ROOF Blog

The latest generation of pod-like homes is hoping to inspire anyone concerned with sustainability and affordability and is now being touted as the newest solution to Britain’s housing shortage. Modular housing is common in Australia, the USA and Germany, but British examples have mainly been limited to one-off, self-build projects. More recently though, organisations such as the Peabody Trust have commissioned several large modular developments such as London’s Murray Grove and Baron’s Place. As well as preserving communities, flexible living negates moving costs and mortgages are available thanks to approval from National House-Building Council and CLG’s Code for Sustainable Homes scheme.

Thousands of first-time buyers will be priced out of the housing market if the Treasury presses ahead with plans to offer new tax breaks to buy-to-let investors, campaigners warn today. The Treasury published a consultation paper in February which included plans to boost the supply of private rented housing. One key proposal was for professional investors to pay stamp duty separately on each home, even when they buy a large portfolio of properties, reducing their total bill. PricedOut, which campaigns on behalf of first-time buyers who are not able to enter the property market, says the proposal is grossly unfair to first-time buyers and would make their struggle to buy a house even more difficult. William Griffith, spokesman for PricedOut, said: ‘The large tax breaks that buy to let currently enjoys mean that they can always outbid first-time buyers. It is astonishing that the government is seeking to further entrench this disparity in the housing market.’

House prices are up 0.1% compared to February, the smallest margin ever recorded at this time of the year, when prices have never fallen month on month, according to property website Rightmove. The near standstill in prices has fuelled concerns that a decline in the housing market could lead to a slowdown in the wider economy as unemployment, public sector spending cuts and potentially higher interest rates hit the consumer. Both Nationwide and Halifax reported house price falls in February. Nationwide said average prices dipped 1% to £161,320, ending a run of nine consecutive monthly rises. Halifax reported an even sharper fall of 1.5%, with average house prices dropping to £166, 857. It remains unclear whether February’s data was a blip caused by the severe weather conditions in the UK or a more long term trend.

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has announced that Saxon Weald and Eastbourne borough council have been successful in a bid for almost £6.2 million grant funding to develop an extra care scheme in Langney. Derry Court and the land adjacent to it, owned by East Sussex county council, will be developed together to achieve the purpose built scheme.  The development is forecast to provide 62 high-quality self-contained apartments for older people who have an assessed care need and require support with daily living.

The British housing market is improving at a faster rate than property prices across most of the rest of Europe, a report by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has found. House prices rose in only five European countries, including Britain, during 2009. But other countries continued to suffer a sharp market correction, with prices diving by up to 53%. RICS warned that countries with vulnerable economies would continue to suffer from price falls and depressed markets during 2010. Norway led the revival, with property prices in the country rising by 12% during 2009, followed by Finland at 8% and Sweden at 7%. Britain was the fourth best performing country, with the average cost of a home ending the year 1% higher than it started it, although house prices had risen by 10% from their lowest point in April.

John Healey has published the Government’s response to the Mayor of London’s plans for affordable housing in the capital. He warns that the housing strategy will not sufficiently address the capital’s needs, and outlines areas of particular concern, including plans to reduce the number of new social rented homes provided by councils and housing associations by an equivalent 2,755 homes a year compared to current plans.

Local authorities should not adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach when granting planning permission for housing, and should move away from the approach to planning policy that led to large-scale construction of high-density flats on urban brownfield land, according to a report from the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU), a quango set up to advise government on housing policy. The NHPAU looked at the development of housing in a variety of densities and locations and concluded that while high-density housing was sometimes the most valuable, it often was not.

Two of the biggest bellwethers of the housing market yesterday provided mixed messages on the recovery of the UK property sector. While the housebuilder Barratt Developments boasted an improved trading performance and an uplift in selling prices over the six months to 31 December, Travis Perkins, the owner of the DIY retail chain Wickes, reported a slump in annual sales at its eponymous builders’ merchants, and warned that it was unable to predict when the group will return to growth. Barratt Developments’ buoyant update came against the backdrop of stark warnings on the economy and housing market by Kate Barker, a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, on Monday, that the rally over the last 12 months cannot continue.

Housing minister John Healey has announced a boost to house building in England, by confirming nearly £500million funding to build around 8,000 affordable homes across the country. This takes total government funding for house building to £3.5 billion since June. Over 3,000 of these new homes are expected to be available through the government’s HomeBuy schemes, offering first time buyers a helping hand onto the property ladder. And nearly 5,000 homes will be available for affordable rent through housing associations.

The Conservative party has finally published its long awaited planning green paper which includes proposing the scrapping of centrally-set housing targets and replacing them with a system of financial incentives for local councils to build. As expected, the green paper also includes introducing a presumption in favour of sustainable development at the base of the system, whilst giving neighbours the right to force the council to review a planning application. However the Tories said they will limit the right of residents or developers to appeal planning decisions once the decision has been taken, and will replace the planned introduction of the Community Infrastructure Levy with a ‘tariff’.