Friday, 1st October 2010 Top stories this week HBF at the Labour Party Conference 2010......read more HBF reveals Leeds City Council reject £255m by scrapping homes.....read more John Healey’s Conference speech.....read more HomeBuy Direct finishes.....read more Planning Applications: April to June 2010 (England)......read more Nationwide: House price index......read more Bank of England: Credit Conditions Survey 2010 Q3......read more Quick Links HBF news Government and political news Industry news Housing market news Economic news Events HBF news HBF at the Labour Party Conference 2010 HBF’s Director of External Affairs, John Slaughter, held a series of meetings with shadow ministers and long-serving and new MPs with an interest in housing at the Labour Party Conference this week. These meetings provided a useful opportunity to brief parliamentarians on current housing issues, including the shift to a new localist planning system. MPs shared HBF’s concerns about the position of first-time buyers and were interested in the case for the continuation of the HomeBuy Direct shared equity scheme given its success to date. HBF will be attending the Conservative party conference next week. to top HBF reveals Leeds City Council reject £255m by scrapping homes HBF last week published a report revealing that Leeds City Council had, by cancelling housing schemes, forfeited £255M worth of central Government funding through the New Homes Bonus incentive scheme. Plans for nearly 33,000 homes have been scrapped by the City’s Local Authority since the Regional Spatial Strategies were abolished by the new Coalition Government. HBF estimates that this has reduced the Local Authorities central Government grant by £255M, more than twice what the council recently spent on the rebuilding or major refurbishment of 14 secondary schools The report was covered extensively in the local media. Read more Yorkshire Evening Post report; to top Midlands MDs At the Midlands MDs Dinner held on Thursday night at New Hall Hotel in Sutton Coldfield, members were joined by Sarah Webb, Chief Executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing. Sarah was keen for the Institute to work with partners across the whole housing sector to meet the challenges of localism set by the new government. Members were also brought up to date with current HBF projects and actions and received a further update and briefing from NHBC staff. The next Midlands MDs meeting will be held at a new venue in the East Midlands on Wednesday 16th February 2011. to top Government and political news Labour Party Conference 2010 As the Labour Party gathered for its annual conference last weekend, Ed Miliband was announced as its new leader after a four month election campaign for the post. The election involved a vote by party members, MPs, and affiliated organisations such as trade unions. An election for members of the shadow cabinet is now being held after nominations closed on Wednesday afternoon. Both the current shadow Communities Secretary John Denham and shadow Housing Minister John Healey are standing. to top John Healey’s Conference speech In his speech to the Labour Party Conference, John Healey accused the Coalition Government of wanting “a state which sheds its duty to its people on housing” – citing cuts to national housing investment and “Changes to the planning system which remove any national requirement on local councils to plan or agree new homes for their area”. Mr Healey went on to say that: “.....in five months I've not found a single change [by the Coalition Government] I can support. “Their latest plan is a "new homes bonus", matching the council tax on any new home built with extra funding for the local council for six years. “They're right to want to a strong incentive system for councils and communities ready to see new homes built in their area. “But this isn't it. “There's no new money. And the government will take a top-slice cut across the grant to all local government to cover the cost. “This scheme robs some councils to pay the rest. “So I'm publishing a detailed analysis of their plans today, which shows: It will cause chaos in the council tax system, and more cuts to many hard-pressed council budgets. It blows a huge hole in George Osborne's promise to freeze council tax.” to top Grant Shapps’ response to John Healey Housing Minister Grant Shapps issued a response to John Healey's speech saying: "Under Labour's watch, house building fell to its lowest peacetime rate since 1924 and the number of first time buyers was the lowest since records began. We should take no lessons on housing, given their irresponsible government spending spree threatened to bankrupt the country and send interest rates soaring. "John Healey hates the idea of giving councils incentives to build new homes because it just highlights how his top-down Regional Strategies were a monumental, complete and total failure. Labour's local government finance system punished councils for building new homes, by cutting their government grant. The Coalition parties