The politics of housing
The political profile of housing has once again surged.
Not only did our new Prime Minister reiterate his commitment to improving housing supply during his leadership campaign, but the contenders for the Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party also made housing one of their priorities.
We anticipated this and during June I wrote to Gordon Brown and each of the Deputy Leadership candidates with our mini-manifesto for action, calling amongst other things for housing to have its own seat at the Cabinet Table. We are of course pleased that Gordon Brown has announced that the Housing Minister will attend the Cabinet from now on. It is also significant that in his first speeches, Gordon Brown has put affordable housing as a top priority for his new Government.
Now that the leadership campaigns are behind us, I will be seeking early meetings with the new Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Yvette Cooper to discuss how we can work with the new Ministerial team to make real progress on tackling the critical issues of land supply and planning efficiency. In this respect it is beneficial I believe that Yvette Cooper has remained in post providing much needed continuity. We know Gordon Brown will want to make progress on housing and I am determined that HBF will be in at the start of this new era in Government.
We will also be seeking early meetings with the new Shadow Housing team of Eric Pickles and Grant Shapps.
HEADLINE ISSUES
OFT Market Study
The other big news story this month was of course the OFT's announcement that it has launched a Market Study of the housebuilding market.
I have already written to all HBF members about the original announcement and our first meeting with OFT officials. I do not want to go over the same ground again. However, rest assured that I feel confident HBF can manage the relationship with the OFT. We have a strong senior team who have had experience with the Barker and Callcutt Reviews and are used to gathering information and putting the industry's case.
Of course the OFT Study will also require considerable member involvement, both directly with the OFT and via HBF. We understand they will be seeking information from companies of all sizes, so this is not just an issue for the Majors.
I will continue to keep you fully informed. We are arranging a further meeting with the OFT to talk about the Study in more detail. However this has to wait until the OFT has itself worked out exactly what it will be examining, what information it wants to collect, and its expectations of HBF and the industry.
Callcutt Review
We have now collected land bank data from 21 of the largest member companies and have submitted our findings to the Callcutt Review. I am very grateful to those members who have assisted us.
The key finding is that these companies hold implementable planning permissions equivalent to 2.4 years, and that in 97% of these cases site work had started within three months of the permission. In other words, as we have always maintained, home builders do not sit on implementable permissions. Given that it takes 16 months on average between first application and an implementable permission, a finding of our Planning Timeline research earlier this year, and even longer if you take into account pre-application discussions, an average 2.4 year land bank seems perfectly reasonable.
This evidence will also be fed into the OFT Study which we have been told will begin by examining land banks and options.
We have been able to use these figures to rebut RTPI claims that land banking is a major barrier to delivery of increased housing numbers.
Thames Basin Heaths SPA
On 6 June I attended a meeting with CLG, Natural England, the Government Office for the South East and the South East England Regional Assembly to discuss how the EiP Technical Assessor's recommendations could be implemented.
Progress is slow and it was evident that the position of individual local authorities is critical to the overall speed at which we can move. I pressed for HBF to be directly involved in the strategic partnership that will consider a revised delivery plan and also proposed that the key areas of common ground that can currently be identified should be drawn together into a public statement or guidance that can be circulated to all relevant parties. Government agreed to pursue both these issues and it is planned to meet again next month.
Zero carbon homes and local standards
We held our second zero carbon homes summit on 6 June and I am again grateful to those of you who were able to participate for your positive contribution on the day.
A number of important issues were raised, with the Minister present to hear them and she undoubtedly listened to the points made. Following the renewed concerns expressed about the impact of local standards on housing supply and innovation, the Minister immediately organised a meeting between senior homebuilders and a number of local authorities on 18 June to discuss mutual perspectives and concerns.
While this meeting came to no decisive conclusions, there was a recognition that local action should not prevent necessary housing supply. There was also some acceptance by local authorities that no one is yet sure how we will achieve zero carbon standards across the market. We will seek to follow up this discussion to ensure that Government assists us as far as possible in promoting local approaches that facilitate industry action rather than prescribing particular standards and technologies.
Sweden visit
To help the industry deliver against our challenging 2016 targets the HBF took a group of members to visit the Hammarby Sjostad development in Stockholm to compare Swedish standards of housebuilding with those in the UK. We were struck by the positive benefit of such a forward looking integrated approach.
Discussions with energy suppliers
Debate in the 2016 Task Force and at our 6 June summit has identified the need for homebuilders to develop a dialogue with energy companies about the means for providing future low and zero carbon energy supplies for new homes. As a first step, the Chief Executive of the UK Business Council for Sustainable Energy (who is also a member of the Task Force), David Green, will be attending the Major Home Builders Group dinner on 2 July with some of his senior members. I hope this will enable us to understand the key commercial issues that need to be addressed so that we can seek any necessary action to resolve these.
Home Information Packs
The position on HIPs has remained fluid. We have concentrated on ensuring that homebuilder's specific interests are properly considered. We have held several discussions with CLG officials to ensure that there are practical arrangements for the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates for new homes. CLG has now agreed that final EPCs for new homes will not be required until January 2008. We will continue to brief you on developments.
Brownfield Remediation
Following consultation with the Finance Directors Group, HBF has submitted its response to "Tax incentives for development of brownfield land: a consultation". Key points we made were for the financial benefits of tax incentives to be realised as expenditure is incurred rather than after a delay, and to avoid making incentives contingent on obtaining planning permission.
EXTERNAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES
Affordable Housing Policy
We have finalised the report of the Affordable Housing Policy Group and will be submitting its findings to the Prime Minister, Chancellor, Communities Secretary and Housing Minister very shortly.
The key conclusions of the research are that the debate about affordable housing should not be narrowly focused on S106 Affordable Housing, but on the whole range of sources of supply which contribute towards increasing the availability of housing which is more affordable, and that the private sector has a major role to play in supplying affordable housing. The report is especially timely because it is clear Gordon Brown regards affordable housing as one of his Government's top priorities.
National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHAPU)
The Unit, which was launched on 7th June and gained widespread publicity with its first report, has set three initial research priorities: Assessing the impact of buy-to-let and second homes on house prices and the housing market; Considering the consequences of worsening affordability on demand for social housing; and Assessing the impact of infrastructure constraints on housing supply, including the impact of the Environment and Highways Agency in facilitating delivery.
HBF will keep in close touch with the Unit and will monitor its work.
CLG Housing Supply Target
HBF has been invited to several CLG and Treasury meetings at which the CLG's new housing supply Public Service Agreement (PSA) target has been considered. PSAs express the Government's highest priority outcomes for the spending period and are agreed between Government departments and the Treasury in the run-up to each Comprehensive Spending Review. It is an indication of HBF's credibility with Government that we have been asked to take part in this process.
All Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change
Together with Imtiaz Farookhi of NHBC, I spoke to this All Party Group on 7 June about the challenges entailed in the zero carbon homes objective and our preferred framework for working out solutions while increasing supply. With political opinion still pushing strongly for action on climate change, I believe we must continue to work hard to communicate our position clearly to all opinion-formers.
I also participated in a Policy Exchange seminar on lifetime homes with Shadow Housing Minister Michael Gove MP and representatives of the Disability Rights Commission, making the industry's case for limits to the volume of additional regulatory burdens which undermine residual land values and hinder development.
PLANNING ISSUES
Regional Plans
While the national consultation on proposed changes to the planning system continues, the regional agenda currently dominates planning issues.
As all of the Regional Spatial Strategies continue their seemingly endless journey through their statutory procedures there are a number of emerging themes.
Perhaps the most important is the clear trend towards support from both central government and, to a lesser extent, local government, for increasing housing provision. Apart from the South East (and, possibly the West Midlands when they eventually reach the same stage), the submitted draft RSS have all increased housing provision over and above that in the previous Regional Planning Guidance. Even more promising is the fact that the independent Panel's reports have all recommended even greater increases based primarily on the evidence of the 2004 based household projections.
While I recognise that there is some way to go to actually convert these regional figures into local Development Plans and then into implementable planning consents this upward trend is vital. If we are to increase housing output we must plan for more houses to be brought forward through the planning system. As the first step in the planning marathon, having higher RSS housing figures is a step in the right direction.
Housing Land Availability Assessment
The new guidance note on an agreed methodology for the production of Housing Land Availability Assessments, as required by PPS3, is expected to be published in mid July. A collaboration between CLG, HBF, the Local Government Association and the Planning Officers Society, the guide is a vital tool in ensuring a consistent approach to the appraisal and monitoring element of planning for housing. We are very pleased with the way the publication has been progressing within the agreed timetable and are hopeful that the content of the guide will be seen by all as a positive contribution to this emerging new practice.
Pre Application Discussions
In association with the Planning Advisory Service and others, HBF recently published a document entitled "Constructive Talk: investing in pre application discussions". We have been supporting a series of regional workshops on both this subject and Design and Access statements and I know that many of you will have sent representatives to the seminars. I trust they have been useful.
The full document was distributed with the HBF Newsletter last month and is also available for download from the HBF website.
The guide is intended to be useful to both developers and local planning authorities and I am hoping that together we can develop a more inclusive approach towards the challenge of "upfront planning". I therefore commend the publication to all of you.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Building Regulations
The final report on the water conservation consultation is due before the summer recess and it is anticipated that there will be a new Building Regulation coming into force next year, possibly in April. This will set a target for water consumption which can then be exceeded by the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Code for Sustainable Homes
The revised Green Guide is expected soon and we understand that there are some amendments being made to the technical guidance. English Partnerships have recently issued a Quality Standards Review suggesting that they will require more than Code level 3 and there is concern that their aspirations are based on an over-optimistic view of the capabilities of emerging technologies. There is a real danger that short-term failures could adversely affect public confidence in measures to improve the performance of buildings. We have written to EP on this point seeking a meeting to discuss our concerns in more detail.
Energy Performance Certificates
It is understood that EPCs will be required for all new dwellings from January 2008. Interim Assessments will be required from October on four bedroom houses and Predictive Assessments on uncompleted properties for the immediate future. There are now two separate sets of assessors: those qualified to use SAP and those with the new qualification to assess second hand homes using RDSAP.
Innovate for Homes
The last Home Builder Panel was on 12 June. HBF is currently revising the web pages to offer more information on the products submitted.
Manual for Streets
There are still places available on the seminars in Coventry and Bolton (with discount for HBF members - you need to quote your membership number). Please contact the Institution of Highways and Transportation (www.iht.org) who are organising the events.
PPS25
Seminars were held throughout June to secure feedback on the new PPS and the accompanying guidance.
Part G Review
We understand that Part G is about to be reviewed again - you will remember that there were discussions last year following concerns about the deaths from scalding. These were suspended when it was decided to issue a separate consultation about water conservation.
As ever, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me or the senior management team here at St James's Street if we can help further.