ROOF Blog

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’.

The recession may have severely dented the property market, but new figures show it has also prompted a surge in official complaints against those who make their living from it – estate agents, lettings companies, developers and even surveyors show big rises. The Property Ombudsman Scheme (POS) – the best-known redress system for buyers, sellers and tenants – received well over 10,000 complaints last year, with those in the lettings sector of the market alone surging by 79 per cent since late 2008.

Commercial law firm EMW Picton Howell has said that the number of planning applications withdrawn by developers has increased dramatically in the past year as local planning authorities put pressure on developers to withdraw so they can meet government time limits for determining applications. The percentage of planning applications being withdrawn, called in or turned away has jumped by 63 per cent since 2001/02.

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has said private developers, local councils and housing associations must work better together to manage land supply more efficiently to boost the supply of affordable housing. It argues that a poor grasp of land economics, an over reliance on section 106 agreements and an aversion to risk is hindering the provision of land, and added that housing organisations must invest in skills to value land, assess a project’s viability and negotiate better.

House builders are drip feeding homes on to the market so they don’t flood the market and cause further price falls industry experts warned yesterday. The practice is ‘widespread’ among large scale builders such as Barratt, and they blamed a lack of competition between developers of large sites for the problem, as greater competition would bring more houses to the market.

A Sunday Times investigations has found that members of the royal family have been granted ‘sweetheart’ property deals worth millions. The Crown Estate, which manages £7.3 billion of land and property owned by the crown, allowed several properties to be sold cheaply to Prince Andrew, who subsequently sold them on at substantial profit, while securing rent-free residences for his two daughters. Crown Estate says it took legal advice for the valuations, but ‘special circumstances’ meant such properties cannot always get the highest market valuation.

The government is in talks with property developers about the introduction of a local authority backed bond scheme aimed to finance stalled regeneration projects. Under the proposals a bond would be underwritten by the government and sold to investors. The borrowed money would be used to pay for basic infrastructure on mothballed sites which will allow building work to begin. Local councils and MPs have also backed the demand following a parliamentary inquiry.

A Belfast house builder has been accused of faking a queue outside an estate agent to drum up interest in the development. A PR agency sent out a press released entitled: ‘Worth the wait’ along with photos of people sleeping and waiting in a queue outside the agents. The photos have been exposed as fake when one woman in line was recognised as a model being paid by the PR company. The developer defended the stunt saying the other people were genuine potential buyers.

An eco-village in South Gloucestershire, which has been billed as England’s first large scale zero carbon development, has been given full planning permission. Hanham Hall, a development between Barratt Developments and the Homes and Communities Agency will have 195 zero-carbon homes built to the highest level 6 standards, and will be run day to day by a community owned and run trust.

The number of applications to build new homes has risen by 10 per cent in the three months to the end of April 2009. It was the first quarter on quarter rise in almost two years. However, figures from the National House Builder’s Council (NHBC) show the sector is still depressed with the level of applications down 53 per cent in year on year figures. Imtiaz Farookhi, chief executive of the NHBC, said that anecdotal evidence from house builders and developers suggest that conditions are easing slightly.