A report said that, in the light of 'increasingly volatile' demographic trends, the government's household projections should not be used as housebuilding targets, in order to safeguard the countryside from unnecessary development.
Source: Housing the Future: An analysis of the government's household projections and their use in planning for new housing, Campaign to Protect Rural England
Links: Report | CPRE press release
Date: 2009-Dec
A report brought together key spatial statistics to provide a longitudinal and cross-country overview of contemporary changes to housing and neighbourhoods, and an assessment of progress against key government policy objectives. It said that the government was unlikely to meet its target of 3 million new homes by 2020: in order to reach this number, a building rate would be needed that not been achieved at any point since the early 1990s.
Source: Cecilia Wong et al., Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor: UK-wide report, Joseph Rowntree Foundation (01904 629241)
Links: Report | Summary | JRF press release | Local Government Chronicle report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Nov
A study explored the impact of the credit crunch on infrastructure projects. All those services and procurement approaches examined had been hampered and damaged: but the impact was uneven, with redevelopment- and housing-related projects being particularly badly impaired.
Source: John Layton, The Impact of the Credit Crunch on UK Infrastructure Projects: Commentary on an initial exploration, Centre for Public Service Partnerships/University of Birmingham
Links: Link removed
Date: 2009-Nov
A think-tank report said that with housing production at an 80-year low, the housing supply backlog was likely to approach 1 million by the end of 2010. This unprecedented level of under-supply had serious social and economic consequences, not least in regard to housing waiting lists and home-ownership. The report assessed the impact of the housing crisis, and made recommendations on what could be done to boost the supply of new homes.
Source: David Pretty and Paul Hackett, Mind the Gap: Housing supply in a cold climate, Smith Institute (020 7592 3618), Town and Country Planning Association and PricewaterhouseCoopers
Links: Report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Sep
A think-tank report said that the housebuilding industry was a classic case of market failure: as prices had soared, production had failed to keep up – but when prices had begun to fall, output had plummeted. It called for a new mixed economy in housebuilding in order to increase supply, reduce volatility, and provide real choices to individuals. The public sector as a whole needed to rediscover the skills and confidence to lead the market.
Source: Toby Lloyd, Don't Bet the House on It: Not turning back to housing boom and bust, Compass (020 7463 0633)
Links: Report | TUC press release
Date: 2009-Aug
A report examined a number of ways to reinvigorate housing delivery, including attracting different forms of finance into housebuilding, and improving co-operation between different parts of the housing sector in order to share both the risks and rewards of development.
Source: Toby Lloyd et al., Ground Breaking: New ideas on housing delivery, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report | Summary | New Start report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report (by an official advisory body) said that revised population and household projections suggested that, despite the economic recession, more people were wanting homes than estimated only a year previously. It issued revised advice to the government on future housing supply.
Source: More Homes for More People: Building the right homes in the right places, National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (023 9295 8152) | More Homes for More People: Advice to ministers on housing levels to be considered in regional plans, National Housing and Planning Advice Unit
Links: Report | Guidance | NHPAU press release | CPRE press release
Date: 2009-Jul
A follow-up report by a committee of MPs said that the government's measures to stimulate housebuilding and housing market activity in the economic downturn had not yet been enough. The previous steady progress towards achieving housebuilding targets had been 'dramatically reversed'. The government needed to avoid storing up problems in the future by taking all steps possible to retain capacity in the housebuilding sector; and steps needed to be taken to ensure that housebuilders could sell the homes they built.
Source: Housing and the Credit Crunch: Follow-Up, Eighth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 568, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Crisis press release
Date: 2009-Jul
The government published a plan for Britain's future, describing it as 'a radical vision for a fairer, stronger and more prosperous society'. Additional investment worth £1.5 billion over two years would deliver 20,000 new affordable homes, creating 45,000 jobs in the construction and related sectors. There would be changes to the rules for allocating social housing, giving local councils the power to give greater priority to local people and those who had spent a long time on a waiting list. Tenants and prospective tenants would be given more choice over the properties available.
Source: Building Britain's Future, Cm 7654, Prime Minister's Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Summary | Hansard | Cabinet Office press release | DCLG press release | HCA press release | NHF press release | CIH press release | PwC press release | London Councils press release | CBI press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Local Government Chronicle report | BBC report | Inside Housing report | New Start report
Date: 2009-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the environmental impact of its house-building programme. It said that its house-building targets remained a priority, and that the long-term assumptions underpinning the targets set out in 2007 were still valid.
Source: Government Response to the Environmental Audit Committee's Report on Greener Homes for the Future?, Cm 7615, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2009-May
The government announced (in the 2009 Budget) funding of £400 million to support private sector house-building, by reducing up-front costs and 'levering' private finance. An additional £100 million funding would be made available for local authorities to deliver energy-efficient social homes. There would be an extension of the stamp duty 'holiday' for all houses costing up to £175,000 until the end of 2009.
Source: Budget 2009: Building Britain's future, HC 407, HM Treasury, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Hansard | HMT press release | DCLG press release | HCA press release | NHF press release | RTPI press release | CRC press release | BPF press release | CML press release | NAEA press release | BSA press release | CIH press release | NLGN press release | PWC press release | New Start report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Inside Housing report (1) | Inside Housing report (2)
Date: 2009-Apr
The government published new guidance setting out the range of strengthened powers that local authorities had to deal with the problem of empty homes.
Source: Step-by-Step Guide to EDMOs, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236) and Empty Homes Agency
Links: Guidance | DCLG press release | Inside Housing report | New Start report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report expressed doubts about the capacity of local authorities to increase their level of housebuilding.
Source: John Perry and David Hall, The Potential for House Building by Local Authorities: Can it be turned into bricks and mortar?, HouseMark (024 7646 0500) and Tribal
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2009-Mar
Annual housing supply in England reached 207,500 net additional dwellings in 2007-08; this was a 4 per cent increase on the 199,000 net additional homes supplied in the previous year, and the highest annual level of net housing supply in the previous 30 years.
Source: Net Supply of Housing: 2007-08, England, Department for Communities and Local Government (web publication only)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Feb
