A £13 million deal to buy unsold homes off the market to use as affordable housing is being announced today, as part of the Government’s programme of action to tackle current difficulties in the housing market. The deal is the first to go through the Government’s new National Clearing House, which enables house builders to put forward offers to sell their unsold stock for use as affordable housing, and receive early feedback on whether their properties are suitable for purchase. The funding will mean that 335 affordable homes will be available, mainly for social rent, on sites across the country for families who would otherwise be on waiting lists following the agreement, between the Housing Corporation, Bloor Homes and housing provider Sanctuary Group. Funding to purchase the homes comes from the Government’s initial £200 million tranche to buy unsold stock off the open market, providing it is of good quality and offers value for money. More than 2,000 unsold homes have now been bought by the Government for use as affordable housing, with many more deals in the pipeline.
 
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20 October 2008
© DCLG

More than 100 developers and housing associations have submitted formal expressions of interest for a new £300m government scheme to bolster the housing market. Under HomeBuy Direct, buyers can take out a loan for up to 30% of the price of their home, with half the money supplied by the developer and half by quango the Housing Corporation. Developers have until 7 November to bid to include homes in the scheme. John Slaughter, director of external affairs at the Home Builders Federation, said: “Our feeling is it works from every party’s point of view, so we are positive about supporting it and expect there will be quite a lot of interest from the industry.” The scheme would involve buyers taking the equity loan on top of a mortgage. When the home is sold, the mortgage lender would be paid first. The Housing Corporation and developer would absorb any loss but could share in any profit.
 
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17 October 2008
© building.co.uk

Unused public land could soon be made available to meet increased demand for allotments, the Scottish Government announced today. Waiting lists for allotments have risen dramatically in recent years, with more people recognising the environmental, social and health benefits to be gained from working a plot. With current provision limited and almost three thousand people on waiting lists, the Scottish Government and other public bodies are to explore how surplus land could be made available to help more Scots ‘grow their own’. Cabinet Secretary for the Environment Richard Lochhead said: “In the current economic climate, with food prices on the increase, interest in growing our own food has never been higher. The issue was raised by many people during the recent discussion on our National Food and Drink Policy and it is absolutely right that the Scottish Government looks at ways of giving more Scots the opportunity to grow their own fresh, seasonal produce. Fresh food isn’t the only benefit to be had from tending an allotment of course. They encourage physical activity, offer a place for individuals to relax and are also valuable to the local community and environment. I am asking a number of public bodies to consider how the land they manage for the Scottish Government could be made available to local authorities to increase the number of allotments in Scotland.”

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18 October 2008
© Scottish Government

The money, announced today by the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon, will allow the programme to help even more of Scotland’s fuel poor. She also revealed that from April 2009 it is intended that the government’s fuel poverty programmes are extended to include families on income support with children under five or with disabled children under 16. If introduced, these changes will represent the first time help with tackling fuel poverty, beyond basic insulation measures, will be offered to families as well as pensioners. Further details on the changes to fuel poverty programmes will be given in the Cabinet Secretary’s full response to the recommendations from the Fuel Poverty Forum. Ms Sturgeon said: “At a time when Scottish households face rocketing fuel bills this Government is committed to doing all that it can, within the powers that are available, to tackle fuel poverty.That is why, alongside boosting development in Scotland, helping households in these difficult economic times is a key theme of our six point programme announced this week.”

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18 October 2008
© Scottish Government

Board members for the Tenant Services Authority and Homes and Communities Agency were announced by Housing Minister Iain Wright today. For the first time, tenants in social housing will have a voice at the heart of government, as two tenants join experts appointed to the board of the new Tenant Services Authority (TSA). Julie Fawcett and Dennis Rees, tenants of housing association and local authority managed homes, join Anthony Mayer (Chair), Julian Ashby, Jim Coulter, Pauleen Lane, Sheila Drew Smith and Donald Hoodless on the TSA board. The board of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), the body driving housing and regeneration in England, consists of Robert Napier (Chair), Kate Barker, Professor Peter Roberts, Bob Lane, Candy Atherton, Margaret Fay, Shaukat Moledina, Don Wood, Ian Robertson and Dru Vesty.