are putting aside differences to come together to sort out the terrible mess left by Labour." to top Shapps - new review shows coalfields communities need local approach Grant Shapps has responded to a review of the regeneration of former coalfield areas undertaken by Michael Clapham. Mr Shapps said the review showed that while much had been achieved there was still work to do. Improvement and economic recovery was still fragile and deeply embedded worklessness remained in some former mining areas. The Report argues local authorities are best placed to understand their own areas and therefore have a central role to play with an increased emphasis on partnership working and flexibility at local level. But traditionally too much funding from central government had restrictive conditions and there was no flexibility to meet local specific needs. In the future, local and national partners need to come together to develop an integrated local programme approach. Mr Shapps said the Government would consider the recommendations carefully and commented: "It's crucial that former mining areas continue to get the support they need to move on from the devastation caused by the collapse of the coal industry. I've supported vital coalfields regeneration projects for many years and seen first-hand what they have achieved and their importance to these communities. "We agree that it is often local authorities, working with local people, who know best what their particular needs are in each area and should have a central role to play in the next phase of coalfields regeneration. The Government will respond in detail to the recommendations in due course." Read more to top Industry news HomeBuy Direct finishes HomeBuy Direct, the Government/ house builder backed scheme to assist first time buyers closed yesterday. Over the past 15 months the scheme has helped around 10,000 people realise their ambition of home ownership. In advance of the Spending Review, HBF, which originally proposed the scheme and worked with HCA to implement it, is pushing Government hard for the introduction of a replacement scheme. to top Planning Applications: April to June 2010 (England) The latest national statistics on Planning Applications were released under the auspices of the UK Statistics Authority this week. In the period April to June 2010 local authorities undertaking district level planning: Received 127,100 applications, up by around 8% when compared with the June 2009 quarter; Decided (granted or refused) 112,400 applications, an increase of 7% when compared with the June 2009 quarter; Granted 91,000 applications, an increase of 9% when compared with the June 2009 quarter; Decided 12,800 applications for residential developments, up by 6% compared with June 2009 quarter; Decided 1,200 major residential developments applications (10 or more dwellings), up by 9% compared with the June 2009 quarter; Decided 70% of major applications within 13 weeks; Authorities undertaking 'county level' planning decided 306 applications, a decrease of 2% when compared with the same quarter a year ago. Read more to top Developer appointed for first HCA site via Delivery Partner Panel The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has appointed a preferred development partner for the first HCA-owned site to be procured through its Delivery Partner Panel. Wates Living Space has been appointed to develop the former Guest Hospital in Dudley, which includes retaining the historic buildings, creating 218 market sale and affordable homes built to Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes, alongside green open spaces and a community facility. The Delivery Partner Panel (DPP) was established in January 2010 to give access to a pre-qualified list of organisations that can assist with all stages of the development process. While Guest Hospital is the first HCA scheme with a preferred developer appointed through the DPP, there are many more projects in the pipeline, at various stages of the competition process. In the first 8 months of operation, 14,500 homes have already been identified to be delivered by partners procured through the panel. Steve Carr, Head of New Business and Economics at the Homes and Communities Agency, said: “The Delivery Partner Panel has been extremely successful so far, helping to ensure the whole procurement process is more efficient and cost effective for both the HCA and other organisations using the panel. We have received extremely positive feedback and with the procurement process being fast-tracked, public sector organisations are able to make substantial project cost savings by choosing to select developers through the panel rather than follow a traditional procurement route.” Read more to top Housing market news Nationwide: House price index The latest house price index published by Nationwide reported that: The average house price edged up a marginal 0.1% in September, from £166,507 in August to £166,757; The three month rate of change turned negative for first time since May 2009; There had been mixed news from the labour market. Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: “September proved to be an uneventful month for house prices. The seasonally adjusted price index for a typical UK property was essentially unchanged in September, edging up by a marginal 0.1% from its August level. That left the annual rate of house price inflation at 3.1%, down from 3.9% in August and 6.6% in July. The three month on three month rate of change – a good indicator of the near term price trend – fell from 0.0% in August to -0.9% in September. This represents the first negative reading for the three month rate of change since May 2009 and is consistent with the clear loosening of housing market conditions observed over the summer months. “Although the three month rate of change has turned negative, at this stage it is not pointing to a significant pace of decline in property values. During the 2008 downturn in house prices, the three month rate of change dropped as low as -5.5%, well below the current level of -0.9%. Nonetheless, buyers appear to have a slightly better hand than sellers at the moment, as the market continues to absorb the recent increase in property for sale.” Read more to top Hometrack: House prices fall across all regions for first time since April 2009 The latest Hometrack house price index reported that: This latest monthly survey of over 5,100 agents and surveyors shows that house prices have fallen across all regions for the first time since April 2009 Demand for housing dropped by -2.9% in September. This is the third month in a row that demand has fallen; In the last 3 months, the volume of buyers registering with agents has fallen by 6.5%; While the supply of homes coming to the market has grown by 7.2% over the past 3 months, the rate of growth has been slowing. Supply rose by 1.2% in September compared to an average growth of 3.3% per month over the last 6 months; Reports of falling house prices and weaker trading conditions have discouraged would-be sellers from putting their homes on the market. This will limit the scale of price falls in the coming months; The extent of house price falls increased over September with prices down across 34% of the country compared to 30% in August and 12% in July; The widening gap between supply and demand has resulted in the average time on the market rising to 9.3 weeks - the highest level for over a year; The proportion of the asking price being achieved has dropped to 93.2% from a recent high of 94.3% in June 2010; Overall, average house prices fell by 0.4% in September; The South West posted the largest monthly decline of 0.6% followed by -0.5% in the South East and East Anglia; Looking ahead we expect the supply of homes coming to the market to slow, limiting the potential scale of price falls in the next 12 months. Read more to top Land Registry: House price index The Land Registry’s August monthly house index showed a price change of 0.3% which is the fifth month in a row in which the movement has been positive. It is, however, a fall from last month's figure. This changes the average property value in England and Wales to £167,423. Annual house price change has remained positive for 10 consecutive months, with a movement of 6.7% in August. This is a slight decrease from last month's figure. Sales volumes have increased from last year. In March to June 2009, transaction volumes averaged 43,825 per month, while in the same period this year the average was 53,089 sales. Key regional observations: All 10 regions in England and Wales experienced increases in their average property values over the last 12 months; The region with the highest annual price change is London with an increase of 11.4%; The region with the smallest annual price rise is the North East with a movement of 1.6; The West Midlands experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 1.2%; Yorkshire & The Humber is the region with the most significant monthly price fall with a movement of -1.4 per Read more to top Halifax: Ilford…the country's leading hotspot for home sales Ilford in Essex is the country's leading property sales hotspot with an 85% rise in the number of home sales in the first half of 2010 compared with the same period of 2009, according to research from Halifax. Croydon (73%) and Maidenhead (71%) have seen the next biggest increases. There have been considerable variations across the country in the change in the number of property sales over the past year. However, just three towns have seen no increase in sales since last year: lackpool (-1%),Grimsby (0%) and Sunderland (0%). These three towns have relatively low average prices. Halifax also reported: There were 290,227 home sales in England and Wales in the first six months of 2010; 27% more than in the first half of 2009 (228,754); 16 of the top 20 towns reporting the biggest increase in sales are in London and the South East. Most of these are towns with good commuter links to central London; The four non-southern towns in the 20 hotspots are Stockport and Chorley in the North West, Shrewsbury in