Cool summer for private housing construction orders - TABPI · 2 property people november 2007 www ... Government has published revised guidance to help the construction industry

2 property people november 2007 www.ppmagazine.co.uk

Communities and LocalGovernment has publishedrevised guidance to help theconstruction industry respondto the challenge of meeting thezero carbon homes target.

HM Treasury will shortly laydraft regulations beforeParliament setting outdefinition of a zero carbonhome for stamp duty land taxpurposes. The Budget 2007stated: “that from 1 October2007 all new homes meeting

the zero carbon standardcosting up to £500,000 will payno stamp duty, and zero-carbonhomes costing in excess of£500,000 will receive areduction in their stamp dutybill of £15,000. The exemptionwill be time limited for fiveyears until 30 September 2012,but before the end of the timelimit the government willreview the effectiveness of therelief and consider the case for an extension.”

The code for sustainablehomes was introduced inApril this year. The keychanges are:■ The way energy efficienciesfor flats with and withoutrenewables are calculated;■ The way water efficienciesare calculated; and■ The use of off-siterenewable energy sources. Infuture, these will not beeligible unless directlyconnected to the development

concerned. The code continuesto allow connection to gas andelectricity grids as long as thehome produces net zerocarbon emissions over the year.

Key features of a zerocarbon development couldinclude technologies such ascombined heat and power,district heating and coolingsystems, aquifer thermalenergy, ground source heatpumps, passive heating, andsolar and wind energy.

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Revised code for zero carbon published

Property People Focus is publishedby Property People JV LtdPO Box 351, Beckenham BR3 6YFTelephone: +44(0)20 8658 4900 Fax: +44(0)20 8658 8066 Editorial e-mail:[email protected] as part of Property People Portal http://www.ppmagazine.co.ukEditor:Aura Hargreaves BA FCIH FIRPM Design & Production:Dave RadleyISSN 1751-2883 (Print)ISSN 1750-970X (Online)

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New construction orders forprivate housing were downover the summer, according tothe release of the August 2007report from the Departmentfor Business, Enterprise andRegulatory Reform.

New construction ordersgenerally in the twelve monthsto August 2007 rose by two percent compared with theprevious twelve months, butorders in the three months toAugust 2007 fell by three percent compared to the same

Cool summer for privatehousing construction orders

period a year earlier. Orders inthe three months to August2007 fell by eight percentcompared to the previous three months, with decreasesin public housing, privatehousing and privatecommercial sectors more thanoffsetting an increase in privateindustrial sectors.

Private housing orders in thetwelve months to August 2007were unchanged compared tothose in the previous twelvemonths. Orders in the three

months to August 2007 fell by20 per cent compared with theprevious three months, and by17 per cent compared with thesame period a year earlier.

Public housing and housingassociation orders rose by 15per cent in the twelve monthsto August 2007 compared withthe previous twelve months.Orders in the three months toAugust 2007 fell by 20 per centcompared to the previous threemonths, and by eight per centcompared to the same period a

year earlier. All comparisons inthis sector are affected by largevariations due to its relativelysmall size.

Infrastructure orders in thetwelve months to August 2007rose by three per centcompared with the previoustwelve months. Orders in thethree months to August 2007were unchanged comparedwith the previous threemonths, but rose by five percent when compared to thesame period a year earlier.

RIGHT: Brunel Housing, part ofYorkshire housing group, workedalongside the HBOS Foundation,the Youth Offending Team andlocal residents and communitygroups to transform run downbed-sits in Manningham into adrop-in centre for Bradfordyoungsters.

New chair at BURAJackie Sadek,head ofregeneration at CBRichard Ellis, hasbeen appointed asthe new chair ofBURA.Jackie has over 20years ofregeneration experience and hasserved as a director at BURA for morethan a decade. With a newchairperson, BURA also announces anew structure to the organisation.Underpinning the chair and vice-chairswill be eight portfolio teams that focuson the key operational andorganisational elements of BURA.

Chainbow expands property teamResidentialproperty managerChainbow hasappointed two newpropertyadministrators toits property team. Nosi McFarlanejoins from AndrewReeves LettingsAgents where shewas an accountsclerk.Diane Arend joinsfrom KinleighFolkard & Haywardwhere she waslettings management team secretary.

Associate property directorfor Charles HigginsCharles HigginsPrimary Care Ltdhas welcomedchartered surveyorRoss Davey intothe ranks of thispropertyinvestment anddevelopmentcompany as associate propertydirector. Ross has moved from theother side of the property fence wherehe was a director of commercialproperty agents, Nettleship Sawyer. Hejoins Charles Higgins Primary Care tofurther the company’s work on newmedical centres and communityregeneration schemes.

movers

www.ppmagazine.co.uk november 2007 property people 3

The Chancellor has announcedthat the unpopular planninggain supplement (PGS) is to bereplaced with a statutoryplanning charge.

In his pre-budget report, theChancellor said that KateBarker's review of housingsupply proposed theintroduction of PGS as a newlevy on development to raiseadditional resources to invest inthe infrastructure needed tosupport housing growth. In itsresponse the governmentaccepted that localcommunities should benefitmore from the often significantincreases in land values arisingfrom planning permission.Following extensiveconsultation, the PrimeMinister indicated in July 2007that the government would beprepared to defer legislation tointroduce PGS if a better way

could be found to ensure thatlocal communities receive moreof the benefits from planninggain, to invest in necessaryinfrastructure and transport.The housing green papersought views on PGS andpossible alternatives.

Following discussions withkey stakeholders, thegovernment will legislate in thePlanning Reform Bill toempower local planningauthorities in England to applynew planning charges to newdevelopment, alongsidenegotiated contributions forsite-specific matters. Chargeincome will be used entirely tofund the infrastructureidentified through thedevelopment plan process.Charges should includecontributions towards the costsof infrastructure of regional orsub-regional importance.

Legislation implementing PGSwill therefore not beintroduced in the nextParliamentary session. Furtherdetails will be published shortly by Communities andLocal Government.

Sir Stuart Lipton, on behalfof the Major Developers Group,said: “PGS threatened to hinderdevelopment. In consulting ona tariff-based alternative thegovernment has accepted theneed to develop a system thatcarries the confidence of majordevelopers and delivers anddelivers much-neededinfrastructure investment.”

Liz Peace, chief executive ofthe British Property Federation, said: “We hope thatthe property industry andgovernment can move quicklyto agree the detailedimplementation of a local tariff-based system.”

news & v iews

PGS replaced withstatutory planning charge

ABOVE: Sutton Griffin Architects has merged with property firm Dreweatt Neate to form a multi-disciplinarydesign and development consultancy. Left to right: Jonathan Rickard, partner Dreweatt Neate; PatrickGriffin, managing director Sutton Griffin; Christine Knowles, head of finance Dreweatt Neate; RichardLiddiard, managing partner Dreweatt Neate; Steven Smallman, partner Dreweatt Neate; Chris Eisner,director Sutton Griffin; David Smith, senior partner Dreweatt Neate.


The Department forCommunities and LocalGovernment has published‘Housing in England 2005-06’,which provides key housingdata on owner occupation andon the social and private rentedsectors.

The survey shows that in2005-06, there were 14.6 million(70 per cent) owner-occupyinghouseholds, 3.7 million (18 percent) social renters and 2.5million (12 per cent) privaterenters.

It also shows that theproportion of people aged 25-34 who are owner-occupiers hasfallen, with private rentingbecoming more commonamongst this age group.Key findings are:■ Home ownership: Fifty-sixper cent of homeowners werebuying their home with amortgage. 44 per cent ownedtheir home outright, of whom12 percent had bought theirhome outright at the outset; 29per cent had bought with amortgage but had since paid itoff; and three per cent hadacquired their home throughother means. ■ First-time buyers: Of the 5.5million first-time owners,713,000 had purchased theirhome since 2002. 41 per centof recent first-time buyers werepreviously private renters, fiveper cent were previously socialrenters, 37 per cent were newlyformed households and 17 per

cent were previously sittingtenants. 75 per cent of recentfirst-time buyers were under 35. ■ Private renting growing inpopularity: From 1993 to 2005,the proportion of householdreference persons aged 25 to 29who were owner occupiers fellfrom 60 per cent to 47 per centwhile the proportion that wereprivate renters rose from 19 percent to 35 per cent; amongst 25-34 year olds the proportion ofprivate renters rose from 11 percent to 21 per cent with owneroccupiers falling from 69 to 63per cent.■ Tenure by age of householdreference person: The type oftenure varies considerably byage. In 2005-06, 52 per cent ofhousehold reference persons(HRPs) aged 16-24 were privaterenters and 30 per cent weresocial renters. 79 per cent ofHRPs aged 45-64 were owneroccupiers. Sixty-seven per centof HRPs aged over 65 ownedtheir own home outright, while22 per cent were social renters. ■ Second homes: It is estimatedthere are 242,000 householdswith second homes in England,36,000 with second homes inWales or Scotland and 211,000with second homes outsideGreat Britain. Overseas, Spain isthe most popular country with34 per cent of second homes,followed by France with 23 percent.■ Economic status: Amongstowner occupiers, 92 per cent of

HRPs buying on a mortgagewere working compared to only36 per cent of outright owners.58 per cent of outright ownerswere retired, compared to onlythree per cent of mortgageholders. In the private rentedsector, 69 per cent of HRPswere working and 11 per centretired. 6 per cent of socialrenting HRPs wereunemployed, 33 per cent wereretired and 30 per cent wereeconomically inactive for otherreasons. ■ Household composition: In2005-06, couples with nodependent children were themost common type (36 percent) of all households. Oneperson households formed thesecond largest household type(28 per cent).■ Ethnicity: In 2005-06, 8 percent of all households inEngland were black or minorityethnic (BME), i.e. thehousehold reference person wasfrom a BME group. There arenotable differences in tenurebetween ethnic groups. Indianhouseholds are more likely tobe owner occupiers than anyother ethnic group. ■ Recently moved households:Two million households movedinto private accommodation inthe 12-month period prior to2005-06. 363,000 of these (18per cent of the total) werenewly-formed households - ofwhom 199,000 moved intoprivate renting, 82,000 into

social renting and 82,000 intoowner occupation.■ Movers out of owneroccupation: Of existinghouseholds, an estimated366,000 reported having leftowner-occupation in the threeyears prior to interview. Ofthese, about 70 per cent movedto the private rented sector and30 per cent into social housing.The main reasons cited forhaving left home ownershipwere divorce or separation,other personal reasons and job-related reasons.■ Rents: Average rents (beforehousing benefit) were £66 perweek for social renters and £125per week for private rentinghouseholds.■ Households in deprivedareas: In the 10 per cent ofmost deprived areas of England,only 36 per cent of householdswere owner occupiers –compared with 73 per cent ofhouseholds elsewhere.■ Problems in theneighbourhood: From a rangeof issues, half of respondentssaid that in theirneighbourhood crime andtraffic were the main concerns.However, the figure for crimehas declined from 74 per centof households reporting it as aproblem in 1994-95 to 49 percent in 2005-06. But concernsover traffic have risen: 53 percent said it was a problem in2005-06 compared with only 40per cent in 2001-02.

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Key housing data released

New measures torevitalise empty homesThe Empty Homes Agencyhas welcomed the Chancellorof the Exchequer’sannouncement that thegovernment will introducenew measures to bring emptyhomes back onto the market.

The governmentannounced that it would: ■ Review the currentarrangements for council taxdiscount on empty homes;■ Reduce the qualifyingperiod for discounted (fiveper cent) VAT rate forrenovating empty homesfrom three years to two years;■ Include empty homes

returned to use within thehousing and planningdelivery grant system socouncils are encouraged andrewarded for bring emptyhomes back into use.

Empty Homes Agencychief executive, DavidIreland, said: “We are verypleased that the governmenthas introduced thesemeasures. Returning emptyproperty to use can provide asignificant contributiontowards meeting thecountry’s demand for newhomes. These measures arean important step on the wayto achieving that.”

ABOVE: Norfolk Frames, the manufacturer and installer of doors andwindows, has supported Saffron housing trust’s eastern communityyouth football tournament for the second year running by making adonation towards medals, kit and refreshments.

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Responding to the MPCdecision to hold interest ratesat 5.75 per cent, the Council ofMortgage Lenders (CML) saysthat the hold was widelyexpected but that a cut inNovember remains the mostlikely prospect.

Michael Coogan, CMLdirector general, said: “We didnot expect the Bank to cutrates today, but we do hope forand anticipate a cut inNovember. Even this is not acertainty though, so borrowersshould continue to plan for

rates at or around currentlevels. Pricing in themainstream market is stable,and fixed rates have startedfalling recently, but there is stilluncertainty about how long itwill take for stable funding toreturn to the sub-primemarket. In the meantime,borrowers in this sector arefacing tighter criteria andhigher rates, although theavailability of funding doesseem to be improving.”

Robert Bryant-Pearson, chiefexecutive of Allied Surveyors,

said: “This is a lost opportunitydemonstrating a reactionarylack of imagination. It isessential to restore confidenceto households and to ease thepath for first time buyers andexisting homeowners who arehaving to service expensivemortgages. A decrease of 0.25per cent would have sent apositive signal which wouldprevent an untimely reductionin consumer spending and ahost of property repossessionsover the winter.”

