A weekly news summary covering all aspects of the housebuilding industry. Available to members only.
HBF News
HMI Conference focuses debate on climate change
The keynote speeches at this year’s Housing Market Intelligence Conference at HB06 focused attention on the current hot topic of how best to tackle climate change.
Stewart Baseley outlines radical vision for future environmental standards
In his speech, Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation, outlined a radical new vision to enable the home building industry to meet and beat Scandinavian environmental standards in future - the challenge laid down by Housing and Planning Minister Yvette Cooper following her recent European fact-finding visit.
Speaking with the Minister present, he set out the need for existing thinking to be replaced by a significantly new policy framework if the environmental challenge is to be addressed successfully in the timescale desired.
He told conference delegates that a new framework, which should engage all stakeholders, will require three critical parts:
Clear and simple long-term environmental performance targets set by Government in consultation with the industry
A commitment from the Government to monitor progress, but not to pick winners or intervene with new conditions or targets over the course of the framework period
Consideration of the need for changes to be in line with customer desires and expectations Addressing the industry, he said:
“This approach will allow the industry to do what it does best - change, adapt and innovate - providing the shortest and most effective route to attaining the environmental standards set in Scandinavia and other parts of the continent,”
“The environmental agenda is here and it’s here to stay. We can choose to embrace it, lead it, and shape a regulatory environment that is both effective and business-friendly, or we can choose to cover our heads with our hands and await the crude, blunt strikes of regulation and Government action.”
On the back of the conference, the Home Builders Federation will be writing to all the main stakeholders in the debate - house builders, RSLs, environmental NGOs, building products suppliers, consumer groups and utilities - to come together for a high-level environmental round table to take this idea forward.
And making housing supply part of the solution……
Stewart Baseley also used the conference platform at HB06 to press the Government to do more to make the planning system more efficient and bring more land forward for development:
“If we can implement this vision, 200,000 new homes each year will be a fundamental part of the solution to the environmental challenge, not part of the problem. If addressing the current housing shortage was not reason enough, our role in delivering a more sustainable Britain will place a further premium on getting volumes right.”
http://www.hbf.co.uk/news
Yvette Cooper signals her wish to work with the HBF
Responding, Yvette Cooper welcomed the ideas set out by Stewart Baseley and said the Government wanted to work with the HBF to identify solutions that would enable the industry to innovate, while also simplifying the structure of building regulations. She renewed her call for new homes to be built at Scandinavian standards and welcomed the work of the Home Builders Federation and other organisations to push for environmentally friendly and sustainably designed housing developments.
Addressing the conference, she said:
“There are clear challenges ahead if we are to build the homes that future generations need to a high eco-standard. If other countries can do it then so can we"
“UK developers must do more to create low cost and environmentally friendly homes. The ideas and techniques are already being used by our European neighbours - we must seize this opportunity to do more now so that on ten years time the UK will be a world leader in low cost and low carbon design.”
http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1002882&PressNoticeID=2262
Government News
Home Sellers to get chance to trial Energy Performance Certificates and Home Information Packs
The Government has announced that people in six areas who choose to do so will get an early chance to trial the new Energy Performance Certificates - similar to consumer-friendly fridge ratings - and Home Information Packs (HIPs), which will be launched next year.
Local estate agents will meet representatives from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) in Bath, Cambridge, Southampton, Huddersfield, Northampton and Newcastle upon Tyne over the next few weeks to find out more about the trials and get the chance to sign up to take part. The Government’s aims for the trials, which will begin on 6 November, are to:
understand the impact of HIPs (with and without Home Condition Reports, which will be voluntary elements of the Pack) on the home-buying and selling process;
identify how the take-up of Home Condition Reports can be maximised;
determine how to maximise the impact of Energy Performance Certificates on the public’s awareness of energy efficiency matters.
The trials will enable the reaction of both buyers and sellers to the packs to be tested on the ground in the run up to mandatory Energy Performance Certificates and Home Information Packs being introduced for all residential sales on 1 June 2007.
As part of the trials there will also be a range of incentives including a limited number of free packs; and packs available at a reduced cost for homeowners who want to try them out. For further information visit http://www.homeinformationpacks.gov.uk/
SPLINTA say HIPS Dry Run is a waste of tax payers' money
In a House of Lords debate on 11th October, the Government confirmed that £4 million of tax payer's money is to be spent in part on subsidising a 'dry run' of the Home Information Pack (HIP) prior to its introduction in June 2007.
Government spokeswoman, Baroness Andrews stated: "Money will be used for communication and advertising, and we will be offering incentives in the form of a limited number of free packs as well as packs in which the mandatory element will be provided to the seller free of charge, leaving them free to pay for the HCR, and packs provided on a no-sale, no-fee basis."
Nick Salmon FNAEA, head of the anti-pack campaign group, SPLINTA (Sellers Pack Law is not the Answer) issued a statement saying this subsidy called into question the objectivity and validity of the dry run. "We question why tax payer money is being spent to subsidise private sale transactions. This subsidised voluntary trial of the HIP cannot accurately reflect the circumstances that would exist when the pack is made mandatory and giving away free packs will skew the trial results. It is a waste of taxpayers' money. The government is about to repeat the error it made in a similar trial in Bristol five years ago. Despite assurances that the dry run results will be independently assessed we are very concerned that a commercial organisation representing the firms that stand to make money from the packs is running this trial. We would advise estate agents and sellers to steer well clear of it."
