news COMMENT
Housing unit numbers submitted into planning authorities across the UK were up nearly 12 per cent in the final quarter of the 2012. Combined with an increase in overall housing planning application numbers, is this a sign of a commercial housing upturn? Figures from Planning Pipe show that
housing units submitted into planning authorities across the UK were up from around 122,000 in the third quarter of 2012, to over 136,000 in the final three months of the year. The increase is in housing units is also matched by
an increase in the absolute number of multi-unit housing applications during the quarter. Setting aside the caution required in
interpreting any indicator based on a single quarter, these figures might be encouraging for two reasons. Firstly the final three months of every year is always the least active for new planning applica- tion numbers, so any increase bucks an established trend. (Note the figures are also not skewed by few, very large housing schemes.) Secondly, the last quarter planning application numbers for single dwelling new builds and single conversions do indeed follow the usual downward historic trend – suggesting that something different, and more pos- itive – is going on at the commercial end of the housing market.
Housing confidence boost or confidence trick? On the back of reforms to the plan-
ning system currently going through Parliament there is plenty of noise about a future regulatory environment that will be more supportive to development. There has also been some recent evidence of a boost in housing numbers approvals. The housing industry could be taking advantage of a benign planning environ- ment to bank some more approved schemes. Or is this more related to an actual upturn in confidence? In short – too early to tell! Any
increase in the number of planning approvals is welcome but will be short- lived unless supported by an increase in the number of actual applications. In theory, developers might submit more planning applications if they think they have a greater chance of winning approval. In fact with the current average approval rate of commercial applications standing at over 90 per cent, there would appear to be limited headroom in this area. A better target on the regulatory side is speed of planning approval – a target all local authorities are publicly measured upon. On the industry side a positive housing pipeline will be driven by the market funda- mentals of finance and investment confidence. This last quarter may be encouraging – but of course one quarter does not make a trend.
7
Paul Graham is managing director
of Planning Pipe – a live search engine and alerting service to all new UK plan- ning applications.
www.planningpipe.co.uk
enq.601
John McAslan + Partners’ King’s Cross Station redevelopment project wins 2012 Bentley Be Inspired Award
John McAslan + Partners has announced that its King’s Cross Station redevelopment project in London has won a 2012 Be Inspired Award from Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley is the leading company dedicated to providing comprehensive software solutions for sustaining infrastructure. The project won in the ‘Innovation in Building’ category. The recipients of the Be Inspired Awards are selected by independent panels of jurors compris- ing accomplished Bentley users and
distinguished industry experts. The awards honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving and sustain- ing the world’s infrastructure, recog- nising outstanding and innovative project achievements in infrastructure design, construction, and operations. Commenting on the award presented to John McAslan + Partners, Huw Roberts, Bentley Vice President, Core Marketing, said: “The judges selected this project for its ability to innova- tively bring simulation and reality
together to restore the historic fabrics of this property while adding and opti- mizing new designs and features for the modern-day traveler. Understanding that ‘collaboration is a fundamental tool,’ John McAslan + Partners’ use of MicroStation produced accurate 3D representations at all project stages to ensure shared understanding of the design across the project team. On behalf of my colleagues at Bentley, I congratulate John McAslan + Partners on this extraordinary accomplishment!
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