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Reports of financial armageddon post-Brexit have been exaggerated, and the future remains rosy for self-builders
tournament – it’s comforting to know some things are still predictable!) Now the dust has had time to settle – and by the way the predicted immediate financial meltdown didn’t happen – how has the property market reacted? The key post-Brexit facts are there has been no evi- dence of a financial crisis, and no clamming up of the consumer credit markets in the residential sector. TSB quoted that within four working days of the Brexit vote, mortgage activity had returned to normal. I have been speaking to and working with developers, and the common theme is that sales and reservations have not been affected by the EU referendum. The HBF (Home Builders Federation) along with Greg Clark, the
aving worked through three major recessions, the last one drag- ging on for some considerable time, the uncertainty around the possibility of us not remaining a part of the European Union was just what the house building sector wasn’t looking forward to. As we woke up on 24 June and switched on the news, all of a sud-
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den the reality kicked in that we were no longer going to be part of the European Union. Reactions ranged from joy, to trepidation to sad- ness, but no one knew for sure the implications; we all just made our best guess. The financial markets reacted like a seesaw –they appeared to have
no better idea, the Governor of the Bank of England made his speech, and it was all high drama with no clear picture emerging. In reality we all just went off to work getting on with our usual routines. (What didn’t surprise was our swift exit from the UEFA Euro football
Government’s then Communities Secretary and Brandon Lewis, the then Housing and Planning Minister, reaffirmed their commitment to upping supply and increasing the number of new home owners. Greg Clark clearly stated that housing was a top priority for the Government. So where does this leave the self-builder? With over 30,000 projects
in planning or under construction, the future is looking very rosy. Government Ministers are only too aware that the self-build com munity will make a very important and significant impact on the housing indus- try as it has the potential to deliver more units than any of the major developers; this is crucial for the strength of the housebuilding industry. Generally the whole housebuilding industry is upbeat, supported by consumer, Government and financial market confidence. All the indi- cators are pointing to good times for the self-builder. Andy Patmore is a housebuilding project manager and author of Build Your Own House
New online design and build help for custom builders D
Garden Centre, just outside Faversham in Kent. The scheme, which consists of 14 units, will
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be constructed on the site of the disused gar- den centre and has been designed by Inside Out Architecture. However, unlike other Potton custom build schemes Silver Sands already has full planning permission and the house designs will meet the performance require- ments of the Passivhaus standard. By adopting the Passivhaus standard the
igitising Custom Build is a collabora- tive R&D project which is intended to provide digital tools and methods to
help those wanting to buy, design, build and live in a custom-built home. Funded by Innovate UK, the project com-
bines the skills of NaCSBA, Stickyworld, Slider Studio, HTA Design, Axis Design
Architects, Facit Homes and Commusoft. The new website will be regularly updated
with news and blogs, technology develop- ments and events from the partners offering an exclusive insight into the project and the technology it is producing. In addition, there will be video interviews from project part- ners as well as footage of recent events.
Shortly after the launch the website was
being hailed as a success – within its first week, the DCB team says it was “approached by a variety of people, includ- ing local councils, expressing their interest in the project and in testing the technology on their own projects.”
www.customisehomes.com
passivhaus Potton presents plots with planning for Passivhaus homes
otton, Kingspan’s timber self-build arm, is working on a new custom-build project located on the former Silver Sands
development’s custom-builders can be assured that their new homes – with built in energy effi- ciency – will benefit from life-long low fuel bills. The standard also ensures that the risk of summertime overheating is addressed, indoor air will be good quality and the properties will remain draught free, creating a home with an even internal temperature distribution and good acoustic performance. The houses will be arranged around a cen-
tral communal woodland space, which pro- vides paths that meander across the site and towards the peripheral planted space. The
communal space will be shared equally between pedestrians and vehicle traffic. These shared communal spaces will be constructed using permeable green road- ways, which will reinforce the natural setting within the site and signals priority to pedestrians. The nature of the scheme design means,
however, that the external appearance and lay- out of the properties will remain largely fixed with less opportunity for customisation. Despite this, there will be opportunity for “extensive internal design,” according to Potton.
selfbuilder & homemaker
www.sbhonline.co.uk
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