Warren Bright, chief

executive of property websitepropertyfinder.com, said: “It ishigh time that base rate cutscame onto the MPC’s agenda.Turmoil in internationalcredit markets has effectivelybeen a rate hike by anothername. House price growthhas been moderating for sometime and confidence in thehousing market has beendented. The MPC shouldnow be cutting rates toprevent the housing market’sorderly slowdown becoming adisorderly rout.”

Expect a cut in November

The delivery of the £7.2 millionSupporting People programmeprovided by Tameside council isexcellent with excellentprospects to continue toimprove, according to anindependent report released bythe Audit Commission.

On a scale of zero to threestars, the Audit Commission, inpartnership with inspectorsfrom Her Majesty's Inspectorateof Probation and Commissionfor Social Care Inspection, gave the council a three starexcellent rating.

Paul Clarke, lead housing

The Chancellor hasannounced the Communitiesand Local Governmentbudget in the comprehensivespending review whichincludes support for thebuilding of three million newhomes by 2020.

Towards this ambition, thesettlement delivers:■ £6.5 billion investment overthree years in new socialhousing to deliver 45,000 newsocial homes per year by 2010-11, a 50 per cent increasecompared with 2007-08, with agoal of reaching 50,000 peryear during the next spendingreview period;■ £1.7 billion over three yearstargeted funding forinfrastructure in growth areas,the Thames Gateway, newgrowth points and eco towns,including a £300 millionCommunity InfrastructureFund; and■ £500 million over threeyears for the new Housing andPlanning Delivery Grant, toincentivise local authorities toincrease housing supply andhelp bring forward localdevelopment frameworks.

The social homes willmainly be delivered byhousing associations, andDavid Orr, chief executive ofthe National HousingFederation, said: “Housingassociations will match thispublic investment more thanpound for pound with privatefinance and their ownreserves to deliver the homes our countrydesperately needs.”

Pound forpound

Three stars for Tamesideinspector at the AuditCommission, said: “Tamesideis demonstrating how effectivepartnership working candeliver significantimprovements in the lives andchoices available to some ofthe borough's most vulnerable people. It isdelivering housing relatedsupport services in theinnovative way intended by thegovernment when it introduced the SupportingPeople programme.”

Tameside council received aSupporting People grant of

£7.2 million in 2007/08 tomeet the cost of its housingrelated support services. Theseinclude supported housing forolder people, homeless people,teenage parents and womenfleeing domestic violence. Inaddition the council receives£205,763 to pay for the costs ofadministering the SupportingPeople programme.Supporting People is thegovernment's funding andplanning regime for the localdelivery of housing-relatedsupport services to a widerange of vulnerable people.

ABOVE: More than 20 teams of housebuilders descended on the Hope Valley in the Peak District tocompete in a weekend of extreme physical and mental challenges to fundraise for international housingcharity Habitat for Humanity. The winning team in the NHBC HopeBuilder event was from Linden HomesSouth East. Left to right: Kevin MacKenzie, Dylan May, Paul Cooper, Tom Amato.


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The Chancellor hasannounced changes tocapital gains tax in the pre-budget report.

Grant Thornton head ofproperty and construction,Clare Hartnell, said: “Themove to a single rate ofcapital gains tax at 18 percent is great news forshareholders in propertyinvestment companies whopreviously were able to reachan effective rate of 24 percent, but bad news for theircounterparts in propertydealerships, whose rateincreases by eight per cent,given that previously theycould reach an effective rateof ten per cent.

“Although this will notdamage the market, it means that life just got more expensive for dealersand costs will most likely end up being passed on tothe buyer.”

Capital gainstax changesannounced

Local authorities and housingassociations that go online torecover property in paymentarrears are set to save morethan £5 million following a cutin the fee by Her Majesty’sCourts Service (HMCS).

In October last year, HMCSlaunched a facility to enableproperty owners, such aslandlords, local authorities andmortgage lenders, to applyelectronically for repossessionfor non-payment of rent ormortgages. Possession claims

On line savings for possession claimsonline (PCOL) is a 24 hourservice that allows small andinfrequent users, such as privatelandlords, to fill out their claimonline, while frequent users,such as local authorities orhousing association, can linktheir data system directly intothe PCOL interface toautomatically input new claims.

From October 1, users of thePCOL service will pay £100instead of £150, which isexpected to bring aboutsignificant savings councils

and housing associations acrossthe country.

Organisations that wish tocontinue to lodge their claimsat the local county court willstill be able to do so, but willcontinue to have to pay £150for each claim.

Sir Ron De Witt, HMCS chiefexecutive, said: “Many users ofPCOL have already discoveredthe service is both secure andconvenient especially for bulkusers. In particular, PCOLallows users to electronically

monitor the progress of theirclaims, allocates hearing datesautomatically, and ensures thatcases are automatically assigned to the correct courtjurisdiction based on thepostcode of the property.

“Issuing claims online allowsHMCS to make significantadministrative savings which wecan pass on to our customers.This is particularly useful ascustomers bear the cost ofgoing to court up-frontregardless of the outcome.”

Speaking at a Fabian Societylecture, Secretary of State forBusiness, John Hutton, hassaid it is unacceptable that itcan take ten years fromapplication for a wind farmbeing made to energy beingdelivered to the grid.

He said that the planningsystem must undergo radicalreform in order to makesignificant reductions in theUK’s carbon emissions. 2.4million tons of carbon havebeen produced while plans for

Snails pace planning system unacceptableenough renewable energysources to power 2.1 millionhomes have been stuck in theplanning system.

But he also had some goodnews - he announcedconsents for the innovativeWave Hub ‘socket’ on theseabed off north Cornwalland for the 30 turbineTeeside project off themouth of the River Tees.Once constructed, these twoprojects are expected to feeda further 110MW of clean

power into the grid, enough tosupply almost 80,000 homesand saving up to 60,000 tonnesof carbon emissions.

The ground-breaking WaveHub is a deep-sea electricity‘socket’ that will sit on the seabed ten miles off the Cornishcoast. It will deliver theinfrastructure to supportcommercial-scaledemonstrator wave energyprojects. It will eventuallyconnect onto the mainland, viaa sub-sea cable, to a new subs-

station and will ultimatelyprovide 20MW of renewableelectricity for 7,500 homeswhen fully commissioned.

EDF Energy’s 90MW, 30turbine wind farm will belocated 1.5 km from thecoats between the mouth ofthe River Tees and the townof Redcar. Onceconstruction is completed in2010, the turbines will beable to generate greenelectricity for approximately72,000 homes.

ABOVE: Property developer Dandara has scooped two awards at the Herald Property awards for Scotland2007. Gh2o, Dandara’s first luxury development of waterfront apartments in Scotland, was named as thebest waterfront development and the best overall development in Scotland.

Two promotions atDavenhamDavenhamProperty Financehas made twopromotions intonewly createdstrategic positions.Mick Howard hasbeen made areasales director forthe North ofEngland andScotland.Stewart Williamshas been madearea sales directorfor the Midlandsand the SouthWest.

Development role at EMHApril Knapp hasbeen appointed asregionaldevelopmentmanager for EastMidlands Housing(EMH).She will beresponsible forEMH’s southern region which takes inLeicestershire and Northamptonshire.April previously worked for Orbithousing association in various housingmanagement roles in the southMidlands and has worked for EastNorthamptonshire district council,Daventry district council and Rugbyborough council. She is a boardmember at Northamptonshire Ruralhousing association.

Guinness Hermitageappoints new MDGuinnessHermitage ispleased toannounce that itsnew managingdirector will beBarbara Shaw. Barbara hasworked in thehousing sector for the past ten years,most recently with the GuinnessPartnership which she joined in 1999,and before then Sovereign Housing.She is currently interim managingdirector of Guinness Care and Support,a role she has been in for the past year.Barbara has an MA in businessmanagement and has recentlyparticipated in the National HousingFederation’s leadership programme.

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Consumers, industry bodies,government and otherstakeholders will be able tocontribute to an independentreview to reform the residentialproperty sector during a 12 weekconsultation.

The review is being sponsoredby the Royal Institution ofChartered Surveyors (RICS), TheNational Association of EstateAgents, and the Association ofResidential Lettings Agents.

The recommendations will beplaced in the public domain withthe hope that government willconsider them seriously andimplement them over a period of time.

The review will be chaired bySir Bryan Carsberg, formerdirector general of the Office of Fair Trading, and will focus on the standards, regulation, and redress of the residentialsector and the buying and selling process.

Particular attention will begiven to governmentintervention in the propertymarket with a key focus on theframeworks surrounding homeinformation packs and energyperformance certificates.

Along with written submissions,the consultation will be markedwith a series of public selectcommittee style hearings to

question evidence provided bykey stakeholders. Sir Bryan will:■ Examine current practices inresidential buying/selling andletting/renting from aprofessional, consumer andgovernment perspective.■ Consult widely andtransparently with stakeholdersfrom all groups with an interestin residential property.■ Highlight the pressure pointsin processes, regulatoryframeworks and markets thatwork against consistency,innovation and consumersatisfaction.■ Note and analyse marketdevelopments and opportunitiesboth within and outside existingframeworks.

Sir Bryan said: “Recentgovernment initiatives raiseinteresting questions aboutattitudes to the residentialproperty market. Theframeworks surrounding homeinformation packs and energyperformance certificates haveintroduced significant newregulatory and redress structuresinto relatively low risk aspects ofthe property transaction whileleaving consumers in other partsof the sector, that may carryhigher risks, apparently exposed.

“This contrasts with the

government’s approach toregulation elsewhere –particularly in the financialsector – where a more holisticapproach to the control of riskhas been adopted.”

Ian Fletcher, British PropertyFederation (BPF) director ofcommercial and residentialpolicy, said: “The RICS reviewrepresents a very welcomeopportunity to consider issuesaffecting regulation of theagency sector, ahead of agovernment review next year.The BPF will be keen to makerepresentations to Sir Bryan andhis team on two issues. Firstly,letting agents and how best toensure that the professionalservice provided by many agentsis not undermined by the acts ofa few. It is often forgotten thatlandlords are clients of lettingagents as well as tenants, andtherefore have an interest in thisissue, and we will be keen toarticulate this.

“Secondly, the activities ofsome residential propertyinvestment clubs, which we,along with some of the clubsthemselves, have long soughtregulation for. We believe thatsuch clubs perform a brokeragerole and regulation of themshould be considered part of this agenda.”

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Residential propertysector under scrutiny

ABOVE: Children from St Vincent’s RC school in Newcastle visited Places for People’s River’s Gatedevelopment to see solar panels fitted to new properties. The visit was linked to a series of school lessonsabout energy saving measures.


House price confidenceweakened further with demandslowing but supply remainingvery constrained, according tothe latest UK housing marketsurvey published by the RoyalInstitution of CharteredSurveyors (RICS).

Surveyors reported that houseprice growth remained negativefor the second month insuccession. 14.6 per cent morechartered surveyors reported afall than a rise in house prices,down from 3.3 reporting inAugust - the fastest decline sinceSeptember 2005 when 19.4 percent chartered surveyorsreported a fall than a rise.

Looking forward, surveyorconfidence in both sales andprices deteriorated further,reaching their lowest levelsrespectively since March 2003and May 2005. Deterioratingconfidence is being driven bythe demand side of the market,

with interest rate increases andrelated financial markets issuesdepressing surveyors’ outlooks.

New buyer enquiries declinedfor the tenth consecutive monthand at the fastest pace sinceMarch 2003. 51 per cent morechartered surveyors reported afall than a rise down from 39 percent in August. Five interest rateincreases since August 2006, andtightening mortgage lendingcriteria is weighing further onbuyer affordability.

However, new instructionsdeclined for the fourthconsecutive month at the fastestpace since June. 21 per centmore chartered surveyorsreported a fall than a rise in newinstructions to sell property.While the real economy remainsfundamentally sound, vendorsare under no pressure to sell.That said London, whoseeconomy is heavily gearedtowards the financial services

sector, was the only region in thesurvey to experience a rise ininstructions.

As a result of weakeningdemand but constrained supply,market conditions tightenedfurther. The ratio of completedsales (over the last three months)compared to the stock of unsoldproperty on the market increasedto 38.4 per cent in Septemberfrom 37.7 per cent in August asthe fall in stocks wasproportionally larger than thefall in sales. Market conditionshave eased from the peaks inMarch, but they are still tighterthan the surveys long runaverage of 37.2 per cent.

Scotland saw the strongestprice growth but the largest pricefalls were reported in EastAnglia, Wales and in theMidlands. Smaller falls werereported in the South East,South West, Yorkshire andHumberside and the North West.

RICS spokesman, JeremyLeaf, said: “Although houseprices continue to fall, theunderlying economy remainsstrong. A major correction inthe market seems unlikely whileeconomic growth is above trendand employment conditions remain buoyant.

“The combination of risinginterest rates, the introductionof HIPs and volatility in thefinancial markets resulting intightening of lending criteria,has certainly affected theconfidence of buyers andsellers. As a result, some would-be buyers are turning to therental market whereas others,conscious that the next move ininterest rates is now likely to bedown rather than up andmarket meltdown is highlyimprobable, are seizing theopportunity to negotiate withmore flexible vendors in a lesscompetitive market-place."

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Demand weakens but supply constrained

The Chartered Institute ofHousing (CIH) is calling for theinheritance tax threshold to belinked to a scheme for first time buyers.

