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Tag: affordable housing

Why the spending review might prove a turning onto the road to Nirvana for house builders

Why the spending review might prove a turning onto the road to Nirvana for house builders

What do the cuts in the spending review mean for house builders? Who really knows? But having tried to piece together what the implications of the Chancellor’s axe wielding are for housing, house builders, housing associations and contractors who build homes, I can’t help thinking what some might regard as the unthinkable. I may be deluded or befuddled by the blur of jumbled numbers, but far from being bad news, I think there is a possibility that things might pan…

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The big question for Mr Shapps

The big question for Mr Shapps

I would like to be among those welcoming Grant Shapps to his new role as housing minister and wishing him well. I must admit I have not been particularly kind to his ideas to date. It’s my job to be critical I guess. But for the record I do have a degree of admiration for his fervent faith in localism, for which I have much sympathy, albeit with a shed load of doubts. Somehow it chimes with the anarcho-syndicalist spirit…

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Open Source Planning: naive, stupid or cynical?

Open Source Planning: naive, stupid or cynical?

If you think that the economy is posing a problem for house builders, you might want to consider the planning proposals put forward by the Conservatives. “Jaw dropping” was one phrase that an expert on planning matters put to me. “Concerning” was the more sedate and political word chosen by the Home Builders Federation, who politely suggested it was a high risk strategy with potential unintended consequences. I found the phrase “barking” coming readily to hand when I spoke to…

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Housing rescue plan? What housing rescue plan?

Housing rescue plan? What housing rescue plan?

Caroline Flint has just announced the much talked of rescue plan for the housing market – couched in terms of affordable housing, but in essence an attempt to bolster the crumbling house building sector. It has been welcomed by the National Housing Federation, so it must be good. And I am sure the Home Builders Federation will, through gritted teeth, also welcome the move. See what you think, but to my eyes it appears to be the equivalent of throwing…

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