Top stories this week *Government seeks Lifetime Home Standards by 2013 *All new homes to require a rating against the Code from May 2008 Top stories this weekGovernment seeks Lifetime Home Standards by 2013....read moreAll new homes to require a rating against the Code from May 2008.....read moreQuick Links Government NewsHousing Market NewsEconomic NewsIndustry NewsEventsGovernment News Government seeks Lifetime Home Standards by 2013The Government announced on Monday its wish to see Lifetimes Home standards adopted across the industry by 2013. In a statement Communities Secretary Hazel Blears said:"Demand for housing is high - being driven to a large extent by older people. Not only do we need to build more homes, but the right kind of homes too. That means 'lifetime homes' suited to families with pushchairs right through to older people in wheelchairs."By making age friendly changes both inside and outside of homes we can help to break the link between old age and dependency."Government's press statement and the Government's policy document, "Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods: A National Strategy for Housing in an Ageing Society", Lifetime homes view in full Details of the 16 elements of the Lifetime Home standard please click here. HBF's responseHBF first learned of the CLG's intentions when we were contacted by the BBC on Thursday last week and asked for comment. We were astonished by this approach as CLG had not even mentioned their impending announcement to us let alone consulted us about their policy thinking. We immediately spoke to CLG and expressed our anger. Having established the CLG's policy position we then issued our own advance press statement at the weekend. View the full HBF press statementThe HBF's Retirement Housing Group also issued a press release please click here to viewHBF's response led to us being invited to comment on the Government's proposals on national broadcast media. Stewart Baseley took part in a discussion on the Radio 4 Today Programme and appeared on BBC Breakfast Television and John Slaughter participated in a debate on BBC2's Working Lunch programme. Stewart Baseley on BBC Radio 4 Today programmeJohn Slaughter on BBC 2 Working Lunch programme (clip at 11mins 30secs)HBF also took part in regional radio interviews on this subject and have fed our views into a piece in the Financial Times on 26 February.Stewart Baseley has also written to Caroline Flint (please click here to view) expressing the industry's annoyance at both the failure of process that has occurred and the addition of a further unwelcome regulatory burden.To download the HBF briefing on Lifetime Homes (members only)to topAll new homes to require a rating against the Code from May 2008The Housing Minister Caroline Flint announced at the Eco Build 2008 conference on Wednesday that all new homes at the stage of submitting a building notice, a full plans application or an initial notice for the purposes of building regulations will require a rating against the Code for Sustainable Homes from May 2008. Speaking at Eco Build she said:"By requiring a rating for all new homes against the Code for Sustainable Homes in the run up to 2016, we are making the standards that different homes reach more transparent and are creating an important incentive for house builders to provide greener, more sustainable homes. Providing these ratings will also give buyers valuable information about their home, allowing them to make an informed choice and helping people to reduce their own household carbon emissions."From May 1, developers will need to include in HIPs either a "Code Sustainability Certificate" (where the home has been designed and assessed against the Code) or a "Nil-rated Certificate" (when a home has not been assessed against the Code). These will complement Energy Performance Certificates, which will be a compulsory element of the packs from April 1.The Minister also confirmed that all Government-funded new homes will be built to Code level 3.HBF commentHBF held a series of detailed discussions with CLG ahead of this week's announcement to point out the unduly negative message the requirement for a rating for homes not designed to meet the Code was likely to have and the likely marketing response of developers to this. Stewart Baseley also wrote to the Minister voicing these concerns. The Government was not, however, willing to change its stance, although it did agree to a number of presentational and drafting improvements to the "Nil-rated Certificate" in the light of our representations.Link to full ministerial announcementHBF will issue further details as they become available.Distribution of £1bn funding for housing market renewal programme announced The Government has announced the regional distribution of more than £1bn to revitalise the housing market in key areas and restore stable communities. Up to £54m a year will be made available to each of the twelve "Pathfinder" areas over the next three years, under the housing market renewal programme. Merseyside, East Lancashire, Manchester Salford, South Yorkshire and North Staffordshire are each set to receive more than £100m over the three years. This will fund further progress towards restoring stable communities and re-connecting housing markets with their regions. Further detail on the pathfinder programmeCLG Household ProjectionsRevised CLG 2004-based household projections maintain the same rate of household growth in England as a whole (223,000 pa 2004-26), but alter the regional distribution after taking account of new evidence on the distribution of migrants around the country. London's household growth has been reduced to 33,400 pa from 39,400 pa. By contrast, growth in the Eastern region has been raised to 29,800 pa from 26,600 pa. Growth has also been increased modestly in the East Midlands, South West and South East.More informationto topHousing Market NewsHouse price inflation falls for the fourth month The latest house price report from Nationwide shows that house prices fell by 0.5% in February, the fourth consecutive monthly decline meaning that the average house price has lost more than £6500 since October 2007. House price inflation fell from 4.2% to 2.7%.Capital Economics have also reported Bank of England data today which shows that in January there were 74,000 mortgage approvals for new house purchases, around 40% lower than a year ago. In response to this and the Nationwide figures, Capital have reported that they expect buyer demand to remain weak as affordability remains problematic and the economy cools. They predict that house prices will start to fall year-on-year with an ultimate decline of 5% in 2008.View full press release from NationwideNAEA report a positive start for this year Members of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) reported a positive start for the New Year as recent figures from their monthly housing market survey indicate a new sense of optimism from consumers for 2008.Agents across the country reported an average of 83 