The CIH is proposing that inorder to benefit from a reducedtax liability, people inheritingmoney from privately ownedassets including property shouldbe required to invest the tax theywould have paid under currentrules into a 'national housingequity share fund' for a fixedperiod of, say, ten years. Firsttime buyers who are assessed asbeing unable to afford the fullcost of house purchase would beable to apply to the fund for aninterest free equity loan for, say25-50 per cent of the value of the home.

In return for delaying access tothe money, investors in the fundwould receive a return equal tothe increase in house prices,nationally, for the period of theinvestment. The fund would bemanaged so that individuals cancash in their investment after theten year period.

This would provide a strongfinancial link between those whohave had the privilege of owningproperty in the past and firsttime buyers who would like toown but are currently priced outof the market.

The government already has

IHT idea for FTBseveral 'HomeBuy' schemes forlow cost home ownership inoperation – including a newOpen Market HomeBuy – but isstruggling to finance the equityportion on a significant scale.Income from inheritance taxcould provide a long-term sourceof finance for shared equityhousing schemes. First timebuyers would benefit at the sametime as the inheritance taxthreshold is increased – a win-win arrangement.

Howard Farrand, chair of theCIH policy and practice board,said: “One of the greatestemerging inequalities of our dayis that between the children ofpeople who own their homes andof people who don't, andinheritance is a key route bywhich these assets aretransferred between thegenerations. This proposal wouldhelp to spread out the benefits ofinheritance. At the same time,everyone will be a winner –inheritors would reduce their taxliability and first time buyerswould get financial help topurchase their home.

“Inheritance tax is now anissue for parties of all politicalpersuasions and we are likely tosee further rises in the taxthreshold in the future. We urge all parties to consider our proposal.”

ABOVE: Residential agency Hamptons International has launched akite competition for children across the UK, in aid of The Prince’sTrust, a leading youth charity for vulnerable young people. Thecompetition will culminate in a national kite festival with stunt kitedisplays and kite making workshops.

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Conservatives have committed to scrapping home informationpacks as part of their strategy for doing better in the provisionof housing.

Speaking at the Conservativeparty conference in Blackpool,Shadow Housing Minister, GrantShapps, said that a Conservativegovernment would:■ recast the relationship betweentarget-obsessed centralgovernment and bring powerback to the people;■ incentivise local communitiesso that they will act to improvetheir communities by creatingmore homes;■ engage local residents so they’lldecide how areas will benefitfrom development;■ scrap the government’s flaweddensity targets;■ stop ‘garden grabbing’ bychanging the planning rules torecognise that brownfield doesnot mean gardens;■ scrap home information packs;■ abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes under£250,000;■ introduce a new scheme toreward five years of good tenantbehaviour with an equity share intheir social housing.

We can dobetter

New research compiled forHometrack, the housingintelligence business, reveals thatjust under a quarter (24.3 percent) of young workinghouseholds have little chance ofaccessing home ownership intheir local housing market. Highhouse prices and rising interestrates are increasingly limitingaccess to the housing marketwith some of the worst affectedareas in the South West ofEngland. The research also setsout new analysis that highlightshow the cost of renting ischeaper than buying.

The report, ‘Can’t buy: Canrent - the affordability of privatehousing in Great Britain’, hasbeen written by Professor SteveWilcox of the University of York,using Hometrack data on houseprices and rental levels.

New to this year’s report is ananalysis of the private rentedsector and the role it has to playin easing the housing

affordability problem. Wilcoxsaid: “While most affordabilityanalysis focuses on the owneroccupied sector, this new analysisreveals that the cost of privaterenting is now much cheaperthan the cost of buying, and asfar as the supply of affordablehousing is concerned the rentedsector is an important part of the solution.”

In all regions, and in themajority of local authority areas,the costs of private rents weresignificantly lower than the costs of house purchase. InEngland and Wales, private rentsin 2006 represented less than twothirds of the level of housepurchase costs.

Rent to income ratios arehighest in London where theyare equivalent to 25.5 per cent ofaverage household earnedincomes. In the South East theratio is 22.0 per cent and in theSouth West 21.2 per cent. Theaverage for England as a whole is

20.5 per cent.Richard Donnell, Hometrack’s

director of research, said: “Theaffordability problemshighlighted in this research arelargely a result of an unbalancedand inflexible supply of homeswhich has led to high entry costsfor housing. While thegovernment has recently set outnew targets for house buildingthis research highlights theimportance of developing theright type of housing in the rightforms of tenure. The privaterented sector is taking much ofthe strain and while the rentalmarket has grown in recent years,it is clear that this growth needsto be sustained to ensureadequate housing choice forthose priced out of the market.”

The British PropertyFederation (BPF) has longchampioned an institutionallyrun private rental sector run andmanaged by large firms with thekind of service and quality not

delivered by individual ‘buy to let’investors. Ian Fletcher, director ofresidential policy at the BPF said:“This is a timely report whichexposes the importance of theprivate rented sector and how vital it is that the government finds a way to make better use of it to plug the nation’s housingshortage. A professional, largescale, quality private rented sectorcould be doing so much to helpput a roof over more peoples’heads. For this to happengovernment needs to adopt astrategic approach to the sectorand to recognise that if rents areto remain affordable it too willneed to continue to expand.Government should be seeking to encourage the institutionalinvestment necessary to create asector that offers longer termlettings in professionally managed properties. At presentgovernment does not have acomprehensive strategy for theprivate rented sector.”

Cheaper to rent than buy

ABOVE: Second year female students studying a built environment degree course competed for thenational Women in Property Student Awards. Fiona Forrest, property development and valuation student atGlasgow Caledonian university, was selected as the winner for her eloquent responses, in depth knowledgeof her profession, the environment and general property issues, as well as a clear vision for the future.Fiona received her prize from architect Elspeth Clements, one of the co-founders of the WiP network.


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The Ombudsman for EstateAgents (OEA) scheme hasintroduced an independentreview process for use byconsumers who are dissatisfiedwith the service they havereceived from the ombudsmanin resolving their case.

The independent reviewer’srole is to determine disputeswhere consumers using theOEA feel they have notreceived a satisfactory level ofservice and have been unable

to resolve their dispute directlywith the organisation, whichdeals with complaints againstmember estate agents. He willnot be conducting a complaintsprocedure for people whodisagree with a decision madeby the ombudsman.

With the introduction ofHIPs and the enactment of theConsumers, Estate Agents andRedress Bill there is anincreasing consumer awarenessof, and demand for,

independent redressarrangements.

Complainants will bedirected to the reviewer, CyrilLanch, if the OEA cannot settlethe matter through its owninternal complaints handlingproecedure. If Lanch considersthat a service complaint shouldbe upheld in whole or in parthe may recommend to theombudsman that the OEAmakes an apology or paysappropriate compensation

(equivalent to that which theOEA would award against amember firm in similarcircumstances) for anydamage, distress orinconvenience caused by theOEA’s standard of service tothe person or firm making theservice complaint. If theombudsman does not acceptthat recommendation, Lanchwill refer the matter to theindependent council of the OEA.

Complaints about complaint handling

UK lenders are benefiting fromthe international experience ofusing automated valuationmodels (AVMs) to estimate themarket value of property,according to researchpublished by the Council ofMortgage Lenders (CML).

The research report‘Automated valuation models:an international perspective’,shows that AVMs are beingused ever more widely in arange of countries, and thatthis trend will continue. Butuse of AVMs around the worldis ‘patchy and complex’ andaffected by a number of issues,including national differencesin the availability of data, aswell as political, economic,regulatory, housing and

lending market conditions.The use of AVMs is already

well established in the USA,Canada and Sweden. The UK,Denmark, Germany, theNetherlands and Spain are in asecond wave of countriesrapidly adopting automatedvaluation and benefiting fromthe experiences of thosecountries that have pioneeredits use, the research says.

The research shows thatcompetition in the UK isspurring greater use of AVMsas firms look to cut the costand time taken for valuation.As well as the competitivepressures encouraging firms touse automated valuation, theproportion of loans beinggenerated by financial

intermediaries is putting anemphasis on quick decisions atthe point of sale.

Across the world, traditionalvaluation methods are slowerand more expensive thanautomated valuation. But thedrive towards the use of AVMsin the UK is being moderatedby regulatory requirementsand lenders’ desire to maintainprudent lending standards. Forthese reasons, automatedvaluation is more likely in caseswhere the loan-to-value ratio islow, credit quality is good andwhere the physical features ofthe property have already beenchecked, as in remortgaging.Automated valuation is leastlikely to be used for originating loans at a high

loan-to-value ratio.CML head of policy, Jackie

Bennett, said: “Given thatautomated valuation hassignificant potential to reducecosts and is one of a number oftools that allows an instantanswer to a mortgageapplication, it can deliver realbenefits for consumers. Somelenders in the UK are alreadyoffering customers point-of-saleoffers using AVMs.

“The research shows thatautomated valuation is yetanother area in which UKmortgage lenders are leadingthe way in Europe. But lenderswill continue to lend prudentlyand use traditional methods ofvaluing property where it isappropriate to do so.”

Automated valuation brings benefits

Energy Minister, MalcolmWicks, has given the green light to the largest wind farm in Devon.

Speaking to the British WindEnergy Association in Glasgow,he said that he is giving DevonWind Power the go-ahead fortheir 66MW Fullabrook Downwind project in north Devon.The decision follows a four-week public inquiry into thedevelopment in December 2006and January 2007.

When fully operational the 22turbine scheme will generateenough clean electricity to meet the average annual needs of 30,000 domesticconsumers – equivalent to over80 per cent of domesticelectricity consumption or some30 per cent of total energyelectricity consumption inNorth Devon. It will also savealmost 65,000 tonnes of CO2

Devon wind power announcedemissions annually.

Wicks also set out whatadditional action is being takenin order to deliver even morecapacity, including proposals to:■ 'band' the RenewablesObligation to give increasedsupport to developingtechnologies such as offshorewind and solar; ■ amending the climate changepolicy planning statement sothat it is more heavily weighedin favour of renewablesapplications;■ a transmission access reviewthat will streamline gridconnections;■ and the Department forBusiness, Enterprise andRegulatory Reform workingwith Ofgem to establish anoffshore transmission regimethat will connect up a raft ofnew, large-scale offshore windprojects to the mainland.

ABOVE: Private landlord Grainger plc has bought a portfolio of 309homes in East Dulwich, London. Two thirds of the properties aresubject to assured shorthold tenancies and over 50 are subject toregulated or assured tenancies. Grainger intends to refurbish and let14 vacant units on assured shorthold tenancies into the local market.In total, Grainger owns more than 14,000 properties in the UK.

Two for LHA-ASRA GroupBrian Benneyworthhas beenappointed as thegroup head of HRand administrationhousing andregeneration groupLHA-ASRA.Brian comes to theLeicester-based group from automotivecompany Inchcape Plc, where he wasgroup HR manager. He brings a wealthof experience in managing change,employment law and diversitymanagement to the role.Prior to working at Inchcape, Brianworked for Safeway plc as a seniorhuman resources executive where hewas responsible for provision ofsupport and guidance for a range ofHR issues including strategic designand change management. And LHA hasappointed GurmeetVirdi to head ofneighbourhoodservices, followinga managementreorganisation.Gurmeet waspreviously interimmanager of operations at housingassociation Midland Heart.He originally trained to be an engineerand has also worked at Coventry citycouncil as an area housing manager,and Whitefriars housing group, as adistrict manager. LHA-ASRA Group was founded by LHAand ASRA Greater London HA in 2006.

National sales executive forLowestoft ComponentsRobin Gwatkin hasbeen appointed asnational salesexecutive forLowestoftComponents,supplier of timbercomponents andpart of JELD-WEN(windows & doors). Robin, whopreviously worked for eight years forBSW Timber plc as sales manager, willdevelop new markets opportunities forcomponent manufacturing for flooring,furniture production, doors andwindows, timber frame housing andgeneral construction industry needs.

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A new social housing watchdogis being established as anindependent, stand-alone body,Housing Minister, YvetteCooper, has announced.

The new organisation – theOffice for Tenants and SocialLandlords - will have the powersto back up tenants of registeredsocial landlords (RSLs) whenthey report poor service.

This new body will replacethe role currently played by theHousing Corporation. Thedecision to establish the socialhousing regulator as anindependent body followsconsultation with industry, andwill give it a greater focus onprotecting the needs of tenantswhile freeing good sociallandlords from red tape. Thecurrent system is not designedto release regulatory burdensfrom social landlords who areperforming well nor tointervene if tenant groupscomplain about the service they receive.

The new office will ensurethat landlords provide a goodservice to their tenants,complementing the role of theHomes and Communities

Agency in delivering 30,000 newaffordable homes a year.

The new watchdog is the keyrecommendation accepted bythe government from the CaveReview of social housing in June.Under the new system tenants'groups will be able to alert theregulator to poor service; theregulator will then have theauthority to impose a wide rangeof penalties and sanctions onfailing social landlords,including the power to trigger achange of management, and tohelp ensure tenants receive agood service.

The government alsoannounced that anindependently chaired advisorypanel will carry out further workwith stakeholders in order tobring local authorities under the scope of the watchdog within two years of it cominginto operation.

Yvette Cooper said: “If housingassociations are doing a good jobthey should have less red tape.But if tenants aren't getting agood deal, we need muchstronger action. We want tenantsto have a real say on how theirhomes and estates are managed.

