<b>Top stories this week:</b> Housing Green Paper sets out proposals to deliver more homes....... CLG Select Committee to conduct enquiry into the existing housing stock......... HBF meets with the OFT.........
Top stories this week
Housing Green Paper sets out proposals to deliver more homes ...... read
CLG Select Committee to conduct enquiry into the existing housing stock..... read
HBF meets with the OFT...... read
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On Monday Yvette Cooper, Minister for Housing and Planning launched the Government's Housing Green Paper setting out "proposals to deliver the homes that Britain urgently needs today and for the future."
The paper consolidates a wide range of proposals to build more homes including affordable and social housing, more quickly and to higher standards including confirmation of the objective that all homes should be built to zero-carbon standards by 2016.
In media terms, the announcement of the Green Paper was overshadowed by the floods disaster which led to questions being raised about the future location of new homes.
HBF has issued a briefing note for members on the Green Paper (members only)
View the HBF Green Paper Briefing
Consultation on the Green Paper will run until 15 October.
HBF: Government must focus on land supply to meet Green Paper aspirations
In a press statement responding to the Housing Green Paper, Stewart Baseley HBF Executive Chairman said:
"Fundamental to delivery of all the Governments objectives is the provision of sufficient land with implementable planning permissions. Only this will enable us to build the full range of extra homes the country needs. This Green Paper is a step in the right direction towards meeting housing demand and easing affordability."
"The private sector already makes a significant contribution to the delivery of affordable homes. What we need most of all is confidence that we can go further, faster in speeding up the planning process to deliver the ambitious housing growth targets and help make housing more affordable. Adequate land supply is critical if we are to get anywhere near meeting the government's ambitious housing targets."
Conservatives: Government rhetoric on housing not matched by reality
Commenting on the Housing Green Paper, Grant Shapps Shadow Housing Minister said:
"The Government's rhetoric on housing has not been matched by reality. The Prime Minister's higher taxes have made it harder to get on the housing ladder. Home ownership has fallen for the first time since records began. First time buyers are at their lowest since 1980 and pay an average of £1,500 in stamp duty - £8,000 in London - where in 1997 the average was nothing."
Liberal Democrats: Housing Paper repeats mistakes of the past
Responding to today's publication of the Housing Green Paper, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Paul Holmes MP said;
"The Green Paper can't solve the problems created in the last decade by Labour's cowboy housing policies, because it just repeats them. Addressing the housing crisis needs vision and ambition, yet the only thing the Government has done is give all its failed ideas from the last decade a fresh lick of paint."
Shelter: Green Paper is a significant step forward
Shelter Chief Executive Adam Sampson said:
"Today's announcement is a significant step forward in tackling the immediate housing crisis which is engulfing Britain, and will contribute to achieving the Government's target to abolish child poverty by 2020".
CPRE: Effective planning essential to deliver homes that are affordable and green
The Campaign to Protect Rural England's Policy Director Neil Sinden, said:
‘Beware of myths that planning stands in the way of delivering the new homes the nation needs. Rather than relaxing planning controls, we must strengthen them to ensure that new homes are affordable, well designed and built in sustainable locations, increasing the use of previously developed land and reducing the risk of flooding.'
FOE: All new homes should be carbon neutral by at least 2010
Friends of the Earth's housing campaigner Paul de Zylva, said:
"The Government must insist that all new homes are carbon neutral by at least 2010. Our homes are responsible for over a quarter of UK carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon zero homes can already be built so there is no not need to wait until 2016 for the Government to act on this."
CLG Select Committee inquiry into carbon emissions of existing housing stock
The Select Committee for Communities and Local Governments will be conducting an inquiry to examine the contribution which the existing housing stock makes to UK carbon emissions.
The Committee will be considering the extent to which current measures to adapt existing housing have been successful and how improvements might be achieved. Topics for the inquiry include; comparing the performance of existing housing compared to new build, the provision of information to householders and house buyers including energy performance certificates, the role of the Government in reducing the carbon emissions of existing stock and the costs associated with this.
