Housing Industry Leaders Issue 11

Powering up Britain: What Does it Mean for Social Housing?

Powering up Britain: What Does it Mean for Social Housing?

Significant policy changes have hit the housing sector this month.

As a new dawn emerges for the vision of UK housing, recent reports and policy announcements are welcomed news for all working in the industry. Housing Industry Leaders explores what this means for housebuilders and tenants in the UK.

In this issue, Housing Industry Leaders analyses how the sector can change social infrastructure across the UK, whether £9m can deliver 1000 homes, what advice Lloyds Banking Group has for green growth, and why Havering Council has become the latest to declare a climate emergency.

With a specific focus on how the social housing sector can expand its housing stock faster, Housing Industry Leaders dives into the most topical discussions and debates about the future of the housing industry.

Floyd March

housingindustryleaders.com

f.march@peloton-events.co.uk

Contents

P.4

Modular Building Conversations

Growing Amid Housing Crisis

P.6

Havering Become the Latest Council to Declare Climate Emergency

P.8

£9 Million to Deliver 1,000 Homes: Can it be Done?

P.10

Powering up Britain: What Does it Mean for Social Housing?

P.12

Lloyds Banking Group: Five Steps to Greener Homes

P.14

Five Peculiar Housing Trends According to Housemark

P.16

CMA Release Reinvigorated Approach to Annual Plans

P.18

Existing Housebuilding Slow Down Continues to Accelerate

P.19

Previous Editions

P.20

Housing Cymru Event Highlight

Multimedia Editor

Floyd March

Multimedia Journalist

Chelsea Bailey

Graphic Designer

Edward Boustred

Modular Building Conversations Growing Amid Housing Crisis

by Chelsea Bailey

The UK Government has recently taken measures to attempt to solve the housing crisis by introducing new legislation that speeds up planning applications and cuts red tape. MakeUK’s new report states the case for modular construction taking centre stage.

Modular construction looks set to play an important role in the UK housing sector as it aims to meet the demand for new homes across the country, with the production of entire homes in factories as 3D modules having matured rapidly in the last five years.

In 2022, one in every 60 new homes in the UK will be built entirely in a factory, equating to over 3,300 new homes, providing somewhere to live for an estimated 8,000 people. Capacity is in place to deliver in excess of 20,000 new modular homes per annum by 2025. This would grow England’s housing supply by 10% and cut the output gap on current housing targets by 20%.

Five key policies to grow modular

MakeUK in the ‘Greener, Better, Faster: Modular’s Role in Solving the Housing Crisis’ encapsulates how Britain’s housing crisis has been a generation in the making: “The housebuilding industry has been unable to ramp up supply. In no other sector has the marketplace failed so dramatically to meet such high demand.”

As such, the government are likely to fail to meet its target of building 300,000 homes a year by 2025. Additionally, Homes England missed its 2021-22

affordable homes delivery target by 21.5 per cent and its overall completions target by 15%.

From this, it is clear to see that barriers are still there, and the government must work to remove these to unlock the full benefits of modular. The report presents five key policy changes that would require no additional spending by the government but would help to grow modular - Sustainability, Scale, Planning, Land, and Levelling up.

Sustainability is crucial to growing modular, and it must be enhanced through the introduction of a more robust commitment to and targets for net zero.

To grow modular, the government must:

• Bring forward requirements for all new homes to perform at EPC A

• Adjust stamp duty rates based on energy efficiency and net zero performance

• Require all for sale and to let homes to provide accurate data on energy bills

• Introduce a carbon trading scheme for new build housing

Modular does have the potential to grow, but there are many barriers in place that must be tackled. The report articulated this by explaining: “It is a new industry, and it needs to grow to generate economies of scale that allow it to drive up competition and standards across the industry. We want the government to support modular manufacturers’ pipeline security to this end.”

To do this, the report has recommended that the government should dedicate at least 40% of the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP) to MMC, and at least 50% of this share to modular.

How is modular housing key to levelling up?

A focus on planning is needed in order for modular to grow. Currently, modular must navigate a planning system designed for traditional builders; this can be slow and add significant delays for modular manufacturers, reducing the time-saving that it can bring to the sector. Providing a fast-track planning route for all net zero housing schemes should be prioritised for accelerated planning permission.

