Going Dutch
Posted: May 15, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Housebuilding, Planning, Self-build, Social housing | Leave a commentHere’s hoping that Grant Shapps found a bit more to do in the Netherlands on Monday than enthuse about self-build and get Kevin McCloud’s autograph.
The housing minister and the Grand Designs presenter were part of a UK housing delegation visiting Europe’s largest self-build project at Almere. There was also an event at the British Embassy aimed at boosting trade and business links.
They were clearly impressed by what’s happening and with good reason. There are more than 800 homes at Almere that people have built for around €50,000 less than the same property would cost in the commercial sector. Imagine something similar in Britain backed with planning reforms and help with finance and what Shapps is saying about the sector doubling in size starts to make sense (even if I wish he wouldn’t keep repeating the same announcements). If, as the minister told us two weeks ago, the future’s bright, it seems the future is orange too.
Silent speech
Posted: May 9, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Social housing, Welfare reform | Leave a commentIt’s hard to know whether it’s good news or bad news that there is so little legislation affecting housing in the new parliamentary session.
The Care and Support Bill will have implications for the sector but it’s effectively another delay to the government’s response to the Dilnot Commission’s funding proposals because it’s only a draft bill. See this from Rachael Byrne of Home Group and this from Simon Parker of the New Local Government Network for a flavour of the reaction to that.
Apart from that the Queen’s Speech had nothing on housing. The only piece of legislation from the Communities and Local Government (CLG) department is another draft Bill dealing with the consequences of abolishing the Audit Commission while the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will have its hands full with pensions.
Read the rest of this post at Inside Edge, my blog for Inside Housing.
Vampire diaries
Posted: May 8, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Housebuilding, Housing finance, Private renting, Social housing | Leave a commentThe maths involved in the CLG committee’s new report on the financing of new housing supply is depressingly simple.
Add newly arising need to cope with population growth (232,000 homes a year on the latest estimate) to the backlog of existing need (1.99 million households in 2009), then take away the completions in 2011 (109,000) and you are left with a huge gap in provision. Even if private housebuilders succeed in increasing their output from last year’s miserable 82,000 to the maximum they managed over the last 20 years of 150,000 (a very big if) the gap will still be huge and the backlog will still be growing.
Read the rest of this post at Inside Edge, my blog for Inside Housing.
Chink of light
Posted: April 26, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Economics, Housebuilding, Social housing | Leave a commentA small dip in the GDP and suddenly there is an opportunity to put housing back on the agenda.
It was only -0.2 per cent but yesterday’s figures confirm that the economy is in a double dip recession for the first time since the 1970s in a downturn that has already gone on longer than the one in the 1930s.
Read more at Inside Edge, my blog for Inside Housing.
A tale of two power lists
Posted: April 11, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Housing market, Social housing | 4 CommentsI don’t normally pay much attention to power lists (especially when I don’t feature on them) but two that came out this week contain some fascinating insights into housing and property.
First up came the Telegraph’s Property Power List topped by Sir Terence Conran. The paper claims that: ‘The 25 entries on our list represent a cross-section of the most important people working in the buying and selling of British homes. It includes those who work in the property field day-to-day, as well as those who exert their power from the fringes.’
Read the rest of this entry »
On repeat
Posted: April 4, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Right to buy, Social housing | Leave a commentFirst it was a revolution, then a reboot. Now it is a relaunch and a revamp.
The language has shifted considerably since David Cameron made the right to buy a key part of the ‘housing revolution’ he pledged in his Conservative conference speech in October.
Last month the policy was styled as a ‘reboot’. This month it’s so 21stcentury it’s even got it’s own Facebook page. The good news for the government is that it has 225 likes and news of happy council house buyers Mr and Mrs Watkins from Whitburn, South Tyneside. The bad news is that mixed in with some enthusiastic comments are a series of negative comments questioning the ‘back of a fag packet calculations’ and who is going to lend the money. Oh, and the fact that the Watkinses are actually £1 million lottery winners.
Happy returns
Posted: March 26, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Social housing | Leave a commentCan anyone seriously imagine the bankers and super-rich of today following the example of George Peabody?
Today is the 150th anniversary of the announcement in The Times that the American banker was donating £150,000 to form the Peabody Trust ‘to ameliorate the condition of the poor and needy’ in London.
Read the rest of this post on Inside Edge, my blog for Inside Housing.
Council Housed and Violent
Posted: March 20, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Culture, Social housing | Leave a commentHas anyone watched the video for ill Manors yet? Or heard the song on the radio? If not, you should.
If you need enlightening, ill Manors is the new single from the rap and soul star Plan B that is officially released next Monday ahead of a film of the same name that is due out soon.
Read the rest of this post on Inside Edge, my blog for Inside Housing.
The really ideal home show
Posted: March 17, 2012 | Author: julesbirch | Filed under: Social housing | Leave a commentThere was some really good news at Earl’s Court this week. But it had nothing to do with the opening of the Ideal Home Show or the fact that Prince Charles was there and everything to do with the future of the exhibition hall and the surrounding area.
The good news came from an unlikely source too: housing minister Grant Shapps and a DCLG consultation on ‘helping tenants take control’. The plans include a ‘right to transfer’ that will allow tenants to ask that that the ownership of their homes be transferred from the council to a housing association. At the moment they can ask for a transfer but the council has no obligation to consider the idea. Under the consultation, the council would be obliged to work with them.
Jules Birch 