6 INDUSTRY NEWS
NFB says Government should focus on climate successes
allocations in their local plans.” The Federation has stated that, if the
Government wants to meet its zero carbon commitment, that “it must work with the industry to understand why progress can be so hard to achieve.” It also would encourage those making recommendations to the Government to do the same. Rico Wojtulewicz, head of housing and planning policy at the NFB, commented: “Localism is a huge barrier in making sure we’re able to meet the 2050 zero carbon commitment and politician’s needs to be honest about that. In the short term, the Government must act quickly and focus all efforts on fixing old leaky housing, not new homes which many say can be heated by a lightbulb.”
areas, and how we can build public support for more housebuilding and better planning.”
Retirement housing key to fixing crisis, says report
Key areas the Government should be focusing on to meet the 2050 zero carbon target have been identified in a recent report from the Science and Technology Committee, which has been welcomed by The National Federation of Builders (NFB), while noting that it is “frustrated by the lack of focus on successes and barriers.”
“New homes,” said the NFB, “are incredibly energy efficient and air tight, to the point that air quality and overheating have become design challenges.” According to the Federation, the solutions, “often championed using Passivhaus standards,” add more technology to a building, consequently requiring more electricity and maintenance – which it believes is counterproductive. The NFB has argued that it would be more effective to focus on older housing, which it says is “the real elephant in the room”. The Government could, for example, consult on allowing councils to use section 106 funding to insulate older properties, or reform planning to ensure homes with cavity-less single brick walls have permission to install external cladding.
The latter of these solutions draws parallels with onshore renewables, such as wind and solar, where visual impact often decides whether action is taken. “Many onshore renewables are rejected for this reason,” it says, “under the banner of localism, which is well evidenced by so few councils including guidance and site
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Changes to Help to Buy and shared ownership
Changes to the shared ownership and Help to Buy schemes have been unveiled by Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, alongside promises of planning reform. He said that Government is to review a new national model for shared ownership to make it easier for people to buy more of their own home, including allowing them to buy in 1 per cent increments – as opposed to the 10 per cent chunks neces- sary at present (often leading to what’s known as “staircasing”).
The Housing Secretary also announced that he will look to reform the planning system to increase housing delivery and make home ownership more affordable for people looking to buy their first property, particularly in areas which are least affordable.
Alongside this, homeowners buying a property under Help to Buy will report- edly be given new freedoms which will make it easier to take out a 35-year mortgage, and the Government has closed a loophole that prevented people from taking out a mortgage with a term of more than 25 years.
“My mission is to increase the number
of homes that are being delivered, and to get more young people and families onto the housing ladder, particularly those on lower incomes,” said Jenrick. He continued: “I will be looking at ensuring young people from Cornwall to Cumbria aren’t priced out of their home
The key to alleviating the pressure on the housing market is better development of later living accommodation, according to a new survey, but only if ‘bold’ action is taken, according to a report. Research undertaken by law firm Shakespeare Martineau and the Housing Learning and Improvement Network (Housing LIN) revealed that a re-think of the UK’s later living sector is urgently needed, and will free up space in the already-stretched housing market. The research, surveying over 200 senior figures in the UK later living sector, showed that pressure from the UK’s growing ageing population is well-recog- nised in the housing sector.
Planning regulation was highlighted as an area in need of change, with 89 per cent of respondents calling for an overhaul – something that has recently been recently been recognised, with new planning guidance around housing for disabled and older people published by the Government.
Alongside planning, 90 per cent of respondents believe that more capital funding incentives from central Government are necessary to stimulate development and fuel investment activity in the later living market.
93 per cent of respondents also believe
that ‘rightsizing’ is set to increase in popularity over the coming years, and 73 per cent of respondents believe that the demand for later living accommodation will increase over the next five years. Jeremy Porteus, chief executive of
the Housing LIN, said: “For a market segment of such importance, national policy has been largely silent on the topic of later living. There has been little government oversight or market insight into how the sector perceives both itself and the needs of its consumers. “More vibrant discourse – and decisive action – from policymakers and stake- holders will without doubt help the industry to deliver a range of better and more attractive homes, in places that people want to live.”
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