In addition to supporting modular through the Affordable Housing Programme and planning, the UK Government can provide the security that modular needs by helping it gain a steady supply of land. The report explained it would like to see:

• Government to require a minimum percentile of its land bank to be allocated to advanced modular housing (Category 1) and/or EPC A rated or low-carbon housing, or give priority or discounts to land used for low-carbon housing

• This percentile should be subject to a ratchet mechanism increasing year on year

• Government frameworks should mirror this ratchet with increased weighting towards modular housing in their scoring criteria

Seeing the development of more housing is crucial to levelling up, and this will help to create opportunities for everyone across the UK. Modular building will play a key part in creating these opportunities.

The UK Government must create a modular capacity strategy working with combined authorities, freeports, transport hubs, and other government agencies to ensure new factories are optimally located to maximise the associated employment and housing delivery benefits.

This would also provide an opportunity to rebalance the distribution of economic benefits associated with construction in the country. According to the Office for National Statistics, approximately three in ten construction firms and employees are concentrated around London and the South East of England.

In theory, there is no need for factories producing the houses to be located in the same region as the end site. This has the potential to be a key step towards reducing regional inequalities in the line with the government’s levelling up agenda.

Havering Become the Latest Council to Declare Climate Emergency

by Floyd March

As Havering Council became the latest council to declare a climate emergency, Housing Industry Leaders delves into the action plan and what this means for housing in the Borough.

At a full Council meeting on 22 March 2023, the Labour motion was passed by 42 votes to 0 with five abstentions.

The decision to declare a climate emergency is the latest step in Havering's effort to combat climate change. In 2021, the Council launched its Climate Change Action Plan, which sets an ambitious target to reach net zero carbon emissions in Havering by 2040.

Keith Darvill, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, said: “Passing this motion declaring a climate emergency and joining the majority of other London boroughs is an essential and necessary move forward for Havering.

Havering to recognise climate having serious impact on residents

“Climate change is here now. There’s no shying away from that. We only need to look back at last few years here in Havering to see the devastating consequences of this climate emergency locally. We’ve experienced an increased number of flooding events and, of course, most recently, the wildfires endangering life and destroying homes and a community in Wennington.

“According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (‘IPCC’) - urgent and unprecedented changes are needed to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees centigrade. In light of this, we will continue to review and improve our Climate Change Action Plan to drive forward significant change and put the power in the hands of residents and businesses to be part of that change.

“Declaring a climate emergency goes further to emphasise both the seriousness and urgency of this work.”

The proposed Climate Change Action Plan will remain a live document with annual updates to report on progress against actions in order to allow for science and knowledge, growing technological changes, strategies development, feasibility to be considered and evaluated actions to be refreshed.

Annual reviews to manage climate action thoroughly

The Action Plans set by respective Directorates are included. These plans will be reviewed annually and managed throughout the year at the Cleaner & Safer Steering Group, chaired by the Director of Neighbourhoods.

A key activity in continuing the Havering tradition to tackle carbon emissions is to consolidate an Action Plan, which is focused on the actions the Council can take to move the borough towards net zero. A Carbon Management Plan will be developed internally for the Council to plan and monitor its route to net zero carbon across its own organisational assets and operations.

The Council now has direct control over less than a twentieth of the borough’s emissions; however, changes in behaviour and investment are needed from all our residents, businesses and partners to meet the national net zero target by 2050.

The Council will develop its work with local communities and partnerships to deliver net zero, and future updates to the strategy will reflect the actions and pledges taken by others.

The delivery of this goal and the construction of further actions will be subject to an annual review of outputs to give political oversight and resident review. The performance will be reported to Cabinet twice yearly, and the programme of projects will be internally measured monthly by the Cleaner and Safer Steering Group.

Domestic emissions reducing overall, but specific measures still needed

Domestic CO2 emissions in Havering have decreased since 2005, and the same is true for all local authorities. Emissions in this sector are largely attributable to gas and electricity consumption for use in our homes. The main factors which have a big effect on reducing domestic CO 2 emissions are using less coal for electricity generation and using less gas in our homes.

Having an Energy Strategy to tackle carbon emissions assists households facing increasing energy prices which have limited scope to control the negative effects. Havering Council is already participating in initiatives for these households by:

• Investing in the thermal efficiency of the Council owned housing stock

• Improving the energy performance of new builds through planning regulations

• Accessing Government grants and welfare support to improve the thermal efficiency of non-Council stock homes

These actions will reduce harmful carbon emissions and improve the health of residents.

£9 Million to Deliver 1,000 Homes: Can it be Done?

by Floyd March

Sovereign Housing Association is delighted to announce that they have been awarded over £9m by the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) towards their £22.5m improvement strategy helping 1,000 homes.

This is the largest grant yet made to Sovereign to invest in existing homes and will help Sovereign on its journey to decarbonising and retrofitting their 61,000home portfolio and map a pathway to net zero by 2050.

