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Tag: Home Builders Federation

Northstowe and why I am so angry with George Osborne

Northstowe and why I am so angry with George Osborne

The Government’s plan to commission, build and sell 10,000 homes at Northstowe just north of Cambridge have been heralded by some in the media as radical. It hasn’t been done since the 1970s. That anyway is a line taken by a slice of the media as it absorbs carefully-crafted press releases that complement the thin detail in the National Infrastructure Plan 2014. Unsurprisingly as we head deeper into the run-up to a General Election, the media was duly given some…

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By how many will NewBuy boost house building numbers?

By how many will NewBuy boost house building numbers?

Praised in some quarters and vilified in others, NewBuy appears to have been misunderstood and over-hyped. It’s not, for instance, as some think primarily a way to get first-time buyers (FTBs) on the housing ladder and it will not generate 100,000 “extra” new homes over the next three years. It is in essence an allocation of the overall mortgage pot supported by an indemnity fund that is design to provide high loan-to-value mortgages to buy new-build homes. But while it…

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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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Why local authorities would be mad to grant planning permissions right now

Why local authorities would be mad to grant planning permissions right now

So a spate of local planning authorities decided to halt housing schemes following the move by the Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to abolish regional spatial strategies.  No shock there then.  I’d argue, as I do later, that it would be totally rational for a planning authority to halt or delay planning even if there was widespread desire for the new development among a local council and all its constituents. What puzzles me is why this new government would wish to alienate…

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We are on a perilous road to the new normal – but at least it’s exciting

We are on a perilous road to the new normal – but at least it’s exciting

Yesterday I went to an excellent conference organised by the Council of Mortgage Lenders. I know it was good because I came away with a headache and a slightly befuddled mind, but invigorated nevertheless. What made it more interesting was that on the train into London I read Martin Wolf’s column in the Financial Times, which in retrospect provided a fitting overture to the day, despite the link in subject matter being a bit distant from the UK housing market. His…

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