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Tag: CLG

Is the planning system for homes getting worse?

Is the planning system for homes getting worse?

I’ve been quizzed a bit in recent hours for my views on the residential planning system in the light of the reported drop in planning permissions. One graph that might prove interesting is one I have on file which tracks the figures from the communities department. It shows the number of decisions made within 13 weeks and the proportion of applications approved for major residential schemes. These are schemes of 10 or more homes. It is silly to read too much…

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Don’t read scare stories into the housing figures – we already know things are bad

Don’t read scare stories into the housing figures – we already know things are bad

The latest CLG house building figures for the second quarter of this year seem to be consistent with the view that activity is settling down to a new post-recession lower level. Much has been and is made of the jumps up and down each quarter in the starts and completions figures. But this volatility should be and should have been expected. No more significance should be given to the latest drop in starts than to the buoyancy in the numbers in…

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A double-dip in house prices isn’t really the problem

A double-dip in house prices isn’t really the problem

The Nationwide house price survey showing a drop of 0.9% following a 0.5% drop in July adds yet more weight to the growing view that house prices are sagging and are set to sag further. The Halifax index peaked in March and fell monthly up to a minor rally in July. The Acadmetrics index has been heading south since March, although it similarly saw a gentle uplift of 0.1% in July. Hometrack went 0.1% negative in July and the drop…

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Has the Office for Budget Responsibility screwed up the Stamp Duty figures?

Has the Office for Budget Responsibility screwed up the Stamp Duty figures?

I appreciate that Office for Budget Responsibility is taking flak at the moment for being “optimistic with the truth”, but I can’t help but chip in with yet another gripe. I have deep concern that it has made a huge fluff of the numbers for Stamp Duty Land Tax that could leave the Treasury billions short on its target for the revenue so much needed to close the deficit. We are being asked to believe that by 2014 the Treasury…

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Good news on the planning front – rejections fall and applications for new homes rise

Good news on the planning front – rejections fall and applications for new homes rise

The data published today on planning applications on the face of it should provide house builders and their suppliers with some comfort. The figures show that in the final quarter of last year the number of planning decisions for major residential developments – those with 10 or more homes – rose for the second quarter in a row. Admittedly the number, 1,300 in the quarter, is about half that of the average during the boom years between 2003 and 2008, but…

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Forecasts point to a tough and risky road ahead for construction

Forecasts point to a tough and risky road ahead for construction

The latest Experian forecast is out today and it paints a broadly similar, albeit slightly more optimistic, picture to that of the recently released forecast from the Construction Products Association. The main point of departure is on the views towards housing. Here the Experian forecasters are more bullish, if you can say that about a market that even by 2012 is expected to be almost 30% smaller than it was before the credit crunch. Experian’s expectation of a faster improvement…

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