The new regulator will assesslandlords' poor performanceand take action to make sure it improves.”

David Orr, chief executive ofthe National HousingFederation, said: “This is anexcellent result for tenants aswell as housing providers. Wehave said all along that if thegovernment is really committed to ensuring thehighest standards for tenants itwill create a stand-aloneregulator, not an add-on toanother agency. We aredelighted that the governmenthas recognised this.”

The Council of MortgageLenders (CML) has alsowelcomed this announcement.The CML had argued in favourof this approach rather than thetransfer of regulatoryresponsibilities to the AuditCommission, which was thealternative outcome.

CML members have a total ofalmost £40 billion invested inRSLs for new build, repair andimprovement. They are able tolend to RSLs on competitiveterms that reflect the existenceof robust regulation.

New social housingwatchdog announced

ABOVE: The go-ahead of the £360m regeneration of the north-east of Coventry has been formalized withthe signing of a legally binding agreement. The large-scale regeneration scheme, which has been selectedas a government mixed communities pilot scheme, will see 3,500 new homes built over the next 12 years.Left-right: Andy McDermott, Keepmoat plc; Ashley Lane, Persimmon Homes; Daniel Hammond, BovisHomes; Councillor Kevin Foster, cabinet member for Coventry city council; Peter Lacey, chair of WhitefriarsHousing; and Roger Tipton, resident chair of New Deal for Communities.


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Plans for new homes,schools, healthcare andcommunity facilities for eastLondon were welcomed bythe Olympic DeliveryAuthority (ODA) as thelegacy vision for the Olympic Village was unveiledby preferred developers Lend Lease during the start of public consultation in Stratford.

New images show how thearea is planned to look afterthe Games in 2012. Theproposed legacy plans arecentred on creating a newcommunity next to theOlympic Park in the heart ofeast London. Approximately4,000 homes will deliverhousing for the futuregenerations, much of itaffordable, and newcommunities will besupported by new parks,public squares and openspace; an education campusfor all ages; healthcare andmulti-use communityfacilities; and new transport links to transform

Olympic village legacy vision unveiledthe area into one of the best connected parts of the capital.

Lend Lease’s legacymasterplans went on display ata public exhibition in StratfordCircus to allow local residentsto view and comment on theplanning applications for thelegacy elements of the Olympic Village.

A panel of 47 UK andinternational architecturalpractices, appointed by LendLease, will design the OlympicVillage for Games time andlegacy. The Olympic Village willaccommodate 17,000 athletesand officials during theOlympic Games and 6,500 inthe Paralympic Games.Accommodation for athleteswill be no higher than theeighth floor.

ODA chief executive, DavidHiggins, said: “The 2012 Gamesare about more than a summerof sport, they are a catalyst formuch wider regeneration so Iwelcome Lend Lease’s excitingplans for a new legacycommunity in the heart of east

London. These plans for newhomes, schools, healthcareand multi-use communityfacilities, all on the door stepof one of the largest newurban parks in Europe for150 years, will ensure that thelegacy of 2012 lives on forgenerations.”

A planning application for the legacy masterplan for the Olympic Village hasbeen submitted to the ODA’s planning decisionsteam, an independent bodyresponsible for processing all

applications relating to theOlympic Park on behalf ofthe ODA’s planningcommittee, which includesCouncillors from the fourboroughs in the OlympicPark and externallyappointed independentmembers.

Feedback received duringpublic consultation will beconsidered before theplanning committee issuetheir decision on theapplication, expected to be atthe end of the year.

The London boroughs ofCroydon and Havering are thelatest areas who have agreed totake part in a HousingCorporation pilot projectlooking at whether stockrationalisations will achieveimproved services for tenantswho live in their area.

They join a list whichincludes Manchester and SouthHampshire to examineproperty management. Theprojects form part of thecorporation initiative whichaims to get housingassociations in England toexplore the potential forrationalisation.

A Chartered Institute ofHousing report commissionedby the Housing Corporation inMarch 2007 called on housingassociations to examine theirpatterns of property ownershipand management to ensurethey meet key objectives. Thecorporation also published a

Two more stockrationalisation pilotslaunched

toolkit to support housingassociations in this area.

Projects are to be run in three areas which have anumber of housing associations managing homeswithin them and are allundergoing ambitious plans for regeneration.

Councillor Dudley Mead,cabinet member for housing atCroydon council, said: “We have over 50 housingassociations operating inCroydon and if this projectproves successful we hope toroll it out across the borough.”

Councillor Mike Armstrong,Havering council’s lead memberfor housing and regeneration,said: “Havering councilwelcomes the opportunity towork with the HousingCorporation and housingassociations to explore newways of delivering consistentlyhigh standards of customerservice and stock maintenance.”

ABOVE: Land manager Steve Rickard of Charles Church Wales climbedToubkal, the tallest mountain in North Africa, to raise £800 for theDreams Come True charity. Toubkal is 4,167 metres high and is 63 kmsouth of Marrakesh.

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Housing servicesstrengthened at OrbitOrbit housingassociation, part ofthe Orbit Group,welcomes FayShanahan as thenew regionalhousing servicesmanager for theNorth Midlands.In her role, Fay will be focussed onensuring the effective delivery ofcustomer focussed housing services toboth general needs and shelteredhousing tenants across the Midlands.Fay was previously the tenancyrelations manager for SolihullCommunity Housing.

Area sales manager forRedrowAndrea Nippe hasbeen appointed anarea sales managerfor Redrow Homes,overseeing anumber ofdevelopmentsacross Devon andCornwall.She was previously a field salesmanager with Barratt Homes inSouthampton, and prior to that spentfive years with Persimmon Homes.Andrea has a degree in law from aGerman university and experience as a translator with the European Court of Justice.

MD for Young PropertyPropertyinvestmentportfolio managers,Young Group, haveappointed IainMacgregor asmanaging directorof Young Property,the group’sdevelopment arm.Iain was previously a board director atmixed use urban regenerationdeveloper Berkeley Homes, where hewas responsible for delivering anumber of high profile schemes. Iainhas more than 20 years’ experience ofdevelopment and operationalmanagement as a property developer,consultant and all risk contractor.Before moving to Berkeley Group in2003, he worked for M3 Consulting.As managing director of YoungProperty, Iain will head up the teamestablishing Young Group’s investment fund.

The total of gross lending inAugust was £34 billion, littlechanged from July’s £34.1billion and £1 billion higherthan in August last year, butthe make up of lending haschanged significantly since ayear ago, according to theCouncil of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Both lending for housepurchase and remortgage havedeclined by 11 per cent and 12per cent respectively comparedwith August last year, but totallending has been buoyed by astrong buy-to-let market. Otherlending was 37 per cent higherthan in August 2006, and hasbeen consistently higher thanits comparable 2006 figurethroughout this year. Thisprimarily covers buy-to-letwhich has continued to beunderpinned by house priceincreases, tenant demand, rentincreases and landlords’willingness to take long-terminvestment decisions.

Compared with July, thenumber of loans for housepurchase increased by five percent to 99,000, with a value of

£15.7 billion, while the numberof remortgages decreased byfive per cent, to 88,000, with avalue of £10.5 billion. It isuncertain what impact the newhome information packrequirements, which came intoeffect for newly marketed fourbedroom properties in August2007 and three bedroomproperties from 10 September,had on activity levels.

The data covers a periodbefore the problems associatedwith Northern Rock began toemerge. It is unlikely anyeffects from this will be seen inthe CML’s published statisticsfor completed loans until theend of November, but they willfeed through sooner inapplications and approvals datafrom other surveys.

Affordability has continuedto worsen as first-time buyerstypically borrowed 3.38 timestheir income, a figureunchanged since July, while theproportion of income theyspent on interest rose from19.7 per cent in July, to 20 percent. Movers typically took outloans of 3.03 times their

income and committed 17.2 per cent of their incometowards mortgage interest.Debt servicing burdens are theworst they have been in 16years for first-time-buyers andthe worst in 15 years formovers and set to worsenfurther in the next few months.

Fixed-rate products continueto be popular accounting for78 per cent of mortgages, up19 percentage points from 59per cent in August last year.Fixed-rate mortgages providecertainty of payment levels overthe early years of a mortgage,which may be helpful toborrowers when affordability isan obvious constraint. But withinterest rates now potentiallyset to fall, tracker rate dealsmay become more popular assentiment around interest rates changes.

Michael Coogan, CMLdirector general, said:“Affordability clearly remainschallenging but there may besome relief for borrowers with expectations of an interest rate cut, perhaps asearly as November.”

Make up of lendingchanges significantly

ABOVE: One of Kettering’s landmarks is being converted into flats by housing consortium Quantum. The oldtextile factory was built between 1913 and 1915 as premises for the Kettering Industrial Co-operative Society.The new development will have a mix of 12 flats for rent, 24 for shared ownership and ten for outright sale.

2 property people december 2007 www.ppmagazine.co.uk

Housing Minister, YvetteCooper, has announced a pilotscheme for 14 new localhousing companies (LHCs).

Local housing companies area new partnership betweencouncils and the private sectorbeing tested as one of a rangeof models to help localauthorities to bring forwardland for housing development, in particular tohelp increase the supply ofaffordable housing.

Currently councils, once theysell off surplus land to theprivate sector, have limitedinfluence over how it isdeveloped, or the type andquality of housing provided.Under the proposals to bepiloted, councils would providetheir surplus public sector landto the local housing company.Each LHC would act as themaster developer within adesignated area and will work

with other investors andcontractors. They will developnew mixed communities andwill be able to include at least50 per cent affordable housing,for key workers and first timebuyers. The local authoritywould play a full part inagreeing the developmentplan, including being able todirectly offer low cost housingdeals to meet local needs.

In return for taking the landcost out of the equation,private sector partners such ashousing builders, including theregistered social landlordsector, would provideequivalent investment and theconstruction expertise neededto build the homes. Localauthorities could also benefitfrom the increasing value ofland on the site that could beploughed back into providingmore affordable homes.

English Partnerships has

issued guidance to the 14 localauthorities who have expressedinterest in the scheme. Theseare Leeds, Sheffield,Nottingham, Newcastle,Wakefield, Sunderland,Dacorum, Harlow,Peterborough, Bristol,Plymouth, Wolverhampton,Manchester and Barking &Dagenham. Each local housingcompany could have thepotential to deliver up to 1,000new homes. They are a keypart of the government'shousing green paper to meetthe Prime Minister's target toprovide three million morehomes by 2020.

But Shadow HousingMinsiter, Grant Shapps, said:“The solution to help peopleonto the housing ladder is notto announce another scheme.Labour should abolish stampduty for first time buyers onproperties up to £250,000.

Only last week it was revealedthat a government initiativecosting £15 million, which wasaimed at helping first timebuyers, had only been taken upby just 88 families.”

And Liberal DemocratShadow Housing Minister, PaulHolmes MP, said: “YvetteCooper’s plan for a tinyminority of hand-pickedcouncils to trial private ventureproperty companies is acompletely inadequateresponse. The scheme hassome merit but is far too small scale and, as always, relieson central government dictatand control.”

But the announcement waswelcomed by the NationalHousing Federation (NHF).David Orr, chief executive ofthe NHF, said: “This is an idea with real potential. It’s awin-win situation for localcommunities.”

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Property People Focus is publishedby Property People JV LtdPO Box 351, Beckenham BR3 6YFTelephone: +44(0)20 8658 4900 Fax: +44(0)20 8658 8066 Editorial e-mail:[email protected] as part of Property People Portal http://www.ppmagazine.co.ukEditor:Aura Hargreaves BA FCIH FIRPM Design & Production:Dave RadleyISSN 1751-2883 (Print)ISSN 1750-970X (Online)

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Local housing companies launched

RIGHT: Oxfordshire propertydeveloper Builders Ede has wona Daily Mail UK property award2007 – County Winner – bestdevelopment Gloucestershire fourstars – for its Longfords Milldevelopment. The Victorianwoollen mill was on EnglishHeritage’s ‘At Risk’ registerbecause of its neglect. Thelimestone building have beentransformed into 38 houses and34 apartments in the currentdevelopment phase. A further 20contemporary apartments are tobe built over the stream nextyear.

New sales director forBryant HomesTaylor Wimpey hasappointed EmmaFreeman as salesand marketingdirector for itsBryant Homesteam in the Londonregion. Following adegree inpsychology, Emma’s career in propertybegan with a role as an estate agent.After ten years Emma moved on tospend time as a developer and hasamassed invaluable experience in theLondon property market from a total oftwelve years in the business. Shejoined from a previous appointment atGeorge Wimpey City.

Land director for CALAboardCALA Homes(East) Ltd hasappointed JustinLamb to theposition of landdirector on theCALA Homes(East) board inScotland. Justinhas worked in land acquisition for tenyears, the last four with the CALA Eastteam where he was involved in theacquisition of key sites in Edinburgh.His appointment follows a restructureof CALA’s Scottish home-buildingbusiness which saw the appointment ofa new Scottish chairman and three newmanaging directors.

New director for CIH inNorthern IrelandGrainia Long hasbeen appointed asthe new director ofthe CharteredInstitute of Housingin Northern Ireland.Grainia arrives atthe CIH followingtwo years asdirector of policy at the EqualityCommission for Northern Ireland,where she led the commission'scontribution to the recent SempleReview of Affordable Housing. Previously Grainia worked as policymanager and as parliamentary andpolicy officer for Shelter Scotland.With considerable experience in publicaffairs and political lobbying, sheworked in Scotland soon after theestablishment of the Scottishparliament and during a period ofconsiderable change in housing policy.