The Committee invites interested individuals and organisations to submit written memoranda addressing these topics by Wednesday 26th September 2007.
Yvette Cooper confirms new homes will be built on floodplains but ‘high risk' areas would be avoided
Speaking on BBC Radio 4 on Monday Yvette Cooper, Minister of Housing, made clear that some of the new homes which the Government wants to build would be sited on flood plains.
However, she insisted that the rules are being tightened to ensure there is no building on land considered to be at "high risk" of flooding by the Environment Agency.
Criticising anyone who might use the floods to block new developments, Cooper said: "I really hope that people will not play politics with the dreadful flooding and the misery that we have seen in order to whip up hostility to new housing".
Labour's building plans threaten the "sink estates of tomorrow"
The Conservatives warned that building new homes in areas of flood risk may make them uninsurable.
They pointed to the Association of British Insurers report which warns that a third of all proposed UK development is being planned for areas that are at risk of flooding.
Shadow Minister for Housing Grant Shapps said:
"We need to build more homes, but they must stand the test of time and be homes that families will actually want to live in. Yet Labour's Whitehall planning targets, imposed on local communities with the threat of financial penalties on top, threaten to increase the likelihood of flooding.
"I fear that many of these new developments may simply be uninsurable or blighted with exorbitant premiums. Labour aren't building the eco-towns of the 21st Century, they're building the sink estates of tomorrow."
The most vulnerable areas for development are: The Thames Gateway, East London,North Kent, Kent Thameside, South Essex, Bedford, Wellingborough and Northampton.
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee have announced a new inquiry into the flooding
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has decided that it will hold an inquiry into flooding. Evidence sessions are likely to begin on 10 October and the Committee's work is intended to contribute to the conclusions of the independently-led 'lessons learned' exercise that the Secretary of State announced on 12 July 2007. The Committee is appointing Members to gather information from some of those directly involved in order to help inform its inquiry.
The Committee invites written memoranda from interested parties on the issues raised by recent flooding in England and Wales and what steps public authorities should take to address them. These should reach the Committee by 13 September 2007.
In addition, while memories are fresh, the Committee would welcome brief e-mails (to efracom@parliament.uk) from people and organisations directly affected by the recent flooding, with suggestions about the issues the Committee should examine during its inquiry.
HBF held its second meeting with OFT officials responsible for the market study of the house building industry on Monday. HBF Managing Director, Sara Drake and Director of Economic Affairs, John Stewart had an opportunity to discuss the detailed scope and the process and timescales for the study.
The general consultation period from the first announcement of the Study will run until 17 August and written submissions are invited from interested parties. This consultation will be supported by a request to 'high level' stakeholders to respond to a detailed questionnaire covering those topics which the OFT has identified as most relevant. HBF were able to discuss the draft questionnaire with the OFT and invited to comment on how this could be made as effective as possible.
To find out more about this meeting view the HBF briefing (Members Only)
‘Give us the land and we will deliver' - Stewart Baseley speaks at CLG Growth Summit
Ahead of the Green Paper announcement on Monday, Stewart Baseley, HBF Executive Chairman was invited to speak alongside Yvette Cooper and other senior industry figures at the CLG Growth Summit in Reading. Stewart focused on how the housing industry, with the help of Government, both nationally and locally can embrace the opportunities and overcome the challenges of housing growth. Stewart Baseley talked of two main challenges ‘a double whammy'; land supply and the cost of regulation. He said:
"There is only one sustainable, long-term solution to our housing crisis. A steady and sustained increase in the amount of land coming through the planning system ready to build on. There are no new short-term fixes"...
"Delivery of more homes could be slower, not faster, if the burden of regulation becomes too much. Home builders can and do want to play their part and pay their share of costs. But when you add cumulatively the costs of: s106; and affordable housing obligations; and roof tax or planning gain supplement; and building to zero carbon... then the danger is that accelerated growth in housing will be hindered not helped."....
"I am confident that we can stand up to the double whammy. The housing industry is willing and able to adapt to deliver the volume of new homes to the highest standards over the ten-year plus timeframe.
