house building
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Land & New Homes
“We’ll never build 300,000 homes a year – here’s why…”
Writing for The Neg, developer Ritchie Clapson looks at why the Government's home building target was always going to unachievable, and what he's do to get Britain building.
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Housing Market
Regional house prices set to grow dramatically
Manchester leads the way, as JLL’s regional forecast highlights rapid growth in the regions over the next five years as the economy is rebalanced away from London.
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Latest property news
Stamp out stamp duty, say experts
Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under pressure to make big reductions in stamp duty to keep the market moving.
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Latest property news
Barclays and Housing Ministry jointly offer SME house developers £1 billion to ‘get building’
Barclays bank and the government have got into bed together to put a £1 billion fund together to help SME house builders 'get building'.
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Latest property news
Chancellor’s promise to build 300,000 new homes a year is on shaky foundations
Figures just published by the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) reveal that the number of new homes built in England between July and September dropped by 4%, and by 1% year-on-year. The number of new homes started totalled 40,070 during the quarter, and 166,100 year-on-year, although the figures for completions were marginally better, up 2% to 39,250 on a quarterly basis and by 5% on an annual one. But the figures, which include both local authority and private new builds, reveal that the most marked downturn took place in the private market where quarterly starts were down by 6% compared to the previous quarter, and completions down by 2%. The figures also reveal how much the UK is becoming a nation of house dwellers, despite many governments’ attempts to build more ‘high density’ housing. New homes Just after the Millennium flats made up 25% of all new builds and, despite rising to 50% during the mid-noughties, has slumped back to 25% again. Earlier this month Housing minister Alok Sharma (pictured, left) revealed a £25 million fund to help “ambitious local authorities and third sector organisations in areas of high housing plan for new homes and infrastructure”. “Locally-led developments…
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Housing Market
Housing completions soar in England
House building in England is now at its highest level since 2008 following a significant rise in the volume of new homes being developed, new Government figures show. In the year to June, 131,060 residential properties were completed, a rise of 15 per cent on the same period a year ago. The latest quarterly house building statistics from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) show that between April and June, the number of completions rose by 22 per cent year-on-year. The Housing Minister, Brandon Lewis (right), welcomed the figures, but admitted there was more to do, vowing that the Government would “deliver 275,000 affordable homes by the end of this Parliament”. However, the number of new homes being started dropped by 1 per cent over the year, to 136,320, and by 6 per cent on a quarterly basis. The data was described as “encouraging” by Henry Gregg (left), the National Housing Federation’s(NHF) Assistant Director of Campaigns. But he also said that it was crucial that we as a nation continue to increase our efforts “to build the homes that are desperately needed”. He commented, “Last year alone we built less than half of the homes needed, pushing house…
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Housing Market
Remove barriers to boost house building levels, says Savills
Private house builders could start building significantly more new homes in England if barriers to growth were cut, according to Savills. A new report from the property firm makes various recommendations on ways that house building levels could be increased, with a view to reducing the ever growing supply-demand imbalance in the market. The recommendations include increasing planning consents in high demand areas; boosting the supply of land; continued support for residential property developers and a rise in the building rate of local authorities and other bodies. In spite of a rise in the volume of new housing starts in recent months, Savills reported that there still remains a major shortfall, owed in part to insufficient land available for residential development. The report by Savills said there was the potential to construct 205,000 new homes per year, up 64,500 compared to the existing rate, if the supply of development land and planning consents increased in areas of high demand. At present, more than half of new homes – 54 per cent – are being built by the 11 largest house builders, while a third of new properties are being built by medium sized house builders. But Savills said that a…
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Housing Market
Sharp rise in new housing permissions
There has been a significant increase in the volume of housing permissions by local authorities in the last year, according to new figures published by the Home Builders’ Federation (HBF) and Glenigan. The latest HBF/Glenigan Housing Pipeline report reveals that 194,820 residential property permissions have been granted in 2014, ensuring the year saw the highest level of new housing starts in the UK since 2008. “Increasing housing delivery will provide the high quality homes our next generation needs, support thousands of companies up and down the land and create tens of thousands of jobs,” said Stewart Baseley (left), Executive Chairman of the HBF. However, he added that efforts still need to be made to ensure that the number of housing starts continue to rise in the years ahead, as the UK is currently still behind on the level of development needed to meet rising demand for new homes, fuelled in part by the Help to Buy scheme. Speeding up the rate at which permissions are granted is one of the keys to a significant, sustainable increase in housing supply, according to Baseley who highlighted that too many sites are ‘stuck’ in the planning system, with an estimated 150,000 plots at…
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Features
Is the war on red tape in housing a good idea?
Legal expert, Peter Hall says that scrapping red tape in housing may make life easier for builders, but could cause concern over build quality and responsibilities.
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