Archives for December 2009
Christmas financial stress may hit those struggling to stay in homes
Christmas bills may shake the finances of those already struggling to pay their home debts – which may push councils to investigate more options, such as affordable housing.
This is the opinion of Chris Jenkins, co-owner of the Homeowners Advice Centre.
Mr Jenkins said he expected debt recovery to have peaks and troughs in 2010 but while some sectors may improve, bills from the holiday season may lead to a spike in distressed inquiries into alternate housing options.
This is often due to people "burying their heads" in the sand in the run-up to Christmas, he added.
Adding these worries to employment anxieties, "there might well be more enquiries in the new year with councils, which may push them further" toward exploring more social housing possibilities, he concluded.
His comments come after the government revealed in November that local authorities helped 130,000 households in England avoid homelessness, often by guiding them towards alternative accommodation.
Affordable housing receives £278m in funding
The housing minister has announced funding for almost 5,000 new affordable homes, meaning the government has poured nearly £2 billion into housing jobs and schemes since June.
John Healey said another 278 million would be dedicated today (December 30th), most of which will go to Housing Associations to create jobs and apprenticeships.
Mr Healey said also explained that he envisioned more grants to come in 2010, adding that he was dedicated to making "every taxpayer’’s pound go further".
Sir Bob Kerslake of the Homes and Communities Agency said he was pleased to see the development of housing funds.
"Every house we fund helps to build a community – a decent place to live, jobs for construction workers and economic activity that benefits local businesses," he added.
Also on the schedule for 2010 is the announcement of the first land for the Public Land scheme, in which the government will bear upfront costs so planning agents will have lower overheads and risks in site preparation.
Initiatives under the governments Housing Pledge include the Kickstart initiative, which gives a cash injection to restart stalled housing plans, such as the Redhill site in Surrey last week.
Housing scheme resumed after grant
A stalled housing initiative has received a welcome Christmas gift – a Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) kickstart.
Following the £7.75 million grant, the Hollybrook Homes building site in Redhill, Surrey, is now back on track to complete its 126 apartments after work was abandoned in July 2008 due to financial reasons.
The housing scheme will supply 50 affordable homes for the local community, along with 76 private rentals and several retail units.
Pete Trowbridge, development director of co-owner Raven Housing Trust, said he was proud to be involved in the initiative, which he hoped would "herald the start of Redhill’’s regeneration and will significantly improve the very heart of the town, bringing homes, jobs and new life to the town centre".
The HCA Kickstart Housing Delivery programme is designed to push forward mixed tenure housing projects which have stalled due to financial or technical reasons.
The scheme, announced in the 2009 Budget, was established by the HCA and the mayor of London Boris Johnson.
Affordable housing and regeneration funds ”will receive £311m ”
Communities in the north and midlands will receive a further £311 million next year to boost regeneration plans and home transformations, the housing minister has announced.
John Healey said the grant, part of the Housing Market Renewal (HMR) programme, was another step towards the government’’s plan to bringing deprived areas "back up to scratch".
The funding is in addition to the 1.7 billion in grants Mr Healey has already announced since June 2009 and is intended to boost affordable housing in the lacking communities.
"Crucially it will improve the quality of life and the neighbourhoods for those people stuck, unable to sell their homes, in these abandoned streets," Mr Healey added.
It is hoped that the funding will create over 1,000 jobs and apprenticeships in the construction sector.
The HMR programme, implemented in 2002, works to create attractive and affordable housing in areas where demand is low, in an effort to improve the economic outlook of those communities.
The government has promised almost 1 billion to the programme between the years of 2008 and 2011.
Govt to ”boost standards” in housing careers
People in housing careers will see industry standards improve as a result of new proposals announced today.
The government initiative aims to help consumers access suitable people in housing jobs quicker and assure them of fair treatment should there be a local mishap.
Under the proposals, someone working in a housing career and who is part of an approved competent person scheme will be listed online.
This way, consumers looking for a builder or tradesperson can easily access the most suitable person for the job.
They will also be given upfront information about how to complain should the work done not adhere to the standard service levels.
