party conference in Bournemouth, Yvette Cooper outlined the main housing problems, including those faced by first-time buyers and families and reinforced goals set out in the Housing Green Paper in the summer, for a £8bn fund to build affordable homes and increasing the social housing stock to 45,000 homes by 2010 and 50,000 after that.

She said: "It is time for councils to be able to build council homes too. We are changing the rules to make it easier for councils to build more homes."

Cooper argued that Labour "knows how much housing matters", and affected wider social issues including education, elderly care and the economy.

"It's much harder to improve kids' education, if they haven't the space at home to do their homework," she said.

"It's much harder to help pensioners stay well through the winter, if the windows rattle and let in the chill. It's much harder to build businesses or public services if the new recruits can't afford to live nearby.

"That's why the Labour government has done so much to keep mortgage rates low, after the devastating repossessions of the Tory years."

The minister said that despite house building standing at "its highest rate since 1990", that it still "isn't enough".

"This country hasn't built enough homes for over a generation." she said.

Pointing to the achievements of the government in taking more than one million children out of poor housing, she added: "But that is not enough. Now we must work together so by 2010 we make that two million children helped into better homes.

"And let us aim to give all our children that basic right - a decent and secure home in which to grow.

"Let this conference and this party now unite.

"Let us pledge to back more and better homes for Britain, and to make housing the progressive cause of the 21st century".

Affordable homes provided under Section 106 agreements (S.106) could be delivered faster, better and with more certainty, according to new research published by national regeneration agency, English Partnerships, the Housing Corporation and ATLAs (Advisory Team for Large Applications).

The report ‘Cascades: improving certainty in the delivery of affordable housing for large-scale development?' emphasises the role that flexible mechanisms or ‘cascades' within S.106 agreements can have in ensuring delivery of affordable homes over the full development period especially in large-scale planning applications, usually involving around 500 homes.

Beverley Spear, Head of Housing Consultancy for English Partnerships, who led the research said: "Negotiations, especially on large planning applications often stall and hold up progress because there is an unacceptable risk that funding will not be available for S.106 affordable homes, especially if a scheme stretches over several Housing Corporation investment programmes."

More Online

The Mayor of London Ken Livingstone's energy policies will help to save over 135,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year according to a new report published by the mayor this week.

The independent study by London South Bank University for the Greater London Authority looked at reductions in energy use and carbon savings resulting from the application of London Plan energy policies to developments referred to the Mayor and concluded that "In general, the Mayor's policies have been highly successful in reducing expected energy consumption and CO2 emissions in new developments representing around a 26% saving of CO2."

The report coincides with the publication of the Mayor's draft Housing Strategy last week, which sets out the Mayor's plans to deliver 30,500 homes a year and 50,000 affordable homes over the next three years. The strategy contains specific policies to continue tackling climate change with a Mayoral commitment that the £1 billion regional housing budget for London will only be invested in new homes that meet high standards of environmental performance.

More online

John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, has announced that Britain will step up the use of renewable energy to tackle climate change by beginning a major feasibility study into the use of tidal power.

The multi-million pound study will focus on the potential for a Severn Barrage that would harness the power of the Severn Estuary using the proven technology of a hydro-electric dam filled by the incoming tide.

The review will be a cross-Government project, led from the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Responding to the announcement, Natural England raised concerns about the potential impact on important habitats in the estuary.

Radical action is needed to deliver "greener" energy and reduce energy use in South East homes to protect the environment, says the South East England Regional Assembly.

Responding to Government's Energy White Paper consultations, the Assembly supports a dual approach with new cleaner energy targets for power companies, alongside grants and tax breaks for residents who make their homes more energy efficient.

For example, residents should be encouraged to install double-glazing, insulation or renewable energy generators such as solar panels.

The Assembly also backs Government's plans to improve power suppliers' performance - by doubling their target encourage consumers to be greener and raising the target for electricity supplied from renewable sources to 20% by 2015. If suppliers do not meet these targets they may face penalties.

Central Registers for Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Home Condition Reports (HCRs) can now be accessed. The Registers provide an independent means for potential buyers and sellers (and those acting on their behalf) to check that the EPC or HCR is authentic and has not been altered since it was produced by an accredited Domestic Energy Assessor or a certificated Home Inspector.

Further information

Visit the EPC Register

The Association of HIP Providers (AHIPP) have called on the Government to extend the implementation of Home Information Packs to the whole housing stock.

Mike Ockenden, Director General of AHIPP, said: "I call upon the Government to extend the rollout to the remainder of the housing stock. There are now over 5,000 fully accredited Domestic Energy Assessors (DEAs) ready to provide Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), a substantially higher number than the Government's target of 3,000 for the full national roll out of HIPs".

On Wednesday night, Meeting Place Communications in association with Housebuilder Media launched the first annual Community Consultation and Politics Public Perceptions report at the Labour Party Conference in Bournemouth.

The report was based on a major MORI-type survey, by Marketing Means, of attitudes to public consultation and development and attitudes of local politicians to the planning process.

The survey raised a number of issues, in particular indicating a low level of public consultation overall, but an increased sense of communities having being consulted when particular methods, such as public meetings, were used.

Just over a third of the 1,000 respondents (37%) said they had been involved in some form of local consultation. Nearly a fifth of respondents (19%) said that they had been involved in a planning decision and a similar proportion (18%) said that they had been involved in consultation about a local community service.

When questioned about how much people thought their views have been listened to, for those who had taken part in a consultation other than planning, just 7% said "a great deal" and 26% "a fair amount" compared to 11% and 35% respectively for planning consultations. So those involved in planning decisions felt more listened to than those involved in other types of consultation.