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www.ppmagazine.co.uk december 2007 property people 3

Most people agree with thegovernment’s plans for zero-carbon homes, but many areput off making their ownhomes greener because of theperceived cost, according to arecent survey by Norwich andPeterborough Building Society(N&P) as part of its annualEco Self-Build competition.

N&P asked people, if theywere ever to have a home builtto their individualrequirements, if they wouldincorporate green features,such as solar panels, a windturbine, or ground source heatpumps. An encouraging 81 percent of people said that theywould, but of the remaining 19per cent who wouldn’t, nearlyhalf said that this was due tosuch features being tooexpensive (46 per cent).

Other reasons given werethat they didn’t think suchfeatures would make anydifference (19 per cent), that

they didn’t have enoughknowledge about them (17per cent), that they preferredtraditional properties (six percent) and that features such aswind turbines weren’tattractive (four per cent). The remaining 14 per cent didn’tgive a reason.

When asked whether theyagreed with the government’splans to make all new homeszero carbon by 2016, a 89 percent of respondents said yes,with the over 50 age categorythe strongest supporters, with92 per cent saying they agreed.

Respondents were also askedto rank ten features in orderof preference for inclusion intheir dream home.Environmentally-friendly came only 7th in the overallpriority list, being beaten bydesigner kitchen (1st), allbedrooms en-suite (2nd),designer bathroom or wetroom (3rd), landscaped

gardens (4th), and open planliving and home cinema(joint 5th). The only featuresto prove less popular thanmaking a dream homeenvironmentally-friendly weredressing room and fullywireless technology in joint 8th place, and home gym in10th place.

Richard Lloyd, managingdirector of HockleysProfessional and one of thejudges for N&P’s Eco Self-Build competition, said: “It’sgreat that the government ismaking steps to cut the UK’scarbon-dioxide emissions, butwe’d really like to see morebeing done to encourageindividuals to make changesto existing housing too, suchas removing VAT on energy-efficient homeimprovements, or reducingcouncil tax for propertieswith a high energy efficiency rating.”

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Go green – if someoneelse is paying

ABOVE: Over 2,000 council properties in Northumberland are set for a £32 million cash injection over thenext five years following a transfer of landlord from Castle Morpeth borough council (CMBC) to CastleMorpeth Housing, part of the Isos housing group. An overwhelming 84.7 per cent vote in favour of thetransfer last year is believed to be the biggest yes vote on a large scale voluntary transfer (LSVT).Left to right: Keith Loraine, group chief executive Isos; Patrick Johnson, vice chair Castle MorpethHousing; Cllr Glen Sanderson, CMBC; Cllr Alan Sambrook, CMBC; Cllr Douglas, mayor of CMBC; Anna-MarieFlood, chair Castle Morpeth Housing; Barry Scarr, CMBC; Tina Drury, managing director Castle MorpethHousing; Cllr Peter Jackson, leader CMBC.


Flat owners are not being wellserved by some professionalsdespite the rigourous codes ofconduct and ethics of theRoyal Institute of CharteredSurveyors and the Law Society,according to the inauguralconference of the Associationof Leasehold EnfranchisementPractitioners (ALEP).

Valuer and surveyor AndrewPridell, of Andrew PridellAssociates, criticised themembers of LeaseholdValuation Trbunals (LVTs) foroften not being familiar withthe issues being presented.“Some members of the LVTshould not be sitting there,” heclaimed. He also criticised theprocess for being opaque.Often determinations fromLVTs came with nosubstantiation to the members’decisions. This was unfair on

both parties, he suggested.Andrew also called “nonsense”the supposition that membersof the LVT should not usetheir previous experience whenmaking determinations, as theyare required to do. He calledfor a review on the way theLVTs worked and wereconstituted. For example,panels are sometimes draftedin from other areas if therewould otherwise be a conflictof interest, and so are notfamiliar with the areaconcerned.

Solicitor Chris Sykes of SykesAnderson LLP felt thatfreeholder rights had beengradually eroded by legislationand that there was more powerin the hands of theleaseholder. He explained thatthe “freeholders have struckback” with their financial

muscle, technical challengessuch as Cadogan v Morris and that the frontline was with valuations, namely therecently rejected appeal in theSportelli case.

Sykes referred to marriagevalue as the battleground, butnot before questioning its veryexistence. He even described itas “double counting”,effectively compensating thefreeholder twice for their lossof the freehold. While thebalance of power may beswinging to the flat owner,Sykes suggested that major reform – if notabolition of marriage value –should be considered.

Most provocative wasNicholas Kissen of theLeasehold Advisory Service,who laid out ten commonfailings among professionals in

leasehold enfranchisementand urged them to improvestandards. Among theshortfalls that LEASEregularly had to deal withwhen receiving complaintsfrom the public wereprofessionals missingdeadlines, failure to maintainmomentum in freeholdacquisitions or multiple leaseextensions, and failing tosupply the the correctsignature on notices. Kissenbelieved that there were “toomany people dipping theirtoes into the water” ofleasehold enfranchisement.He asked the conference tocrystallise the aims of itsmembers democratically andensure that membershipcriteria were monitored sothat the ALEP logo becomes a“matter of prestige”.

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Low standards amongstenfranchisement practitioners

The University of WarwickStudents’ Union has successfullyrepresented two groups ofWarwick students to win alandmark decision on two jointapplications regardingunlicensed houses in multipleoccupation (HMO).

Two HMO propertiesoccupied by members of theStudents’ Union remainedunlicensed for over a year afterthe date of mandatory licensingfor HMOs.

The landlord was prosecutedin June 2007 for failure toregister his HMOs, and fined£3,057.80. Following theprosecution, the studentsapplied to the ResidentialProperty Tribunal for a rentrepayment order, covering theduration of the tenancy forwhich the HMO was unlicensed.

The students claimed that theyhad endured a ‘poor experience’whilst living in the properties,and that persistent problemswith the HMOs were either onlyaddressed after considerabledelays, or were not addressed atall. The tribunal noted the poorexperiences of the students, but

Students’ union helpswin rent rebate

much more important in theirdecision was the failure of a‘professional’ landlord, whoseproperty portfolio is estimated at£2.5 million, to apply for HMOlicenses in the first place. Thetribunal concurred that in suchcircumstances there was“nothing to excuse his failure toapply”. Judging that theaccommodation was generally ofan above-average standard, thetribunal decided to award anamount equivalent to fifty percent of the relevant payments,totalling £18,450.

Housing Act 2004 (Part 2) isconcerned with mandatoryHMO licensing. It has been arequirement under thislegislation since 6th April 2006for certain HMOs to be licensed,or to have been the subject of anapplication for a license. Itapplies to properties containingfive or more persons (who donot live as a single household)and consisting of at least threestoreys. To date Warwick districtcouncil has received over 300applications. The maximum fine for failing to obtain alicense is £20,000.

ABOVE: The Rt Revd Dr Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, officiallyopened All Saints Court, a new affordable housing development inPoplar run by Southwark and London Diocesan housing association.The development, once a derelict site, is a C-shaped buildingcontaining 49 flats for families, with some ground floor flats suitablefor individuals with a physical disability. An additional ninemaisonettes are for larger families.

New commercial director forClubeasy groupStudentaccommodationcompanyClubeasy.com hasappointed JulieCheesbrough tojoin its board in thepost of commercialdirector.Julie joined Cubeasy.com in 2004 asassistant accountant and subsequentlyas company accountant. She has beenresponsible for ensuring that theaccounts department has kept withrapid growth, implementing bespoke ITsystems and ensuring financial controlsand targets are met.

Business developmentmanager for CountrywideAndrew Richardshas beenappointed to thenew post ofbusinessdevelopmentmanager for thesouth coast atARMA-regulatedCountrywide Property Management.Andrew brings 30 years in property tohis new brief. He ran his ownsuccessful agency business beforeselling to spend more time with hisboat, but his retirement only lasted afew months before he missed beingbusy and engaging with people andtheir problems. For the last couple ofyears Andrew has been a propertymanager with the Countryside group,with responsibility for hundreds of flats.

Crosby Lend Lease appointsdevelopment managerCrosby Lend Leasehas appointedAndrew Martin asdevelopmentmanager for theNorth West region.Andrew’sresponsibilities atCrosby will focuson identifying future land opportunitiesfor the rapidly-expanding developerwith a reputation for innovativeresidential and mixed-used city centredevelopments such as greenquarterand Potato Wharf in Manchester CityCentre. Andrew was previously landmanager with Elite Homes and hasmore than ten years experience in his field.

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Housing Minister YvetteCooper has announced anadditional £70 million for thehostels programme to fundmore than 100 new orupgraded hostels with trainingfacilities to help some of themost vulnerable people insociety move on toindependence.

The new type of hostels willprovide on-site training forresidents to learn practicalvocational skills from cateringto sound engineering. Otherprojects include socialenterprises, where the skillsneeded to successfully runbusinesses are learnt –examples include a cafe inNewcastle and a scheme togrow and deliver organic fruitand vegetables to localrestaurants.

Cooper said: “Getting peoplenot just off the street but back

£70 million for new and upgraded hostels

into work is a major challenge.While homelessness is at itslowest level for twenty years, weneed to press on for furtherimprovements. The expansionof this scheme – which isproving a major success – willtransform the life changes ofthousands of homeless people.”

Jenny Edwards, chiefexecutive of Homeless Link,the national umbrella agencyfor the homelessness sectorthat is administering thescheme, said: “We aredelighted that the government is continuing itscommitment to makingservices for homeless people'places of change'.

Joe Oldman, senior housingpolicy adviser for Help theAged, said: “This commitmentto homelessness is necessaryand very welcome – but it iscrucial part of this funding is

specifically directed to helpvulnerable older homelesspeople. Far too many olderpeople spend excessively longstays in hostels or temporaryaccommodation simply becausethere is nowhere else for themto go.

“The majority ofhomelessness initiatives aregeared towards helpingyounger people back intoemployment. But it is alsoessential that older homelesspeople have access to socialand educational activities toavoid them feeling isolated andexcluded. To help withresettlement, local authoritiesmust fund schemes specificallytargeted at older people.”

Communities and LocalGovernment will be invitingbids for funding from localauthorities and voluntarysector service providers.

ABOVE; Around 30 students from the University of Technology in Darmstadt, Germany, led by professorsThomas Hartkopf (renewable energies) and Manfred Hegger (architecture), have won the one-weekinternational Solar Decathlon 2007 held in Washington D.C. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy,the competition awards prizes to homes that are particularly energy efficient and sustainable. The studentsintegrated into their 80 square-meter house 50 square meters of BASF’s Micronal, PCM SmartBoardgypsum wall boards plus a Micronal PCM SmartBoard-modified chilled ceiling developed by Zwickau-basedIlkazell Insulation Technology GmbH.


The House of CommonsCommittee of Public Accountshas published a report that isheavily critical of themanagement of the ThamesGateway to date.

The Thames Gateway is thelargest regeneration and newhousing programme managedby the Department forCommunities and LocalGovernment and covers thearea between Canary Wharf inLondon and the mouth of theRiver Thames, a length ofapproximately 40 miles. Thegovernment intends that160,000 new homes and180,000 new jobs should becreated in the area by 2016,and further developmentbeyond that date.

The committee tookevidence for its report on theoverall management of theprogramme on four mainissues: turning aspirations intoplans that are delivered; more

integrated and better co-ordinated expenditure;progress on delivering homesand employmentopportunities; and achievinghigh quality andenvironmentally sustainabledevelopment.The conclusions of the reportare:1. The department’smanagement of theprogramme has been weak,and has not demonstrablyadded value to the programme.2. The Thames Gateway is oneof 15 mission criticalprogrammes prioritised by thegovernment, with an ambitiousvision which will requiresustained prioritisation and co-operation across Whitehall.3. The department has nottranslated the vision for theprogramme intocomprehensive and measurableobjectives, nor are there robustsystems to measure progress.

4. The delivery chain for theThames Gateway is unclear.5. The department does notknow how much theregeneration of the ThamesGateway will cost the taxpayer.6. There is a risk that theeconomic benefits ofregeneration will not reachexisting residents.7. Some local regenerationpartners have low capacity andstruggle with complexprocurement and engagingpotential investors.8. Local MPs do not feelsufficiently engaged with theThames Gateway programme.9. Many stakeholders arecalling for better engagementwith the private sector.10. Multiple inward investment agencies operatingwithin the region and the lackof a co-ordinated marketingstrategy have led to poorvisibility of the programmeoutside the area and amongst

potential investors.Edward Leigh MP, chairman

of the Committee of PublicAccounts, said: “TheDepartment for Communitiesand Local Government is atpresent manifestly not up tothe job of managing theenormously ambitiousenterprise of regenerating theThames Gateway region.Action must be taken now toprevent the enterprise ending in another publicspending calamity.

“It still amounts to littlemore than a group ofdisjointed projects which donot add up to a programmewhich is purposeful andmoving forward. Thedepartment has been incapableof taking the present ratherinsubstantial vision andgalvanizing the multitude ofcentral, regional and localpartners in the scheme to worktogether to turn it into reality.”