the West Midlands and Durham in the North; The market has, in general, been slower in the north and nine of the ten towns recording the smallest rises in sales are outside London and the South East. Read more to top Economic news Bank of England: Credit Conditions Survey 2010 Q3 This report from the Bank of England presents the results of the 2010 Q3 survey. The 2010 Q3 survey was conducted between 13th August and 3rd September. The key points from the survey are: Supply Lenders reported that the availability of secured credit to households had risen slightly in the three months to early September 2010 despite a tightening in wholesale funding conditions. Availability was expected to remain broadly unchanged in the next three months; Unsecured credit availability to households was reported to have remained broadly unchanged for a third consecutive quarter, but some lenders expected availability to increase somewhat in the next quarter; The overall availability of credit to corporates was reported to have increased for a seventh consecutive quarter, with a larger increase reported in availability to small businesses than for larger companies. Overall availability was not expected to change in Q4. Demand Lenders reported that demand for secured lending for house purchase had fallen slightly in Q3, in contrast to expectations of a rise. Demand for secured lending for remortgaging was broadly unchanged in Q3 and was not expected to change in Q4; Demand for credit card lending fell unexpectedly over the previous three months, while demand for non credit card lending rose unexpectedly. Lenders expected demand for credit card lending to increase over the next three months and demand for non credit card lending to stabilise; In Q3, demand for credit from medium and large private non-financial corporations (PNFCs) was broadly unchanged. Demand from large corporates was expected to fall in the next quarter. Among small businesses demand fell unexpectedly over the previous three months, but was not expected to change over the next three months. Read more to top Bank of England: Lending to individuals, August 2010 According to the latest data from the Bank of England, published this week, total net lending to individuals rose by £1.5bn in August. The twelve-month growth rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 0.9%. The three-month annualised growth rate remained at 0.6%. Within the total, net lending secured on dwellings increased by £1.7bn, above the July figure of £0.0bn and the previous six-month average of £0.7bn. The twelve-month growth rate remained at 1.0%. he three-month annualised growth rate increased to 0.8%, from 0.5% in July. The number of loan approvals for house purchase (47,372) was below the July figure (48,346) and the previous six-month average (48,619). Approvals for remortgaging (28,042) were up on July and also higher than the previous six-month average (26,765), while approvals for other purposes (23,818) fell in August and were also below the previous six-month average of 24,969. Consumer credit showed a net repayment of £0.1bn in August, below the previous six-month average and the July increase of £0.2bn. The annual growth rate of consumer credit remained unchanged at 0.2% and the three month annualised growth fell to -0.1%. Within consumer credit, credit card lending increased by £0.1bn, slightly below the previous six-month average. As in recent months, there was a net repayment of other loans and advances (£0.2bn). Read more to top RICS comments on Bank of England mortgage approvals from August 2010 Commenting on the Banks’ mortgage figures, RICS said that while net mortgage lending actually rose sharply during August this was largely a reflection of a drop in the value of repayments on secured loans in August. Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist said: “Lack of availability of mortgage finance remains a key factor depressing housing market, although increasing concerns about the outlook for the economy may also be impacting adversely on buyer interest. Significantly, today’s numbers alongside figures from HMRC suggest that the proportion of properties being bought without a mortgage remains relatively high. “Despite this, the latest RICS Housing Market Survey shows a pick-up in sales expectations which could be, in part, a reflection of the suspicion that there will be a response from potential homebuyers to the slightly weaker trend in prices in recent months.” Read more to top CBI: High street sales grow for third month running Sales on the high street were higher than a year ago in September, representing the third consecutive year-on-year increase and surpassing expectations, according to the latest CBI quarterly Distributive Trades Survey. Retailers expect another strong rise in sales next month. 