properties for sale in January compared with 76 in December 2007. First-time buyers also saw an increase their market share with a rise from 13.0% in December to 14.5% in January. View full report from NAEAto topLand Registry report modest house price rise for January House prices in England and Wales increased by 0.9 per cent in January according to the latest monthly figures from Land Registry.The increase takes the average house price to £186,045. However, the data shows a decline in annual house price changes, from 6.7 per cent last month to 6.4 per cent this month. London experienced annual price growth of 13.1 per cent, with the average house price for January standing at £357,976. The largest monthly growth was seen in the North West with an increase of 2.0 per cent, taking the average house price there to £139,362.The volume of transactions was down on the same period last year, with an average of 100,648 per month in the months August to November 2007, compared with 117,173 per month from August to November 2006. View full report Housing ‘Careers' have changed with more people moving between rental and home-ownership according to CMLHousing ‘careers' used to be fairly straightforward - leave home, buy first home, move up housing ladder, perhaps trade down in retirement. But according to a new research paper from the CML this has changed and more people are now dipping in and out of home-ownership, owning property they do not live in, or living in property they do not own. The research highlights the following:-As many as a fifth of first-time buyers (that is, people who are not currently home-owners) are in fact "returners" who have at some point in the past been home-owners; The traffic is two-way: around 15% of people moving into private renting in 2005-6 were previously home-owners; A significant minority of people - around 10% - own a property that is not their current home, and this is sometimes instead of rather than in addition to their current home; The number of second homes in England has risen by 30% over the past decade; Around 900,000 men and 1.2 million women are couples "living apart together", who maintain their own individual properties; The rise of the tenant-cum-landlord: typically younger people who cannot afford to buy a property where they work, but buy one in a cheaper area and let it, to get a foot on the property ladder.View full research reportto topHometrack report fifth month of house price falls but modest improvement in demand According to housing market analysts Hometrack, February saw the fifth house price fall in a row, but there were signs of a modest improvement in demand over the month. Average prices were down by 0.2% with the annual rate of growth slipping to +1.4%, the lowest level since April 2006.Despite the continued weakness in underlying prices, February's survey showed signs of improving demand with the first increase in new buyer registrations since last summer. Firming demand and an increase in the number of sales agreed, explain the small improvement in the month on month rate of growth. More onlineCML reports buy-to-let lending up in 2007 New survey data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders shows that buy-to-let lending totalled £24.1 billion in the second half of 2007, up from £21.2 billion in the first half of the year and £20.8 billion in the second half of 2006.The number of loans (including remortgages) to buy-to-let landlords in the second half of the year was 179,100, up from 171,800 in the first half of the year and 177,200 in the second half of 2006.More onlineto topEconomic NewsCBI reports High Street growth ends while prices rise stronglyHopes of stronger High Street sales failed to materialise over the year to February and instead sales growth came to a halt, according to the latest CBI Distributive Trades Survey. However, despite belt-tightening among increasingly cautious consumers and flat retail sales, the prices of goods in the year to February increased at their fastest rate in over a decade, as many retailers felt the pressures of rising energy, food and raw material costs. Looking ahead, no improvement in demand is expected, with retail sales set to remain broadly unchanged next month.to topIndustry NewsCPRE publish paper on the future of the countryside, including possible use of some green belt land for new housing The Campaign to Protect Rural England has sought to spark a national debate about the future of the countryside with the publication of a discussion paper.It includes identification of five key countryside issues that describe possible futures for people and places in 2026, and under the provision of new housing it accepts that 'some homes will be built on countryside.'Shaun Spiers, Chief Executive of CPRE, said:‘While we continue to defend countryside from inappropriate development we also want to come up with positive solutions. We want to show how necessary development can be accommodated without eating up too much countryside, and how the countryside's value - as an amenity, in supplying food, in helping us mitigate and adapt to climate change - can be enhanced. ‘We have set out one exciting possible vision. Be we can't provide all the answers. We need a national debate that will, we hope, lead to a shared understanding of the sort of countryside we want to see and how to get it.'More onlineto topEventsHousing Futures - 13th MarchEast Midlands Conference Centre, NottinghamA one day conference and debate on the issues facing the industry for managers of regional businesses to attend with their senior team. Confirmed speakers include: Sunday Times, Economics Editor, David SmithMarket expert and HBF Economist, John StewartPlaces for People, CEO, David CowansEnglish Partnership, Director of Policy, Steve CarrHBF, Executive Chairman, Stewart BaseleyStewart Milne group, Design Director, Ross Peedle Plus Barratt Homes, Senior Land Manager, Ben Cook and HTA, Head of Sustainability and Innovation, Rory Bergin talking about their winning Carbon Challenge scheme.For further details or to book please contact the HBM Events Team on 0207 960 1646 events@hbmedia.co.uk to topThe Future of Building Control - 10 April 2008Austin Court, BirminghamThe Government is proposing major changes to the way that Building Regulations are enforced. These changes will affect everyone involved in house building - builders and developers, architects and designers, specialist consultants and building control professionals. This conference sets out the reasons why change is thought to be necessary, why the current system doesn't appear to be working properly and what improvements the government would like to see. Delegates will be able to contribute to the debate by challenging the views of the speakers and voting electronically For further details or to book please contact the HBM Events Team on 0207 960 1646 events@hbmedia.co.uk For other HBF events visit the website http://www.hbf.co.uk/index.php?id=eventsandmeetingsFor HBM events visit www.hbmedia.co.uk to topJo Weston