Building regulations minister Lord McKenzie said competent person schemes have already "significantly improved" standards in the housing sector and the new proposals want to bring these service levels to the highest standards.
He added: "By allowing people to search online for a qualified local builder and providing stronger complaints procedures we are putting power in people’’s hands."
There are 12 competent person schemes operating in the UK, including the British Standards Institution and Building Engineering Services Competence Accreditation.
Registered social landlords ”have increased responsibility”
Registered social landlords have had to become stricter about what can be left in communal areas of shared properties, the Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association (BPHA) has commented.
Bedfordshire On Sunday reported that BPHA executive director for customer relations Alison Baggott pointed out "all social landlords in the UK" have been given extra responsibilities to ensure that shared areas are compliant with fire and safety requirements.
"This means that we have had to become stricter about what residents can leave outside their properties," she said, explaining that in some cases, this includes Christmas decorations as they can be flammable.
Residents living in BPHA housing were recently sent a letter advising that they had seven days to remove hazardous items from shared areas.
Earlier this month, the Home and Communities Agency recommended that designing and constructing social housing for elderly people should become a priority at the national level.
Properties designed in this way can help to accommodate the large number of people who wish to maintain their independence for as long as possible.
Conservatives ”plan to create greener homes”
The Conservative government has promised £20 billion of investment to make homes more energy efficient.
David Cameron’’s pledge to help make Britain’’s homes greener through a partnership with Marks & Spencer and Tesco has been welcome by the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
It is hoped that the proposals will improve Britain’’s existing housing stock and create work in the building sector.
Brian Berry, director of external affairs at the FMB, said: "If the UK is to have any hope of meeting its legal obligation to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 then it is imperative that Britain’’s existing homes are made more energy efficient."
He added that there is also a need to improve the quality of information about the energy efficiency of homes provided to people looking to buy a home in order for them make informed decisions.
The FMB is a trade association that looks to protect the interests of small and medium-sized building firms.
Social housing development gets green light – again
A new social housing development has been given approval for the second time following an oversight.
The Burton Mail reported that a development control committee initially approved the scheme last month, but then it emerged that one neighbour had not been consulted over the proposed 18-home project.
South Derbyshire District Council then decided to replace nine committee members with substitutes to re-consider the plans.
The replacement committee approved the project in part due to the social benefits outlined by Conservative councillor John Grant, as well as the creation of new housing jobs in the region.
Mr Grant stated: "This is an opportunity to provide affordable housing for the people of South Derbyshire and will also provide work for local people."
Government figures published on December 8th indicated that the past year has seen the highest amount of affordable housing supplied in England since 1996.
Kickstart scheme expanded
Work on a number of stalled housing developments is to once more get underway.
Under the second phase of the government’’s Kickstart project housing minister John Healey reveals that some 265 projects have been shortlisted to receive a share of a £550 million fund aimed at getting construction back on track.
Some 22,400 homes are on the shortlist – which is currently subject to due diligence – and it is thought that half of the properties set to be built will be made available through affordable rent or sale, those with social housing jobs could be interested to hear.
"We are using the power of government investment to build homes and support jobs at a time when the housebuilding industry needs it most," Mr Healey states, adding the scheme could support some 12,000 jobs.
Last month, the minister oversaw the start of work on the 281-home Yarn Street development in Leeds – the first stalled housing project to have recommenced thanks to the Kickstart programme.
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HCA ”looks to make funding work harder”
The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has unveiled proposals which it claims could help be more effective in providing affordable housing.
Launching a consultation on grant funding, the regulator has announced plans which would see part of its National Affordable Housing Programme funding allocated to housing associations in the form of an investment rather than a grant, allowing them to benefit from future rises in the property values.
Doing so would see the agency receive financial returns, which would then be re-invested into building affordable homes, those with housing jobs could be interested to hear.
"We have been clear that in the future we will need to make our funding work harder, to do more with less and this is one of the ways in which this could be achieved," HCA chief executive Sir Bob Kerslake states.
In its Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2008-09, the agency pointed out that in its first 12 months of operating it completed work on 53,843 affordable homes.