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Thames Gateway managementcriticised by MPs

Glasgowsecond stagetransferprogressSixteen local managementcommittees have been invitedby the Glasgow housingassociation (GHA) board toproceed to the next stage ofsecond stage transfer (SST).

Stewart Maxwell, Minister for Communities and Sport,said: “I welcome the fact that 16local housing organisations(LHOs) are able to moveforward to the next stage of theSST process. It's a positive stepin the right direction. I havebeen clear that I want to seeprogress where that can besensibly achieved.

“And I hope GHA and thoseLHOs who are not able to moveforward right away, will workswiftly to take forward theirproposals for the future of thestock. Where SST is unlikely tobe achieved in the short term, Istill expect GHA to look at howit can deliver the genuinecontrol and empowerment thattenants want.”

ABOVE: The customer service centre at Northern Counties housing association has been named Best SmallCall Centre at the CCF European call centre awards. The association, a member of The GuinnessPartnership, was the only housing association to make the final short-list. The centre employs 40 staffwho, between them, handle around 5,500 calls a week from tenants and residents of 20,000 plus homesaround the country.

Promotion at DavenhamProperty FinanceThe DavenhamGroup hasappointed AnneMurray asdivisional directorof its propertydivision. Annejoined Davenhamin 2000 as a clientrelationship manager before beingpromoted to senior client relationshipmanager, followed by a furtherpromotion to client relationship directorearlier in the year. She is Davenham’sfirst female divisional director.

Addition to Eric Robinson’sresidential teamPaul Sams hasjoined EricRobinson solicitors’residentialconveyancingteam. Paul studiedlaw at theUniversity of EastAnglia, completedhis LPC at the University ofNorthumbria and stayed in Newcastleto work for a year as a personal injuryparalegal. He completed his trainingcourse at Lawcomm Solicitors andbecame section leader for the firm’sresidential conveyancing team. In 2004,Paul joined the Trethowans where hebuilt up a residential conveyancingteam from scratch and was made anassociate of the firm and team leader,before moving to Eric Robinson.

New managing partner atEdwin WatsonBen Steward hasjoined charteredsurveyors theEdwin WatsonPartnership ashead of the landand new homesdepartment as wellas being appointedto the new post of managing partner.Ben has gained a wide range ofexperience in both local and regionalmarkets having spent 12 years workingfor Savills and, more recently, asproperty director for PropertyRecycling Group.

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The British PropertyFederation (BPF) believes thatthe housing green paper offersa welcome impetus in policy,but by failing to mention theprivate rented sector, ministers have overlooked theonly short term solution to thehousing crisis.

In its consultation responseto the paper, the BPFwelcomed "the personal energythat the housing minister hasinvested in housing" but saidthat however welcome long-term funding promises were,by not acknowledging the roleof a professional rented sector,ministers offered little hope inthe short term.

A larger professionallymanaged rented housingmarket could play a centralrole in improving workforcemobility and choice for themillions priced out of thehousing market. Moreimportantly, it would alsoimprove the balance ofhousing supply which is vitalfor the long term stability ofthe UK economy.

There are a number ofreasons why the rental market

Solution to housing crisisis growing and will need tocontinue to grow significantlyover the coming decade, saysthe BPF: ■ More students – thegovernment's target is 50 percent participation [in highereducation] by 2010. Currently,it is around 43 per cent andtherefore there will be need tobe increased over the next fewyears. ■ Higher immigration –(235,000 in 2004/05). Overall,immigration is predicted tocontribute about a third of allhousing need over the next 20years. Many immigrants' first-time housing is in the privaterented sector. ■ Affordable rents – whilehouse prices have trebled since1994, rents have only increasedwith earnings. Rents are lessthan two-thirds of the cost ofhouse purchase (withouttaking into account repairs andrelated costs). For manyhouseholds therefore, privaterenting is their only short-to-medium term hope of finding'affordable' housing.

Ian Fletcher, BPF director ofresidential policy, said:

“Compared to the USA andEurope, the UK has a smallrental market that account orjust over ten per cent ofhousing supply. Governmentsare often criticised for notthinking long-term and wetherefore welcome the long-term aspirations in the greenpaper, but the government alsodesperately needs to embrace asolution likely to increasesupply in the short term andprovide homes for those whoneed them.

“The BPF is backing aprofessional rented sectorwhich delivers long termsecurity, flexibility, and choicefor both young professionalsand families alike. Research by Hometrack has found that70 per cent of private tenants in the rented housingmarket are unable to accesshome ownership. By makingsubtle legislative changes,ministers could encouragelarge-scale investment thatcould make a real difference inthe short-term. We lookforward to working with thegovernment on finding a realsolution to this.”

ABOVE: Planning permission has been granted by the London borough of Southwark for a 93-homeaffordable housing development designed by Alan Camp Architects for their clients Hexagon housingassociation. Building work is set to start on the £12 million Falcon Works development this autumn on asite previously occupied by paper mills. The scheme will consist of 88 one-, two-, three-, four- and five-bedroom flats and five four- and five-bedroom houses. The development is weighted towards familyhousing with nine of the new homes designed for wheelchair users.


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The National Audit Office(NAO) has published its reporton the housing market renewalprogramme, criticising themanagement of theprogramme, stating that it isnot possible to identify a causallink between pathfinder activityand changes in the housingmarkets, and in some areas thatstress has been heightened inthe short term.

Edward Leigh MP, chairmanof the Committee of PublicAccounts, said: “So far over10,000 homes have beenbulldozed as part of thepathfinders housing marketrenewal scheme, over 1,000new homes have been built,and 40,000 have beenrefurbished. Many localinhabitants of these areas feelas though the DCLG has runroughshod through their townsand communities, but thequestion is to what benefit?

“There is no evidence thatpathfinders are bringing aboutimproved social cohesion andalthough low demand forproperties has fallen in thepathfinders areas, it hasn’t

fallen as quickly as it has in therest of the country. You have towonder if these areas would seethe same or greaterregeneration if left to their own devices.

“This is a 15 year initiativeand £2.2 billion has alreadybeen committed to it. Given itsperformance to date, it is hardto think of another programmewhich was trumpeted with sucha fanfare, but which has hit somany wrong notes.”

The programme has beenrunning for five years and thegovernment has commited £2.2billion to it up to 2011. Lowdemand for housing is now lesssevere in pathfinder areas andthe gap between these areasand surrounding regions hasstarted to close. However, it isnot possible to identify a causallink between pathfinder activityand these changes in housingmarkets, as there are manyother factors involved. While ithas improved conditions forsome neighbourhoods, forothers it has led to heightenedstress in the short term.

One key goal of the

pathfinders programme is toclose the gap in vacancy ratesand in house prices with widerregional performance.Although on the whole the gap has narrowed, progress has been mixed across the nine areas.

The management of theprogramme has also led toproblems. The need to makeearly progress meant that, inthe first tranche of £500million, a number of schemeswere set in hand beforepathfinders put in place theirregeneration master plans,community engagementstrategies and heritageassessments.

Pathfinder interventionshave, in some cases,exacerbated low demandproblems in the short-term ashouses have been vacated inadvance of demolition orrefurbishment. In some areasspeculative purchases haveadded to the already transientnature of the communities andled to estimated additionalcosts of £50 million inimplementing the programme.

NAO critical of housingmarket renewal programme

The NAO report contains arecommendation that proposalsfor intervention should bebased on detailed assessmentsof the structural condition andheritage value of the housingtargeted for demolition and theresidents’ own views of theproblems they face.

Sir John Bourn, head of theNational Audit Office, said:“Housing market renewal is aradical programme but it is ahigh risk approach. While therehave been physicalimprovements in someneighbourhoods, it is unclearwhether intervention itself has led to improvement in theproblems of low demand. And in some cases interventionhas exacerbated problems inthe short-term.

“The Department forCommunities and LocalGovernment needs to makesure that pathfinders not onlydelivers its regionaldevelopment plans, but alsocomplements the broaderregeneration of areascontributing to better schoolsand transport links.”

The Housing Corporation hasannounced that it has removedMoseley and District Churcheshousing association fromsupervision, following a seriesof improvements.

The corporation first placedthe association undersupervision in May 2005because of concerns about itsgovernance and managementfollowing an adverse inspectionreport by the AuditCommission. The corporationused its statutory power tomake three appointments tothe association’s board.

The association, which ownsand manages around 1,450homes in Birmingham, has nowdelivered the key action pointsrequired by the corporation.

The three statutoryappointees have beenwithdrawn, but two of them,Pat Brandum (group chief

Moseley and District ChurchesHA out of supervision

executive, West Mercia HousingGroup) and Yvonne Leishman(managing director operations,The Community HousingGroup), have recently beenelected to the association’sboard and will provide somecontinuity as the associationfaces the new challenges ahead.

Margaret Allen, HousingCorporation field director(Central), said: “I am pleasedthat we have been able to work with the board and staff of Moseley and DistrictChurches housing association inorder to resolve our concerns.We look forward to furtherprogress in improving servicesto tenants. We are very grateful to the appointees,whose skill, commitment andtenacity over an extendedperiod of time has helped toachieve some significantchanges at the association.”

ABOVE: Housing Minister Yvette Cooper MP returned to her Castlefordconstituency to add the finishing touches to one of Wakefield andDistrict Housing’s (WDH’s) new properties at the Kingfishersdevelopment, Ferrybridge. More than 90 properties are being built atthe site, 21 properties at Kingfishers will be available under theshared ownership HomeBuy scheme which allows people to buy ashare of their home and pay rent on the remainder. The otherproperties will be available for rent through WDH’s choice basedlettings service, Homesearch, or to buy outright. Left to right: Timothy Johnson and Michaela Patchett in their newhome with Yvette Cooper.

Fairlake appoints homeownership manager Affordable housingcompany FairlakeProperties hasappointed RhidianJones to the newlycreated post ofhome ownershipmanager.He comes to thejob with a wealth of experience, havingbeen Wales’ first rural housing enablerover the past four years. He hasparticular experience in working withlocal authority partners and developersin negotiating section 106 planningagreements.

Development director forGraingerResidentialproperty ownerand developerGrainger plc hasappointed PaulStorey asdevelopmentdirector.Paul, a charteredsurveyor, joined from ExemplarProperties where he was developmentpartner. Prior to its acquisition byExemplar Properties, Paul wasexecutive director of Omega Land.Paul’s extensive residential andcommercial development experienceincludes senior development managerfor the property department andinvestment arms of RBS and NatWest,and leading on new business forCapital & Counties plc.

MD for amalgamatedGuinnessCare andSupportGuinness Care andSupport hasappointed PaulWatson asmanaging directorfollowing itsamalgamation with DCHS andHermitage Care.Paul comes from Hanover housinggroup where he is currently groupdirector and where he was previouslyregional director with responsibility forhousing, care and support for olderpeople. He has also spent time onsecondment at the Department ofHealth as housing advisor and in totalhas worked for over 20 years inhousing, care and support. He will takeup his new post in January 2008.

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The Council of MortgageLenders (CML), CitizensAdvice and Shelter are callingupon the Treasury to allowthe Financial ServicesAuthority to regulate sale-and-leaseback schemes, in order toprovide greater protection forconsumers.

In a letter to the EconomicSecretary to the Treasury,Kitty Ussher, the organisations expressedconcern that some of theschemes may not be treatingconsumers in a fair manner.

Sale-and-leaseback schemesallow owner-occupiers to selltheir homes to a company andthen to remain in theproperty by leasing it back.However, concerns about sale-and-leaseback schemesinclude the fact that manyoffer very little security oftenure, and properties areoften purchased at adiscounted rate without anindependent valuation. Someschemes have been criticisedfor the way in which they treatconsumers at a potentially

vulnerable time when they maybe facing repossession.

The group also believesthere is good case foradvertising, sales and customercare standards to beinvestigated by the Office ofFair Trading. A lack ofunderstanding about theproducts by consumers and thepotentially misleading way inwhich some schemes areadvertised has createdconfusion and potentialdetriment for some consumersin an unregulated marketplace.

Michael Coogan, CMLdirector general, said:“Controls exist for action takenby mortgage lenders whencustomers are in arrears butthere are no such safeguardsfor customers entering intosale-and-leaseback schemes.

“In a climate of risingrepossession, consumers infinancial difficulty need to bewell informed and protected.The government needs toconsider urgently whetherregulation of sale-and-leaseback schemes by the

Financial Services Authority isappropriate because it wouldprovide protection forpotentially vulnerableconsumers.”

Teresa Perchard, CitizensAdvice public policy director,said: “This is a growingproblem and a completelyunregulated sector which wethink the government needs tolook at. We have seen anumber of cases where peoplein mortgage arrears and facingthe threat of repossession havegone ahead with a so-called'mortgage rescue' scheme onthe understanding this wouldallow them to remain in theirhome in the longer term, onlyto find themselves homelesswithin a year. These schemescan be difficult to understand,and the information aboutthem can be misleading.Usually people will be required to sell their home atmuch less than its market value and they will have verylittle security of tenure as atenant, but this is not alwaysmade clear.”

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Sale-and-leasebackschemes need regulation

ABOVE: Four employees from Estate Graphics and Property Search Group took the plunge with 65swimmers to brave the freezing waters of Lake Windermere in Don’t Duck the Issue sponsored charityswim. Each swimmer swam up to 1.6 km and brought ashore giant rubber ducks to raise awareness of theregion’s young homeless and to raise funds to run a shelter in Lancaster.


