4 INDUSTRY NEWS
HOUSEBUILDER & DEVELOPER
Publisher Lesley Mayo
James Parker
FROM THE EDITOR
Labour’s new housing Green Paper, somewhat predictably you might say, places a tight focus on the affordable sector of the market, when arguably there are a range of other big issues to tackle. However in doing so, it does produce some strong ideas which might find fans across the industry, if our increasingly binary politics is allowed to take a back seat for a second.
The party is putting its weight behind the social rented sector, obviously in an attempt to appeal to its core electorate, but also, one assumes, as a genuine move to address the fact that 150,000 council rented homes have been sold by councils in the last five years alone. Labour says it will suspend the Right to Buy as one of its first moves to stop this.
In addition however, Labour would introduce the idea of low-cost FirstBuy homes – discounted to the point that mortgages are “no more than a third of average local household incomes,” and with the discount “locked into the home so future generations of first time buyers benefit too”. They will be aimed at low to middle income working families, as well as key workers and young people priced out of the homebuying market. There will also be ‘Living Rent Homes’ with rents fixed at the same rate, however there’s little indication of how the discount will be funded, and by whom.
ON THE COVER
Patrick Mooney: We need to ensure that lessons are learned from the Grenfell Tower fire
05.18
HOUSEBUILDER & DEVELOPER
On housing delivery itself, Labour’s key measure seems to be a housing revenue account to be set up for councils to build with (with the caveat that they have transferred all stock to a housing association). They will also “consider an enabling grant to allow councils with no or limited current capacity to build”.
Lastly, Labour proposes to launch a “new definition” of affordability, which is linked to local incomes rather than market prices, theoretically to offer better value to prospective buyers in their locality.
READING’S GREEN PARK VILLAGE
GETS THE GREEN LIGHT Seven lakeside buildings to be created providing 459 apartments, in scheme from St Edward Homes, part of the Berkeley Group
Green Park Village, Reading © Broadway Malyan go to page 19
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
By contrast, pushing yet another Housing Minister through the revolving door, the Government seems fairly content to continue to trying to address the housing crisis largely by stoking the demand with measures like Help to Buy. Labour may be taking a pragmatic if limited approach to unlocking delivery as well.
James Parker
Bjorn Conway, ilke Homes CEO, tells Jack Wooler about the firm’s latest London project
Show Preview: CIH’s Housing conference and exhibition focuses on offsite for 2018
The Green Paper promises to replace section 106 with a new “duty to deliver affordable homes, linked to a better measure of local need for affordable housing”. The party says it will “consult on new accountability mechanisms to support councils, including an increase in the New Homes Bonus affordable homes premium”. The bottom line is that there will be a “presumption that there is no development without affordable housing,” and avoiding obligations using permitted development will be stopped.
Apparently, Labour will “fast-track” reforms to planning – while keeping the Land Registry in public hands, it will create a register “so local communities know who owns, controls and has an interest in land, including ‘option agreements’ between landowners and developers”. However just how it will do this, and how it will help to free up land for development, is unclear.
Managing Editor James Parker
Assistant Editor Jack Wooler
Editorial Assistant Roseanne Field
Senior Sales Executives Sheehan Edmonds Nathan Hunt
Sales Executives Suzanne Easter Kim Friend
Studio Manager Mikey Pooley
Production Assistants Carmen Simpson Georgia Musson
Audience Development Manager Jane Spice
Managing Director Simon Reed
Cointronic House, Station Road, Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 8DF
Advertising & administration Tel: 01435 863500
info@netmagmedia.eu www.hbdonline.co.uk
Editorial features Tel: 01435 863500
jparker@netmagmedia.co.uk
Press releases
editorial@netmagmedia.eu
The manufacturer of the paper used within our publication is a Chain-of- Custody certified supplier operating within environmental systems certified to both ISO 14001 and EMAS in order to ensure sustainable production.
Subscription costs just £48 for 12 issues, including post and packing. Phone 01435 863500 for details. Individual copies of the publication are available at £5 each inc p & p.
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, me- chanical, including photocopying, recording or stored in any information retrieval system without the express prior written consent of the publisher. Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of material published in Housebuilder & Developer, the publisher can accept no responsibility for the claims or opinions made by contributors, manufacturers or advertisers. Editorial contributors to this journal may have made a payment towards the reproduction costs of material used to illus- trate their products.
Printed in England
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