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17 October 2008
© Communities and Local Government

Home repossession poses the biggest threat to mental health, according to a survey commissioned by the charity Rethink. The research, carried out for World Mental Health Day on October 10th, showed just under half of people questioned felt this would be most likely to cause mental illness. Being made redundant, a young relative carrying a knife and discovering an inability to have children were all placed lower in risk than home repossession. Paul Corry, Director of Public Affairs at Rethink, said many of the problems are linked to genetic or chemical factors but stressful events can trigger mental illness.

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16 October 2008
© Charities Aid Foundation

Eco-towns should copy models successfully trialled on the continent to deliver high quality sustainable housing and restart development in the economic downturn, according to a new report. Beyond eco-towns, applying the lessons from Europe, by PRP Architects, Urbed and Design for Homes, argues that European countries build better and larger homes, to high environmental standards, at a much faster rate than in the UK. A key difference with eco-towns is that they are not isolated but are built near existing conurbations where transport infrastructure is already strong enough to support the new development in the early stages. The report supported calls made by the Callcutt review of house building delivery for an investor model where returns are sought over a longer term than developers usually expect. Models for private sector involvement in Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden tend to be longer term, making councils less dependent on house builders who want to dispose of houses quickly, and more in control of their land bank. Local authorities in the towns studied typically partner with multi-disciplinary teams, local development agencies and private developers to invest in sites.Smaller plots of land are then sold to the developers at the price of what is built on them, allowing private investors to recoup their early investment. ‘House building will not recover unless there is a rapid rethink of how procurement works here. There is a disconnection between the planning process and the means of delivery in the UK,’ said Andy von Bradsky, chair of PRP. ‘We are going to have to look at new investment models. Section 106 requirements placed on developers is not a model that will carry forward in the current climate. The findings could apply to all forms of large-scale development, not just eco-towns’, he added.
‘[Our] tax model has been predicated on rising land value and funding infrastructure. We want to be thinking about revamping how we restructure our public finances given that land value has plummeted.’ Beyond eco-towns, applying the lessons from Europe,
www.prparchitects.co.uk

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15 October 2008
© NewStart

Housing Corporation tells junior housing minister empty properties may have risen 15% since March.  The value of unsold shared-ownership homes may be as high as £1bn, the government’s housing quango has warned ministers. It is understood the Housing Corporation told junior housing minister Iain Wright at a meeting on Monday that it was investigating estimates that the value of new housing association shared-ownership homes sitting empty had risen by 15% since March. Steve Douglas, the corporation’s chief executive, admitted it was looking at the issue as part of its quarterly review of housing association business models, but had not yet concluded the work. He said: “We will publish the review in the next weeks. We are working on options to manage unsold stock.”
 
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10 October 2008
© building.co.uk

New powers to help keep homes affordable for communities in rural areas were set out today as Housing Minister Iain Wright launched two consultations. Under the proposed new powers, rural communities with severe housing shortages could be designated as protected areas ensuring affordable housing is retained for local families. The new proposals would also enable all affordable housing providers in these protected areas to retain a share in new shared ownership homes, or have the first option to buy back such properties, ensuring they remain available for future families in the local community. In a further step announced today, first-time buyers in rural areas could own a home for as little as £60,000 through a consultation to expand Community Land Trusts (CLTs). Iain Wright said he wants to see more people being able to cut the cost of getting on the housing ladder through CLTs. Through CLTs, buyers only pay for the building, not the land, of a property. For example, Holdsworthy Community Property Trust in Devon is already offering local people flats that cost £115,000 for prices as low as £59,500.

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8 October 2008
© Communities and Local Government

Councils around the country are gearing up for this year’s local democracy week, which takes place on Wednesday, 8th October 2008 at 9:30am Location: Hilton London Metropole
We’ll be attending this Housing Corporation event about the complex challenges of ensuring the right mix of housing is delivered for rural communities. ‘Housing: Investing in Rural Futures’ will help ensure organisations are best placed to benefit from the forthcoming changes in affordable housing provision and regeneration, as well as making sure you are fully appraised in the latest rural housing policy: http://www.housing-investinginruralfuturesevent.co.uk/

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6 October 2008
© Commission for Rural Communities