Quite simply - give us the land and we will deliver"
HBF Media Coverage relating to Housing Green Paper, flooding and related issues on Monday 23 July
BBC Radio 4 The Today Programme
BBC Radio 4 You & Yours show - live, 12.30-12.45pm
BBC News 24 live interview at 2.45pm
BBC Radio 2 live interview at 5.25/5.30pm
Channel 4 News 12pm bulletin
HBF media coverage is now available on the HBF website
Planning White Paper
The HBF draft responses to the Planning White Paper and associated documents will be available to all members on the HBF website early next week.
Any comments on the drafts should be sent to HBF Head of Planning, Andrew Whitaker at andrew.whitaker@hbf.co.uk
Brakes slammed on house prices in July according to Nationwide
Nationwide's House Price Report shows that house price growth stalled in July, bringing annual growth back down into single digits. Prices in July were up 0.1% on June - the smallest increase since April 2006.
According to the report, a rise in interest rates to 6% is firmly on the horizon, but weak household income growth and mortgage payment shocks highlight the risk of monetary overkill.
Weaker mortgage approvals, subdued consumer credit says BBA
Latest figures from the British Banking Association have shown:
June's gross mortgage lending of £21.5bn, the highest figure ever, was a reflection of strong re-mortgaging activity. This was, however, only 5% higher than a year earlier, suggesting that in real terms, lending growth is slackening.
There were 193,850 mortgages approved (for all purposes) in June; 8% fewer than in June 2006, with an aggregate value of £23.1bn. The average loan approved for house purchase was £159,600, some 16% higher than a year earlier.
Underlying net mortgage lending (gross lending minus repayments and redemptions) rose by £5.4bn, lower than May's increase (£5.9bn) but in line with the recent average. The annual growth in net mortgage lending continued to stay around 14%.
Credit card borrowing fell by £0.1bn (net) in the month, while borrowing on personal loans and overdrafts rose by £0.1bn
Providing more building land will not make homes affordable says CPRE
Increasing the supply of land for housing would make little difference to housebuilding rates or house prices, concludes new research commissioned by the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
The study tracks house prices, housing completions and housing land supply over periods of ten years or more in a range of localities, including growth areas and areas with high and low house prices.
View the full results of the study
HBF - CPRE miss the point on land supply
Responding to the report published by the CPRE, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation Stewart Baseley said:
"CPRE's research compares apples with oranges. It wrongly assumes that because land is identified in Local Plans that it will automatically be developed. Simply identifying land does not build a single new home. What counts is a steady supply of land with planning permission that is viable for building new homes.
"The CPRE needs to face up to the fact that Government figures show that annual housing land supply for development has been falling steadily for more than a decade and actually fell by 7% between 1997 and 2003. The only way that more homes can be built and the significant undersupply of housing reversed is by significantly increasing the amount of land with planning permissions for building.
"The choice is stark - either we release more land for development, or a generation of young people will miss out on the opportunity for home ownership."
HBF also commented on the CPRE report on both Radio Five Live and BBC News 24 on the 2nd July.
CIS refinements starting October 2007
In October 2007 HMRC ‘turns on' the tests to check whether contractors can keep their gross payment status. It is essential that you pay over the PAYE and CIS tax deducted by the 19th of each following months - this will be the commonest reason for gross status to be renewed and refused.
If your gross payment status is challenged by HMRC please contact Liz Bridge at the Construction Confederation immediately. You will need help to review your case. You must make a prompt and focused appeal against their decision if you are to have any chance of retaining gross status.
In October HMRC will review all the returns that are outstanding. Whilst they are not asking for penalties for late returns for the first six months of new CIS, if a return is still outstanding for one of the first six months by the 19th of October, there will be a penalty. It is therefore important to make sure you have submitted all returns - even those that are ‘nil' returns. If you need help with a return or if you get a letter reminding you that a return is out standing and you think it has been submitted, or you think a return is unnecessary, or you have never received a return contact Liz Bridge for help. Liz can also help with choosing software for CIS.
0207 227 4514
Written by Jo Weston