Planning

NATIONAL - HBF seeks to influence all emerging national planning policy. It represents member company views on both formal consultations and at the many steering groups and working parties to which HBF contributes. Once new policy is implemented HBF offers advice to members on its implementation. It facilitates forums and discussion to disseminate emerging best practice through regional steering groups, encouraging two way dialogue on emerging issues and trends, allowing members to discuss practical issues with their peers.

LOCAL - Following the publication the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), a new era of 'localism' based planning was ushered in whereby it is now up to each local planning authority to create a Local Development Plan to establish a robust evidence base for housing requirement for their area. In response to this, HBF, through our team of local planning experts, represents the industry at every Local Plan Inquiry and to many emerging local planning policy documents.

Demand-side Policy

The economic downturn towards the end of the noughties brought with it the reality of reduced demand for new homes. Throughout, HBF continued to put the case forward for Government intervention to help shore up the market and regain customer confidence. HBF was instrumental in the development and implementation of numerous demand side policies, including the hugely successful Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. HBF successfully pushed for an extension of the scheme to 2021 and lately, an additional £10bn of funding for the scheme.

SME Builders

One of HBF's main focusses over recent years has been on SME builders. If we are to increase output further SME builders need to be able to play their part. Arresting and reversing the 80% decline in the number of small builders that has taken place since the late 1980s would go some way to meeting the Government's housing supply aspirations.

A lot of the proposals we have been making with regards to the planning system have been focussed on assisting smaller companies in particular.

We had been working closely with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) on the detail of the £3bn Home Builders Fund for some time before it was announced. Since its launch we have been working with members and HCA to iron out application and operational issues.

Industry Image and Perceptions

HBF, working with members, looks to ensure that the public perception of the industry through the media, government and third parties is accurate. Our industry image work-streams are designed to inform all third parties about the realities of the industry and make public facts and statistics that tell the true story of house building. One such example is our Ghost Towns report, that highlighted that the Government's quarterly Housebuilding statistics underestimated actual housing supply by around 30k units, including massive shortfalls in certain parts of the country. We have been at pains to stress to Government that it should be using its own more accurate Net Additions to Housing Stock numbers that show there were 217k net additions in 2016/17.

Throughout the year we publish a number of regular and adhoc reports to highlight specific issues, such as our quarterly Housing Pipeline reports, a report debunking the myth of land banking, and a study detailing the wider economic benefits of house building.

Customer Satisfaction Survey

HBF introduced an annual satisfaction survey of new home buyers in 2005 to help drive up standards in the industry. The HBF Star Rating scheme, which awards participating members a star rating based on the survey results is now an established barometer of performance and a widely used industry marketing tool. The survey also helps participating members identify areas they can improve.

Online Services

HBF's main website is the main online portal for information about what is going on in the industry and the work that HBF is carrying out. Both current and historic briefings, reports, publications, newsletters and press releases are stored and made accessible to members, including information on events, HBF groups and conferences. Alongside our social media accounts, such as on Twitter and LinkedIn, the website also serves as the public facing front of HBF, providing industry information for journalists and media organisations, politicians, industry stakeholders and members of the public.

In addition to this website, HBF also runs the New-Homes.co.uk website, an online property portal that advertises new homes for sale across the country. This is HBF's consumer-facing website and is supported across social media, particularly on Twitter and Facebook. Boasting a significant online presence, the website provides a unique benefit allowing members to advertise their property listings for free.

Skills

HBF launched the Home Building Skills Partnership in 2016 following our successful application for a £2.7m grant from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). The partnership now has four members of staff and has established a Leadership board of senior industry figures. It has a number of work-streams underway that are now delivering tangible results against its main objectives: to attract and recruit more people into the industry; to raise standards of trading for all; and to ensure the industry is working more closely on training with its stakeholders including it's supply chain, sub contractors, colleges etc. The Partnership has also already undertaken a number of detailed research projects that will inform its work. As well as facilitating an increase in industry capacity, the work is also a clear demonstration to Government of our intention to grow and build more homes.

HBF also operates the House Building Careers website, providing an excellent source of information to anyone interested in finding out more about careers in the industry and the best ways to apply. The website is supported across social media and is updated regularly with industry employee profiles, news stories and information on upcoming events.

Technical Issues

HBF works on the industry's behalf to ensure the technical standards and Building regulations that the industry is required to build to are realistic and achievable. Throughout the year we will respond to a number of technical consultations and appear in front of select committees on various issues, such as the EFRA select committee inquiry on Future Flood Prevention; and the Defra /Ofwat consultation on charging for new water and sewerage connections.

One area with have had particular success with recently is the provision of broadband infrastructure to house building developments. We have worked closely with a number of providers to resolve issues members have had on individual sites, while also liaising with them to ensure that changes are made to create a more favourable operating environment for house builders. As a result of these discussions, the backlog of sites awaiting broadband connection has reduced significantly.

In 2016 we launched an agreement with Openreach with regards to super-fast broadband provision that now sees all sites of more than 30 units qualify for free super-fast broadband connection over and above the standard service. We have also reached connection agreements with Virgin Media and UTC as alternative options for builders to access super-fast services.

Retirement Housing

Through HBF's Retirement Home Builders Group, we continue to undertake work to analyse the factors that are limiting the supply of both specialist retirement housing and the development of a wider market for housing for older people. Surveys of the wider membership have been undertaken to inform this work and we are looking to develop a comprehensive policy platform designed to improve the supply of retirement housing.

Quality

HBF is leading the industry drive to ensure that build quality and Customer Service is prioritised as housing output increases. HBF is working with a range of stakeholders to develop proposals on how an industry ombudsman will be put in place.

Wales

HBF has developed a close working relationship with the Welsh Government that allows us to directly influence emerging national housing and planning policy. We regularly attend a variety of Welsh Government forums, including the Council for Economic Renewal, which is chaired by the First Minister and provides a vital platform for ensuring the WG is fully aware of our concerns. HBF is also directly involved in the local planning framework in ales and attends all Local Development Plan Examinations on behalf of the home building industry. We also work closely with a range of stakeholders and organisations on Technical matters, such as proposed changes to building regulations and we hold regular Technical Forums for our membership.

HBF was central in persuading the Welsh Government to launch its own Help to Buy Wales scheme for new build homes and is working with officials to monitor the operation of the scheme. By drawing on members' experience with comparable schemes in England, HBF played a key role in ensuring the scheme's introduction and ongoing implementation were smooth and successful.

HBF in the Media

HBF is the industry's recognised voice in the national and regional broadcast and print media and we regularly provide expert analysts to comment on the wide range of issues currently affecting house builders. This helps ensure balanced and informed commentary and to rebut negative and inaccurate reporting, sometimes on issues individual companies may find it difficult to comment on. HBF representatives appear regularly on flagship programmes such as 'Breakfast', 'The Today Programme' and 'You and Yours' as well as prime time national television news programmes and regional radio and are regularly quoted on the industry's behalf in national newspapers.