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10 industry news POST-ELECTION Residential construction suffers from election blues H T


ousebuilding suffered a setback in May as contracts awarded for new build residential units reached its lowest


point of the year. According to the latest data from Barbour


ABI, contracts were awarded to build 8,175 new build residential units in total across the UK in May, almost 8,000 units lower than this year’s peak of 15,812 units in January.


LONDON HOUSEBUILDING


Mayor updates to guidelines on building quality homes for Londoners


he Mayor of London has released updated planning guidance that aims to maximise the construction of quality


homes for Londoners, a vital step in achieving the goal of building 49,000 houses a year in order to keep up with London’s booming population. Interested parties are being invited to com-


ment on the new guidance, which includes detail on building specifically for long-term private rentals, the potential introduction of affordable housing targets in new areas, and more details on vacant building credits for developers. London’s Deputy Mayor for Planning, Sir


Edward Lister, said: “The new Supplementary Planning Guidance will be vital in helping developers and boroughs understand how we wish to achieve the Mayor’s ambitious aims for housing in London. Delivering the homes that London needs requires us to work together, so I would encourage anyone with an interest to


COMBAT TO CONSTRUCTION Persimmon appoints 100th ex-military employee


Construction initiative. Craig Payne joins Persimmon’s North


P


Midlands operating company as a bricklayer. He is a former Lance Corporal in the Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters and since joining the British Army in 2001 has served across the UK, Kenya, Canada, Belize, Northern Ireland and Afghanistan. Persimmon launched Combat to Construction last autumn with the opening of a dedicated


respond online at www.hbdonline.co.uk


ersimmon Homes has today announced the appointment of its 100th ex- military recruit as part of its Combat to


training centre in Darlington. The initiative trains ex-service personnel to be bricklayers and joiners. Such has been the success of the pro- gramme; the company is now working with training partner Nordic Focus Training to open a further centre near London which will officially launch in June. The news of the 100th appointment comes in


the same week that the housebuilder announces its total employees has now exceeded 4,000. This number includes 500 trainees and apprentices across the group. At the end of the recession, the business employed 2,300 people.


let us know what they think.” The latest revision of the Mayor’s Supplemen-


tary Planning Guidance for Housing is an important framework for new housing develop- ment in the capital. It builds on the Mayor’s Plan to provide extra detail where needed, and is open for consultation until 7 August. It recognises that in the drive to increase housing capacity in London, quality is just as important as quantity.


Also included in the latest revision is: •Guidance on the Mayor’s approach to the new national technical housing standards released by the Department for Communities and Local Government in March this year, to ensure occupants of new housing have decent homes and enough space to live. The standards themselves are also subject to consultation through a Minor Alteration to the Plan.


•Detail on the Mayor’s policy to encourage an increase in developments designed specifically for long-term private rentals, so-called “build-to-rent”. Done correctly, this could help meet specific population needs in certain urban centres.


•Detail on the concept of applying fixed affordable housing targets in Housing Zones and Opportunity Areas, which will be the source of significant growth in housing supply in coming years.


•Advice for local boroughs on how to incorporate the Vacant Building Credit into their local planning policy to ensure the credit delivers the aim of the government policy, which is to bring forward brownfield sites that otherwise would not come forward for development. The credit allows the existing gross floor space to be credited towards affordable housing contributions.


However, the construction industry is not


likely be to fazed by this recent dip in figures. Contracts were awarded to build 49,707 residen- tial units in the first four months of the year, compared to 33,757 within the same timeframe in 2014, resulting in a 32 per cent increase. Commenting on the figures, Michael Dall,


lead economist at Barbour ABI, said: “With much uncertainty looming around the general


election last month and a hung parliament look- ing like the probable outcome, it seems likely that investors and housebuilders decided to wait for the outcome of the election before coming to a decision on significant housebuilding projects.” “With the election now in the distant past, and


the expansion of initiatives to support first time buyers, I expect house building to bounce back in June and have a strong second half of the year.”


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