The Supporting Peopleprogramme provided byLincolnshire county council ispoor but with promisingprospects for improvement,according to an independent report released bythe Audit Commission.

The inspection was led by theAudit Commission's HousingInspectorate and carried outwith the Commission for SocialCare Inspection and HerMajesty's Inspectorate ofProbation. On a scale from zeroto three stars the inspection

team gave the programme apoor no star rating.

The programme waspreviously inspected in August2004 and February 2006 and on both occasions was ratedpoor with uncertain prospectsfor improvement.

Ann Bennett, the AuditCommission's lead housinginspector for the East Midlands,said: “The future for theprogramme is promising.Change is now happening morerapidly, and most importantly,partners are working together

more effectively. However,recent improvements have notyet turned around the slowdevelopment of theprogramme since it began inApril 2003. Results for usersare still very limited and therehas been little reshaping ofservices to ensure they bestmeet priority needs. Potentialvalue for money and eligibility issues have also stillto be addressed in a number of services.”

The council received a2007/08 Supporting People

grant of £21,373,000 to meetthe cost of its housing relatedsupport services. Theseservices include supportedhousing for older people,homeless people, people withmental health problems,people with learningdifficulties and services which help vulnerable peopleliving in their own homes. Inaddition, the council receiveda £464,000 Supporting People administration grantto fulfill its role as theadministering authority.

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A bespoke mortgage productaimed specifically at buy-to-letlandlords looking to invest inthe rapidly growing conceptof private sector leasing(PSL) has been launched byDunfermline Building Societyand Orchard & Shipman plc.

The bespoke mortgage,with a starting rate of 6.19 per cent per annum for fiveyears fixed, typical APR 7.1per cent, is set to make PSLinvestment – which hasproved to be a success since itarrived in Scotland in 2005 –more accessible.

The first PSL contract inScotland was signed betweenOrchard & Shipman plc andthe City of Edinburgh councilin September 2005, with thecompany required to find1,500 properties by 2010.

Andrew Morrison, directorof policy and development atOrchard & Shipman, said thetie-up with DunfermlineBuilding Society arose afterthey became aware ofdifficulties investors wereexperiencing in obtainingfinance through conventionalmortgages. He said: “We havebeen working hard to raiseawareness in the financialsector of the attractions ofPSL investment.

“However, some lenderswrongly had misgivings thatthe scheme is dependent onhousing benefit being paid orwould be a poor investmentbecause of the stigma ofhomeless tenants.

BTL mortgage for PSL

Lincolnshire’s SupportingPeople programme still poor

“This led the Scottishbranch of the Council ofMortgage Lenders to invite usto their branch meeting inMarch which provided theperfect opportunity toexplain to lenders thebenefits of PSL, for example,the guaranteed secure rentand the return of property ingood condition. As a result,Dunfermline Building Society,who was at the meeting, madecontact with us about creatinga dedicated PSL mortgage forOrchard & Shipman landlords– the first of its kind.”

Simon Cocker, head ofbusiness development atDunfermline Building Society,said: “The ethos of a buildingsociety is to help people getinto their own homes, exactlythe same as Orchard &Shipman, so this will be a verygood fit for all parties.”

PSL allows councils toprovide accommodation topeople who may have losttheir homes through, forexample, relationshipbreakdown or unemployment,and who would otherwise findthemselves faced withtemporary housing optionssuch as expensive B&Baccommodation. PSL appealsto private landlords as itoffers the security ofguaranteed long-term income, rents paid quarterlyin advance with no voids andno agent’s fees – and thereturn of the property ingood condition.

ABOVE: New Homes developer, Lowry Homes plc, celebrated its 10thbirthday with a party where the appointment of Becky Leighton to theposition of sales and marketing director was announced. Becky, oneof only a handful of staff who joined Lowry Homes at its inception,was presented with a giant business card to officially confirm her newposition.

New chair and vice-chair for LinkRobbie Robertsonis the new chair ofthe board of theLink group ofhousing, supportand regenerationcompanies.Robbie began hiscareer in theinsurance industry and then joined apublishing company specialising ingraduate recruitment. After working inthe head office in London he returnedto Glasgow to open a Scottish officefor the company. From here he joinedthe banking industry and followingseveral moves around the countryRobbie accepted a position inEdinburgh as regional director for thesouth of Scotland for Abbey National.Peter Foreman isthe Link board’snew vice-chair. Alawyer byprofession, withlong experience asin-house counseland later executivevice-president witha major engineering and constructioncompany, Peter has worked onprojects around the world.

New head for NantesNantes solicitorshave appointedGerald Duke tohead up their newoffice inDorchester.Gerald first workedas an articled clerkat Jackson Stopsand Staff after attending BristolPolytechnic. He then moved to HYDuke & Sons in 1974 to become themanager of the country house andestates department. He qualified as asolicitor in 2000 from BournemouthUniversity and now specialises inproperty issues including commercial,agricultural and residential property.

Business development forHIP Payment ServicesCraig Taylor, aformer estateagency director,has joined HIPPayment Servicesas businessdevelopmentmanager. Craig hasten years ofexperience in estate agency.

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The British PropertyFederation (BPF) haswelcomed moves by planningminister Yvette Cooper torevise the Merton rule,outlined in a letter to the southLondon council.

The rule requires newbuildings to provide a setpercentage (ten per cent risingto 20 per cent) of their energysolely through onsiterenewables – such as windturbines or photo voltaicpanels. Industry leadersinsisted that being straight-jacketed into one approachwould undermine the ultimateaim of cutting carbon.

However, in the letter todeputy leader Cllr SamanthaGeorge, the minister hasopened the door for larger,more efficient and cost-effective off-site sources ofenergy to be included.

Critics of the Merton rulefelt that it failed to take intoaccount whether onsitesources, such as wind turbinesand solar panels, wereappropriate for alldevelopments which may nothave been particularly windy or

sunny, and by removing thescope for innovation, itthreatened to furthercomplicate the planningprocess, adding greater costburdens to developments andpotentially reducing the supplyof homes by preventing theadoption of other innovativetechnologies.

In the letter, Yvette Coopersaid: “Councils will be able tocontinue with and adopt newMerton Rules, although it isvery important they areproperly tested as part of thedevelopment plan documents.Clearly Merton Rules must bewell-founded to ensure they areachieving their ultimate aims –of cutting carbon.

”We believe they should besufficiently flexible to allow foroff site as well as on siterenewable technologies andcouncils should also considerwider local low carbonopportunities. The emphasisshould be on minimisingcarbon emissions and mixingthe scope for innovation.”

The minister also outlinedsome of the things that wouldappear in PPS22 – the new

planning policy statement onclimate change. They include‘area specific targets forlocations where higherproportions of renewable andlow carbon energy are feasibleand viable.’

Liz Peace, chief executive ofthe BPF, said: “We have longchampioned carbonperformance targets on newbuildings. However, policy onenergy supply has to move onand it is unrealistic to expect alldevelopments to stick to a rulethat may not be workable intheir area. We are pleasedtherefore that the governmenthas taken on board ourrecommendations on theMerton rule and listened to theadvice of the industry. No onehas ever opposed the principleof a Merton rule, only therigidity of a one size fits allapproach. However, we welcomethe fact that the minister hasopened the door to greaterflexibility, and developers willnow be better able to rise to this challenge for greaterinnovation and to delivergreener buildings through thebest method possible.”

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Property industry welcomesMerton rule revision

ABOVE: The Association of Home Information Pack Providers (AHIPP) annual gala charity dinner raised acombined sum of £14,000 for the Acorn Children’s Hospices and the Oldham Mountain Rescue Group.


Housing and Planning Minister,Yvette Cooper, has confirmedthat an ideas competition wouldbe run to develop and set thedesign standards for ten neweco towns.

She wants to engage theleading creative thinkers onarchitecture, urban andlandscape design and transportplanning on proposals for thenew developments of up to20,000 homes.

The government’s adviser onarchitecture and urban designCABE, with the Royal Instituteof British Architects (RIBA) andThe Prince’s Foundation for theBuilt Environment, will assist thegovernment in the competitionand establish a judging panel toassess the entries.

The competition will focusboth on the practical designideas and the design anddevelopment process. A prizewill be made available for theoverall winner of thecompetition, as well as awardsfor specialist areas.The government’s vision for ecotowns is that they will be:■ well-designed, attractiveplaces to live, with jobs andservices, but also with goodlinks to existing nearby townsand cities;■ large-scale free-standing new

settlements;■ exemplars of sustainablebuilding and living, with theopportunity to design low- andzero-carbon technology fromthe start; and■ each of the new towns, whichwill be based across the country,should have its own strongidentity reflecting localcharacter and appeal.

There will also be anopportunity for publicinvolvement to judge eco-townsdesigns through a citizens’panel. At the end of thecompetition, the best of theideas and lessons learned will bedrawn together in an exhibitionand eco-towns compendium,which will help inform thethinking of local authorities anddevelopers taking forward eco-town proposals.

Yvette Cooper said: “We don’twant each town to be the same,but to instead reflect the history,aspirations and character ofeach local area. This is why it iscrucial that we involve localpeople and citizen juries are agreat way of doing just that.”The aims of the competition areto gather ideas:■ from the best national andinternational thinkers in thefields of town planning, urbandesign, architecture, landscape

design, transport andenvironmental planning;■ on what an eco-town couldand should try to achieve, andhow the design anddevelopment process cansupport positive outcomes;■ on the key design featuresthat should be considered whendesigning an eco-town, egregional and local identity;■ on the design layout of eco-towns and how they tie in withexisting transport links and thenatural landscape; and■ on housing layouts andsustainability features.

Joe Oldman, senior housingpolicy adviser for Help theAged, said: “Eco towns are onceagain high up on thegovernment’s housing agendaand a citizens’ jury has beenannounced to help with thefinal design. This makes sense.But it is absolutely essential thatgovernment also asks thiscitizen’s jury to consider howthese new eco towns will meetthe needs of a rapidly ageingsociety both in the design of thehousing and the widercommunity. Older people arestill considered a marginalgroup when it comes tohousing, yet they will make upnearly half of all new growth inhouseholds by 2024.

“Eco towns can and should beage friendly towns too. Thelifetime homes standard must beincluded in all buildingregulations. Only then will wehave truly sustainable housingand towns.”

But the Campaign to ProtectRural England (CPRE) wondersif the proposals are a ‘greenwash’and says that the governmentplans for a series of eco townswill fail unless they are wellintegrated with existingsettlements and agreed with, notimposed on, local communities.

Neil Sinden, CPRE policydirector, said: “As exemplars itwill be vital that eco towns adoptcutting-edge environmentalstandards, on reducing carbonemissions, water and energy use,and waste, for example. Wewelcome any initiative whichencourages this. But usingcitizens’ juries is no substitute forconsulting local communities onthe need for, location and designof eco towns through theestablished planning process.

“To be truly sustainable, thenew eco towns need to be sitedon previously developed landadjacent to or within existingsettlements rather than free-standing new towns in rural areaswhich would encourage cardependency.”

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Designing green towns of the future

Land Registry is seekingviews on proposals tointroduce two new triggersthat would lead tocompulsory registration of title. The proposed new triggersare:■ appointment of a newtrustee of unregistered landheld in trust, where the landvests in the new trustee bydeed or other instrument inwriting, or by vesting of thecourt;■ partitioning ofunregistered land held intrust among the beneficiariesof the trust.

An example of an existingtrigger for compulsoryregistration is the transfer ofland either by sale or gift.The proposal to introduceadditional triggers forms part

New land registrytriggers proposed

of Land Registry’s drive toachieve a comprehensive landregister for England andWales. It runs alongsideefforts to encouragevoluntary registration.

Around 60 per cent of landin England and Wales is nowregistered on the nationalland database. A registeredtitle provides real benefits tothe owner, enabling moreeffective management of landassets and consolidatingcomplex legal and historicaldata about the land.

Copies of the consultation document arebeing sent to a wide range ofgovernment departments andagencies, representativebodies and individuals. Theconsultation period runsfrom 19 November until 29February 2008.

ABOVE: Selena Hall has been named National YouthBuilding Awardwinner. The awards are sponsored by NHBC. Selena, who wasunemployed before enrolling in the construction training programmeConstruct Your Career run by East Potential, is now a carpentryapprentice at East Thames Building Maintenance. Left to right: Jo Oxlade of East Potential; Selena Hall; Tim Campbell,winner of ‘The Apprentice’; Kate Chester of East Potential.

Independent reviewer forOEAThe Ombudsmanfor Estate Agentshas appointed CyrilLanch as theindependentreviewer for it’snew independentreview process foruse by consumerswho are dissatisfied with the servicethey have received from theOmbudsman in resolving their case.Cyril’s career has spanned theEconomist Intelligence Unit, the Bankof England, FIMBRA, PIA, and the FSAas well as working as a freelanceconsultant in financial servicesregulation and ombudsman services.

Landlord services managerfor ThanetThanet districtcouncil in Kent hasappointedMadeline Homer asits new landlordservices manager.Madeline joins theauthority from theHousingCorporation. Previously she wascompany secretary and head of legalat Town and County housing group,having originally trained as a barrister.Her new role at Thanet will see hermanaging the council’s housing stockof around 3,000 homes, includingmaintenance.

