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10 INDUSTRY NEWS


Housebuilders asked to put design and quality first


Industry leaders have called on housebuil- ers to embrace latest innovations in order to ensure good quality in new homes. At the recent Design Quality Conference, industry leaders, including local authority planners, developers and design professionals shared their expertise to “ensure how homes look becomes just as important as the number delivered”. Research has shown that more than


seven out of 10 people would support new residential development if buildings are well-designed and in keeping with their local area.


Several courses of action were proposed with the hope of boosting innovative approaches to housing design. One includes a £1bn Government investment through the Home Building Fund, of which to date eight projects across 11 local authorities will use modern methods of construction such as modular. It was also suggested that the industry learn from other countries like Australia, Norway and Sweden, where ‘good design is embedded in decision making’. Embracing new technologies such as virtual reality (VR) was also raised, with the intention of winning community confi- dence before a home is built by providing visualisations of new housing. For when things go wrong, the Government has proposed strengthening ways for homebuyers to complain when their homes haven’t been built satisfacto- rily, with these new measures recently being subject to a consultation.


Government would reportedly like to award 33 per cent of contracts to SMEs by 2022, but late payment is a severe deterrent to SMEs. In April 2017, the Zurich SME Risk Index estimated that SMEs are owed £44.6bn in late payments. According to the NFB, its members had been reducing their exposure to Carillion and to other main contractors who had a reputation as poor payers, years before its eventual liquidation. Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, commented: “Taxpayers deserve to see the best value bids build their communities, but there are barriers that prevent capable SMEs and regional contractors from even competing. “Banning late payers is a common sense proposal that means companies that push their suppliers into administration will no longer be rewarded by the Government with more work.”


Buyers’ wish lists revealed


Home buyers are choosing new builds because of a range of criteria beyond just location, new research has shown. A report produced by the NHBC Foundation and Savills found that while location remains a key influencer, buyers of new-build homes also placed a high impor- tance on a series of other features, such as design of living space, off-street parking, a home’s warranty, low maintenance and increased energy efficiency.


The report, based on the views of more than 5,400 people who have purchased homes in the last four years, identifies seven core priorities which influence property choice. It found that although the proximity of amenities, such as schools, NHS services and local transport hubs were important considerations, they did not drive a house purchase decision as much as the appeal of key features of the home itself. The same top priorities were consistently


selected by buyers across the categories. In order of importance, these were minimum maintenance, off-street parking, location, new home warranty, size and design of living space, quality of the neighbourhood, and energy efficiency. In total, 58 per cent of first-time buyers surveyed considered Help to Buy very important, and placed a greater emphasis on proximity to amenities like transport and shops. Upsizers rated off-street parking as their most important feature, followed by the size and design of living space, and were more likely to favour a property near a primary school and local NHS service. Relocators also valued off-street parking, location and neighbourhood quality among their top priorities. This group of buyers is looking for proximity to NHS services and transport links, as are downsizers, who placed low maintenance, a new home warranty and energy efficiency as the most important factors behind their move. A total of 77 per cent of people in subur- ban homes had two or more cars and relied less on walking to get to key amenities, as opposed to those in urban locations. First- time buyers in urban settings held the most esteem for the proximity of a train or tube station, with 47 per cent rating it as very important, compared to just over 30 per cent of other respondents. For downsizers, the figure falls to just 17 per cent.


NFB welcomes ban on late payers


As part of a new package of Government proposals, plans to ban ‘late payers’ from Government contracts have been revealed. The news has been welcomed by the National Federation of Builders (NFB), with proposals suggested to remove barriers to SMEs winning more Government and public sector contracts.


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