Speakers at the launch included Iain Wright MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation.

For further information contact Meeting Place Communications on 01225 335 350 or go to www.meetingplacecommunications.com

The housing market appeared to shrug off turmoil in the credit markets during September, according to the latest report from the Nationwide. Prices rose by 0.7% from £184,723 in August to £183,898  in September. This was the highest monthly rise since April this year. But despite this relatively strong gain, the statistics show that annual house price growth continued to fall to nine per cent, its lowest level for nearly a year.

More detail

Gross mortgage lending by banks, building societies and specialist lenders fell by 6% in August compared with July, to an estimated £32.2 billion from £34.1 billion, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This was 3% down on the £33 billion figure for August last year.

More online

New research from Halifax Estate Agents highlights that there has been an almost three-fold increase in the number of million pound property sales in England and Wales over the past five years

The Halifax Estate Agents Million Pound Property Report tracks all residential property sales of at least £1 million at a postcode district level in England and Wales using data from the Land Registry. 2,098 post code districts have been examined.

There were 6,170 home sales above one million pounds over the year to June 2007. This compared to 2,249 one million pound sales over the year to June 2002. There are now an estimated 88,000 homes valued above £1 million in England and Wales based on the number of million pound sales in the past year.

More Online

High street spending continued to grow in September, despite five interest rate rises in a year and the recent crisis of confidence in the financial markets, according to the latest CBI Distributive Trades Survey. But the trend of slower growth in retail sales seen since May continued. Sales growth nevertheless remains above the average rate recorded during the second half of 2006. Retailers also thought sales were around average for the time of year and expect the more moderate growth in sales to be sustained into October.

John Slaughter, HBF Director of External Affairs attended the Labour Party Conference this week for a full round of meetings with national and local politicians with an interest in housing issues, including the Chair of Communities and Local Government Select Committee. An underlying theme of the discussions and Conference fringe meetings was the need to forge working partnerships at local level to convert growing national support for an improved housing supply into consistent results on the ground.

HBF has just submitted a further response to the OFT questionnaire to trade associations and other industry-wide bodies covering Warranties, Building Regulations, and Planning and Competition.

The second response is available to HBF members please click here to view

To view this information you will need to logged on to the HBF website. If you have forgotten your membership login please email catherine.wilson@hbf.co.uk

Visit the HBF stand at HB07 on the 9th of 10th of October 2007 for your chance to win a TomTom Satellite Navigation System.

Whilst you are there, why not listen to one of the live interviews taking place or speak to one of the HBF team at our ‘Ask the Expert' sessions.

For full details of what is happening on the HBF stand (G9) visit the HBF website 

Now in its fourth year, this Exhibition and Conference is a must for those working in the home building Industry. Housing Market Intelligence, the extensive free briefings and conference programme plus the exhibition, bring together key industry figures to highlight all that is new in the home building industry.

More information

The key information initiative for senior figures in the house building industry, HMI comprises an annual report launched at the conference, which this year aims to help delegates and readers 'Develop strategies in the face of rapid change'.

More information and to register

The HBF Technical Conference entitled ‘the road to zero carbon is paved with building regulations' will be taking place at York Racecourse on Wednesday 14th November 2007.

To view the full agenda for the day and book online

Sound and noise related issues affecting new build homes continue to be a matter of concern to planning authorities and building control bodies. Now, 6 months after The Code for Sustainable Homes has been published, how is the industry meeting the challenge? Following on from the success of last year, this conference aims to address key regulatory issues, acoustic design and cost factors to maximise Code credits and points.

To book a place on this event, please contact the Events Team on events@hbmedia.co.uk or by phone 020 7960 1646 or download a booking form at the link below:

Download Booking form

HBF Yorkshire Dinner - 8th November

The HBF Annual Yorkshire Dinner will be held at a new venue this year - the Crown Hotel, Harrogate 

The evening will commence at 7.30, for 8pm, with an opening speech from Rob Pearson, Yorkshire Area Director at English Partnerships and will be followed by a superb a three-course dinner. Dress code is lounge suits.

Tables of 10 or 12 are available.
Tickets are £70.00 per person excluding VAT
To book please download the booking form or if you have any queries please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646.

HBF North East Dinner - 13th November 2007

The HBF North East Social Dinner will be held this year at a new venue - the Newcastle Marriott Gosforth Park Hotel, High Gosforth Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE3 5HN.

Undoubtedly one of northeast England's premier hotels, the Newcastle Marriott Gosforth Park is set in twelve acres of parkland overlooking Newcastle Racecourse. Newcastle city center is five miles South. This full service hotel offers deluxe air-conditioned accommodation, leisure club facilities, a self-contained conference and banquet area and two fully air conditioned restaurants.

The evening will commence at 7.30pm for 8pm with a three-course dinner followed by after dinner entertainment!

Cost £75 + VAT per person. Tables of 10 and 12 can be booked.

To book please download the booking form or if you have any queries please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646.

HBF North West Dinner - 8th February 2008

The HBF North West Social Dinner will be held at the Midland Hotel, Peter St, Manchester M60 2DS.

The Midland Hotel is one of Manchester's most famous landmarks and one of its most glamorous hotels. Situated in the heart of the city, this hotel has successfully hosted the HBF Annual Social Dinner over the last few years - a perfect location for a weekend break!

The evening commences at 7.30pm for 8.00pm with a three-course dinner and wine, followed by a live band and disco.

Cost £70 + VAT. Tables of 10 and 12 can be booked - if you require a larger table please contact the events team.

To book please download the booking form or if you have any queries please contact the events team on 020 7960 1646.

Jo Weston

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