West Properties appointsplanning directorJames Blakey hasbeen appointedplanning director atWest Properties.James came toWest Propertiesfrom UnitedUtilities where hespent five years ashead of planning and major projects.He draws on 16 years of propertyindustry planning experience havingalso previously worked as director ofplanning at CBRE.James led the team that securedplanning permission for ChapelfordUrban Village which included 2,000new homes in Warrington. His role atWest Properties will be to oversee andmanage the planning function for thegroup, from the initial scheme designthrough to project managing majorplanning applications.

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Radical plans designed toreform housing provisionacross Scotland have beenoutlined in a discussiondocument 'Firm Foundations –The Future of Housing inScotland', giving details of theScottish government'sproposals for increasinghousing supply and choice.

The paper recognises thecentral role that homeownership plays in the housingsystem and in society byoffering help for more peopleto buy their homes. But it alsotakes full account of the needfor a thriving social sector thatcan adapt to changing demandand offer more choice to thosewho cannot afford to, or donot wish to buy.

And it envisages a greaterrole for the private rentedsector and its ability to offerchoice and flexibility toparticular groups during keypoints in their lives.

Communities, councils,social landlords, developers,tenants and lenders are beinginvited to comment on theproposals, which include:■ Challenging Scotland's localauthorities, developers andbuilders to increase the rate ofnew housing supply in Scotlandto at least 35,000 a year by themiddle of the next decade.■ Increasing the role of localauthorities as landlords by

Vision for Scottish housingoffering financial incentives tocouncils that have the capacityto fund new council housing.■ Ending the Right to Buy onnew social housing built bycouncils and housingassociations.■ Establishing a ScottishSustainable CommunitiesInitiative to encourage localauthorities and their partners to bring forward proposals for sustainable new settlements to meet demand inparticular areas.

Health and WellbeingSecretary, Nicola Sturgeon, alsoconfirmed that the governmentwill proceed with theintroduction of the singlesurvey scheme for house salesfrom late 2008.

Sturgeon said: “A freshapproach is required and theproposals in the documentaddress every element of thehousing system. The current rateof new house building – 25,000new houses a year is simplyinadequate. It can and mustincrease if Scotland's housingrequirements are to be met.”

Recent research which showsthat as home ownership is theambition of most people inScotland, Ms Sturgeon said theScottish government isdetermined to help peoplerealise that goal. She said: “Todo so, we will establish a Low-cost Initiative for First Time

buyers – LIFT for short.Through LIFT, we aim toexpand assistance for first-timebuyers through a mix ofgovernment grants, sharedequity schemes, and mortgagerelated products and services.”

She also announced: “Localauthorities see little point inbuilding new houses for rent ifthey are lost through the Rightto Buy. Many housingassociations share this view. Ican therefore confirm that wepropose to end the right to buyfor all new social housing builtby local authorities and housingassociations with an exceptionfor existing tenants alreadyeligible to buy their houses who are forced to move, forexample because of demolition programmes.

“In short, this governmentwill ensure that new socialhousing is safeguarded as apublic asset for the benefit ofcurrent and future generationsof tenants.”

Sturgeon also confirmed theScottish government's intentionto abolish CommunitiesScotland. She said: “I havedecided to abolishCommunities Scotland as aseparate agency and bring itsmain non-regulatory functionsinto the core Scottishgovernment.”

The consultation runs for 12 weeks.

ABOVE: More than £50,000 has been raised in one night by guests of housebuilder Redrow Homesattending a special dinner hosted by Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, in the Greenwich Room in CanaryWharf donated by Barclays Bank plc. The money raised will boost the coffers of The Redrow Foundation,which awards grants to charities that support the relief of poverty and sickness in the UK and, inparticular, provides accommodation and related assistance, including respite care, especially to children,the elderly and those who are sick or infirm.Left to right: Douglas Blackstock, trustee, SS Robin Trust; Lady Jones; David Kampfner, SS Robin Trust;Paul Pedley, trustee, Redrow Foundation; Digby, Lord Jones of Birmingham, trustee, Redrow Foundation;Anne Pedley; Sebastian Hare, head of fundraising, Children's Heart Federation; and Anne Keatley-Clarke,chief executive, Children's Heart Federation.


The UK’s top 20 home buildershave been ranked according totheir sustainabilityperformance in a new reportentitled ‘Building a sustainablefuture’, published byNextGeneration.

The Berkeley Group, TaylorWoodrow and George Wimpey(now merged to form TaylorWimpey), CountrysideProperties and Crest Nicholsonare named as the topcompanies.

The analysis shows that these20 home builders responsiblefor building more than half ofall new homes in the UK lastyear have recognised theimportance of sustainabilityand are getting to grips withthe challenge of making allnew homes zero-carbon by2016 – essential if they aregoing to contribute toachieving the UK government’starget of reducing emissions by20 per cent by 2020. In some areas, companies inthe sector are taking thechallenge seriously; of the top20 home builders:■ 70 per cent report publiclyon their approach to

sustainability.■ 65 per cent have wastemanagement strategies in place.■ 60 per cent have set targetsto improve the energyefficiency of their homes.

However, the analysis alsohighlights that there is a largegap between where theindustry is now and where itneeds to be by 2016 if thegovernment’s vision for aquarter of a million zero-carbon homes a year is to berealised. The sector needs toraise its game quickly to keepup with the very rapid pace ofchange required to deliver onthe government’s sustainabilityagenda. Of the top 20 homebuilders:■ 60 per cent recogniseclimate change as a significantissue to the sector, but nonehas a climate change policy inplace.■ Only 25 per cent have anunderstanding of the carbonfootprint of their operations.■ Only 15 per cent havesustainable procurementpolicies.

The benchmark report drawsan important ‘line in the sand’

for the home building industryand explores the political,commercial and practicalchallenges that must bebridged if sustainable homesand communities are tobecome a reality.

Simon McWhirter, homescampaign director from WWF-UK, said: “If the UK is to meetthe necessary 80 per centemission reduction targets by2050 it's vital that homebuilders step up theenvironmental challenges theyface. New homes offer asignificant opportunity tominimise our carbon emissions and reduce fuel bills for households, butalthough the industry isresponding well, progress isstill far too slow. Longer termmore focussed plans to tackleclimate change must beimplemented immediately torein in the environmentalimpact of our homes.”

Rachel Crossley, directorinvestor responsibility atInsight Investment, said:“Those companies that cancapitalise on the coming homebuilding boom the government

has committed to, while at thesame time finding the mostcost-effective ways of buildingsustainable homes will betomorrow’s winners. Critical tosuccess will be investment ininnovation and a willingness tobreak from the past to designand deliver homes that areboth efficient and adaptable tothe changing, but uncertain,future climate.”

The top 20 for overallperformance were:1. The Berkeley Group 2. Taylor Woodrow 3. George Wimpey 4. Countryside Properties 5. Crest Nicholson 6. Inspace 7. Barratt Developments 8. Miller Homes 9. Redrow 10. McCarthy & Stone 11. Bellway 12. Fairview 13. Bovis Homes 14. Persimmon 15. Kier Residential 16. Lovell 17. Galliford Try 18. Cala Group 19. Bloor Holdings 20. Gladedale Holdings.

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Home builders ranked on sustainability

Energy Minister, Malcolm Wicks,has given the go-ahead for amajor wind project 14KM fromWalney Island, off the coast ofCumbria.

The Walney wind farm, fromdeveloper DONG Energy, isexpected to have somewherebetween 93-152 turbines,producing enough cleanelectricity for approximately360,000 homes when fullyoperational in 2013.

The world's largest offshorewind project – the 1000MWLondon Array – has also nowreceived its final consent. Anoverhead electricity line willeventually connect the onshoresub-station in Kent to the windfarm sited in the Thames Estuary.

This follows the announcementin the Queen's Speech on theEnergy Bill, which will containmeasures to 'band' theRenewables Obligation (RO) inorder to provide increasedfinancial support to lessdeveloped renewable energytechnologies.

Windfarmsgalore

ABOVE: The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and the Southern African Housing Foundation (SAHF) havesigned a memorandum of agreement to work together to broaden housing knowledge and good practice ineach country. The agreement was concluded at an international housing conference in Cape Town.Left to right: David Butler, chief executive of the CIH; Paul Diggory, president, CIH; John Hopkins, CEOSAHF; Sinothi Malunga, chairman SAHF advisory council.


The buy-to-let market is now soinaccessible to the averageinvestor that only the wealthy can afford to be becomelandlords, according to a RoyalInstitution of CharteredSurveyors (RICS) report.

Barriers to entering the buy-to-let market, driven by interestrates and levels of rental coverratios for mortgages (prospectivelandlords must prove that therent on the property in questionwill exceed 125 per cent of thepayments of the mortgage) havemade investment an unattractiveproposition for vast swathes ofthe population. In the current

climate, would-be-investors needto lay down a deposit of £65,600(30 per cent of a property’svalue) for the average UK housein order to get a foothold on thebuy-to-let ladder. This comparesdramatically with the £10,100(only eight percent of aproperty’s value) required in Q12002 – a deterioration of over500 per cent in five years.

Going forward, with evidencethat rents are rising strongly andhouse prices predicted to remainflat in 2008, the yields onresidential property couldincrease slightly in comingquarters. With interest rates also

likely to fall, the deposit requiredto meet the rental cover ratioscould be reduced somewhat,making buy-to-let a moreattractive proposition for many.

David Stubbs, RICS senioreconomist, said: “It takes morecapital than ever to set up a buy-to-let investment. Would-beinvestors who have missed outon the impressive returns ofprevious years are now findingthe hurdles to propertyinvestment are higher than theyimagined. However, existinglandlords should be able to usethe equity in their pastinvestment properties to fund

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the deposit needed for newones, and this should ensurethat demand from the buy-to-let sector does not dry up entirely.”

Research just released by theNational Landlords Association(NLA) shows that almost aquarter (23.4 per cent) oflandlords plan to expand theirproperty portfolios over thenext five years and 60 per centexpect the size of theirportfolios to remain unchangedover the same period. CurrentlyNLA members have an averageof 9.4 properties in the lettings market.

Buy to let now a rich man’s game

The housing services providedby Wakefield and DistrictHousing (WDH) are excellentand have excellent prospectsfor improvement, according toan independent report releasedby the Audit Commission.

The Audit Commissioninspectors gave the service athree-star, excellent ratingbecause of its excellentprogress on delivering majorrepairs, a wide range of waystenants can access services, and

Top rating for Wakefield and District Housinghigh standards of customercare. The association alsodemonstrates a clear focus ondelivering value for moneyservices, caters well for theneeds of vulnerable people,and is starting to make asignificant impact on theregeneration of the area.

Yvonne Davies, the AuditCommission's head of housingfor the north, said: “Wakefieldand District Housing deservesrecognition as the north's first

three-star housing association.Its achievement is all the moreremarkable as the organisationis just over two years old. Wefound a range of good services,with significant strengths incustomer focus, regeneration,major repairs and value formoney. The association benefits from a strong sense ofpurpose and its place in thecommunity. Leadership isstrong, the organisation hasgood links with others working

in the community and has made rapid progress in meetingits objectives.”

The association owns andmanages approximately 31,500homes. It is the first housingassociation in the north ofEngland to be awarded theCommission's top rating andonly the third in the whole ofthe country to be awarded athree star score. The other twowere West Kent housingassociation and Tower Homes.

Fine for listed building breachA homeowner who cut throughoriginal brickwork and cornicingin a Grade II* listed house hasbeen fined £10,000 afterWestminster city councilsuccessfully prosecuted him forbreaching planning laws.

The 250-year-old property inCharles Street, Mayfair, hadhistoric features such as dadopanelling and cornicing whichhomeowner Andrew Cecildamaged during renovationworks. He also made substantialalterations to interior walls ofthe building without planningconsent.

The Grade II* building wasbuilt around 1750-53 by JohnPhillips in partnership withGeorge Shakespeare, on theBerkeley Estate. Only eight percent of listed buildings in GreatBritain are given Grade II* orGrade I status.

City of WestminsterMagistrates Court heard thatCecil carried out the interioralterations without listedbuilding consent in 2005 asrequired by law. As well asissuing the fine magistrates also

ordered him to pay WestminsterCouncil's legal costs amountingto more than £6,000.

Cecil pleaded guilty, and inmitigation his defence told thecourt he was a passionateadvocate of the conservation oflisted buildings, and was aprominent figure in the fight tosave the Regent’s Palace Hotel.

Rosemarie MacQueen, directorof planning and citydevelopment, said: “Westminstercouncil has a duty to protect andpreserve the rich and uniqueheritage within the city, and wehave more than 11,000 listedbuildings to safeguard. I hopethis case acts as a warning tobudding property developers andhome-owners who may betempted to flout the law.

“Our planning department isonly too happy to offer adviceand guidance to homeownersconsidering carrying outalterations, and we much preferto spend time helping thembefore they carry out work ratherthan having to prosecuteafterwards if they do it withoutthe relevant consents.”

ABOVE: One of the largest wrecking machines in Europe has beendemolishing the tallest building on the Olympic Park site. The 50tonne machine began demolishing the 12 storey former University ofEast London building, which had been derelict for a number of years,to clear the area which will link the Olympic Village and VeloParkduring the Games. In legacy the area will connect new venues, homes,schools and community facilities in the north of the Olympic Park.

Documents

Cool summer for private housing construction orders - TABPI · 2 property people november 2007 www ... Government has published revised guidance to help the construction industry