60% of retailers surveyed said that the volume of sales rose during September, while 11% said that it fell, giving a balance of +49%. This was the highest balance since May 2004 (+51%), and compares with an expected figure of +39% last month. Sales volumes (+14%) were also above average for the time of the year for the first time since June 2007. This increase was also reflected in the volume of orders placed upon suppliers (+39%), which rose strongly again on a year ago, surpassing last month’s prediction of +29%. The clothing and footwear and leather sub-sectors saw particularly strong sales growth, which are likely to have been boosted by the arrival of new autumn ranges. Solid sales growth was also recorded in the furniture and carpets sector. Looking to October, a balance of +47% of firms expect a higher volume of sales than a year ago. Read more to top Events New Homes Month ends Sunday Hundreds of media outlets have now covered the New Homes Marketing Board’s New Homes Month promotional campaign that concludes Sunday, with articles appearing in the print, broadcast and digital media promoting the benefits of new homes. Many national and regional newspapers have run specific NHM supplements, and feedback from Members has been extremely positive. Examples of media coverage (a full report containing all media coverage will be available after the campaign concludes); Builders spotlight the benefit of new homes Why a new build home is greener and better value To find out more about NHM contact nhm2010@hbf.co.uk to top Housing Market Intelligence – Shapps to provide keynote address Grant Shapps will provide the keynote address at this year's Housing Market Intelligence conference. The conference and annual report launch will be held on Tuesday 12th October at Savoy Place in London. Now in its eighth year, Housing Market Intelligence has become the leading strategic conference for the house building industry. Other speakers confirmed so far include Persimmon chairman John White, Andrew Whitaker (HBF – planning), John Stewart (HBF – economics) and Michael Coogan, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The event will sum up the new political climate nearly six months after the election, as well as providing analysis and insight into the market, the economy, the sustainability agenda, mortgages and all the key issues for house builders and associated companies. Please click here for the full agenda, to download a booking form and to book online or contact events@house-builder.co.uk to top Housebuilder Awards 2010 – Huw Edwards to host. The Housebuilder Innovation awards, that takes place on October 28th, will this year be hosted by prominent national tv broadcast journalist Huw Edwards. Now in its sixth year - the prestigious awards bring together the best of innovation and excellence in the house building industry. The awards are the highlight of the house building calendar, celebrating the very best of the industry and recognising the achievements of those leading the way in innovation. This year the winners will be announced at a glamorous black tie event at the Millennium London Mayfair Hotel. To see the full shortlist and book your table for this year’s Housebuilder Awards please visit www.house-builder.co.uk/awards/ to top HBF Ball – Friday 10th December, London. The HBF Ball will this year take place on Friday 10th December. Traditionally the social highlight of the industry’s year it will take place at the Marriott Grosvenor Square, London. Starting with a fantastic reception, the evening includes a three course meal, live music and dancing till 2am. It’s the perfect way to start your Christmas celebrations and the ideal time to catch up with industry colleagues. The supported charity for this year’s Ball is Habitat for Humanity The HBF Ball is kindly co sponsored by H+H and Ibstock Brick. For more details please click here or email events@house-builder.co.uk for a booking form. to top HBF Technical Conference, Birmingham, Tuesday 9th November Redefining the regulatory maze. This year’s HBF Technical Conference will this year look at the regulatory burden facing the industry. Discussing the forthcoming changes in the building regulations, the Code for Sustainable Homes and the Flood and Water Management Act. Please click here to book online or download a booking form. Call 020 7960 1646 with any queries. to top Solar Power UK 2010, 18-19th October, Savoy Place, London – discount for HBF members The Solar Power Group of the Renewable Energy Association is spearheading Solar Power UK 2010, the number one solar PV event in the UK. The conference will bring together experts and business leaders in the solar industry in the UK. Attendees can hear from Ray Morgan, CEO of Woking Council on using PV to combat Fuel Poverty, Adrian Lea - Renewables Planning Officer for Cornwall Council, Nicholas Doyle from Places for People on plans to roll out PV in social housing and Ray Noble, PV specialist for the REA on new protocols for integrating PV into buildings. For Home Builders Federation members a specially negotiated 20% discount is offered for delegate bookings using the code: HBF20OFF. Please click here for more details to top For other HBF events visit the website For HBM events visit to top Rosie Hinchliffe View Previous Weekly News Summary