SPLINTA has in addition proposed modifications to the HIP that would remove the need for the dry run and make the scheme more practical and cost-effective in its view for the industry and consumers.
While the NAEA doubt HIPs will be introduced on time
The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) published the results of a survey of its members indicating that 69% of those who responded did not believe HIPs would be introduced by the deadline of 1 June 2007. 84% also felt HIPs should be dropped completely.
Economic News
First-time buyers struggle as more and more pay stamp duty, reveals CML
The proportion of first-time buyers paying stamp duty has leapt from 48% to 56% in the space of just a year, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders' latest monthly statistics. And only 15% of home movers escaped the tax in August, compared with 21% a year earlier.
The CML data also reveals how first-time buyers are continuing to struggle in the current market. They accounted for just 35% of the total number of house purchase loans in August, their lowest proportion since the current survey started in April 2005. More encouragingly, their numbers have been rising in absolute terms - and at 38,100 were actually more robust than the 34,900 in August last year. The age of a typical first-time buyer has remained consistent at 29 for the past year.
Average price for house is £197,000
The average home is now worth almost £200,000, Government figures show.
New data from the Department for Communities and Local Governemnt (DCLG) suggest that the average property price for August was £197,631, compared to July's total of £194,454.
The rate of house price inflation rose from six per cent in July to 7.7 per cent, while inflation in London was slightly higher at 7.9 per cent. The average price for a home in the capital is £286,369.
Nationwide report shows annual house price inflation rising
The Nationwide quarterly review of house prices published this week has shown that this measure of annual price movements has jumped by 2.1%, from 4.8% in Q2 of 2006 to 6.9% in Q3.
Housing Market
Flats form almost half of new build homes
The latest figures from NHBC have shown that up to the end of August, 47% of new homes started in the UK were flats and maisonettes. This compares with a figure of just 20% for detached properties.
NAEA report housing market steady in September
The National Association of Estate Agents’ (NAEA) latest monthly survey indicates that the property market slowed in September after a particularly strong August.
Sales levels reported by agents were down by 6.6% from August, although they were up by 7.7% from September 2005. The number of people looking to buy and sell both dropped back in September, but with demand clearly continuing to outstrip supply the NAEA see this as indicative of a steady market.
Other News
Avoid the floodplain and build for the future says the ABI
Further building on the floodplain should be avoided as climate change increases the flood risk the ABI (Association of British Insurers) said today. It states that in the last four years nearly 800 new housing developments have been built in high flood risk areas against the advice of the Environment Agency. In London alone 500,000 properties, 200 schools, 16 hospitals, and 8 power stations are already situated in the floodplain. Speaking at the HB06 Conference Jane Milne, the ABI’s Head of Property, said:
“We want people to be able to make a home for their families. But the rising flood risk threatens some of the areas targeted in the Government’s ambitious plans for new homes and could turn these dreams into nightmares. We must avoid building on the floodplain wherever possible.
“Sensible planning now will reduce the significant costs in the future: the average insurance claim for flooding costs up to £30,000. ABI members are committed to continuing insurance wherever possible for existing customers, but will look more critically at new builds.”
Ofgem call for action to assist microgeneration
Energy regulator Ofgem this week called for energy suppliers to offer householders better prices for selling surplus energy produced by microgeneration back to the grid and to make more information available about how this could be done. According to press reports, Ofgem Chief Executive Alistair Buchanan considers new legislation could force the regulator to set prices and terms for the sale of of surplus domestically generated electricity back to the networks if energy companies are not willing to make fair arrangements voluntarily. (Daily Mail, 9 October).
Consultation/Key Publication Dates
Code for Sustainable Homes Implementation Early 2007
Home Information Packs (HIPs) Regulations - Revised regulations published 14 June, further revisions required
HIPs Trials November 2006 onwards
HIPs Introduction 1 June 2007
Implementation of new DCLG structure went live 2 October
Housing and planning incentives To 17 October
Planning and Pollution Control Consultation Closes 6 December
Part B of Building Regs - Document Autumn
Implementation April 2007
Water Regulations Consultation Document Autumn
HBF Events
HBF Technical Conference 2006: Codes and Regs – The Way Forward
9 November 2006 - Nottingham Belfry Hotel, Nottingham
For those not attending Housebuilding 2006, the HBF Technical conference offers the opportunity to catch up on the technical issues of the moment. This parallel conference will be once again looking at the hot topics of the Code for Sustainable Homes and Building Regulations, and will address any further developments since HB06.
Current speakers are included from the following organisations: DCLG, LABC, HBF, Robust Details ltd.
For further information please contact events@hbmedia.co.uk or 020 7960 1646. To register your place on-line visit www.hbmedia.co.uk
For details of HB Media events click here
For a full list of HBF events please visit HBF Events & Meetings
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Joanna Turner and John Slaughter