This SHDF Wave 2.1 funding round is part of the 2019 Conservative Manifesto commitment to a £3.8bn Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund over a 10-year period to improve the energy performance of social rented homes.

The SHDF strategic objectives are to deliver warm, energy-efficient homes, reduce carbon emissions and fuel bills, tackle fuel poverty, and support green jobs.

SHDF has provided a platform for housebuilding

Sovereign’s SHDF proposals accord with these objectives but also go one step further to target the strategic outcomes defined within our Homes and Place standard, targeting enhanced affordability, health and wellbeing, carbon reduction and mapping a clear pathway to net zero.

Engaging with our customers on this journey to decarbonisation is crucial to the success of the project. They are now meeting our customers to get this project underway.

Resident Liaison Officers and retrofit teams will work closely with customers

to explain every step of the journey, what the outcomes will be, how this will benefit them and how newly installed smart-home technology will help reduce their energy bills.

Retrofitting coupled with new builds is the perfect combo

Home improvement retrofit measures have been individually assessed and tailored for each home and follow a fabric-first approach which includes wall insulation, heat pumps, battery storage, photovoltaic (“solar”) panels, and ‘smart’ home controls. Combined, these measures will deliver an enhanced energy efficiency rating of EPC B and B+ and an improved affordability benefit to our customers where bills could fall by as much as half post-retrofit.

The project is supported by a data-driven approach to continuous learning and improvement, and Sovereign intend to roll that out across all our homes.

Once surveyed, each home will have a “passport” that records all the retrofit measures needed to achieve net zero.

The same “passport” links to ongoing monitoring within each home to evaluate their operation, demonstrating net zero delivery and allowing quicker identification of faults or poor environmental conditions within homes.

Sero have been working closely with Sovereign

Sovereign has been closely supported throughout this bid process by Sero who provide digital solutions for planning, funding and operating homes along their decarbonisation journey towards net zero.

Speaking from Sovereign’s headquarters in Basingstoke today, CEO Mark Washer said:

“I am delighted that our very ambitious bid has been successful and that we can now start using SHDF funding to improve our customers’ homes, making them greener and cheaper to run.”

He added: “At a time when people are struggling to pay their bills and when the quality of social housing is under scrutiny, Sovereign is leading the way in upgrading our homes to make them warmer, more efficient and set them on the journey to net zero.”

He went on to say: “I want to congratulate the bid team at Sovereign for all their hard work in demonstrating to the government that we really mean business when it comes to retrofit. Improving every home we own is core to our mission, and this funding will play an important part in expanding our retrofit programme to thousands of customers.

“Sovereign is leading the social housing sector in retrofit, and we want to share everything we learn on the way. It’s in all our interests to reduce the carbon footprint of social housing.”

“It’s great that the SHDF has been able to support us in this vital work, but government must continue to invest in retrofit, whether its supporting housing associations, providing investment for training and skills or funding research and development into the new technologies that will make net zero a reality.”

Andy Sutton, Co-Founder at Sero, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that Sovereign have secured funding for this leading project. We’re looking forward to supporting them during the project delivery with Retrofit Coordination and Pathways to Zero to help their customers easily run comfortable, affordable and lower carbon homes.”

Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, said:

“This investment will help thousands of households to heat their homes for less, keep them warm for longer and could save hundreds on their annual energy bill.

“The green energy sector is growing, and this funding will support green jobs and provide the training needed to deliver these vital upgrades to homes.”

This investment will help thousands of households to heat their homes for less, keep them warm for longer and could save hundreds on their annual energy bill.

Lord Callanan Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance

Powering up Britain: What Does it Mean for Social Housing?

by Floyd March

During the so-called ‘green week’ held in the UK in March 2023, the government announced the ‘Powering Up Britain’ paper.

The paper comes as the government aims to bridge net zero plans and energy security after a high court ruling on strategy specificity in July 2022.

The core objectives of the government paper were to address energy, consumer, climate and economic security.

Specifically looking at the housing sector, a mixture of new and reannounced policy announcements included alternative fuel generation, alternative heat sources, insulation of homes, energy bill reduction, and green skill gaps.

Stronger policy on closing skills gap announced

As part of the announcement, the government will write a net zero and nature workforce action plan in 2024, to set a roadmap for companies to bridge the green skills gap.

This will benefit the housing sector as there will be a significantly larger, more capable workforce across the operational side of retrofit and the wider built environment.

It has been widely discussed that the workforce in the housing sector alone is short by over 200,000 people to deliver key retrofit projects.

Introducing policies from the central government could go a long way in closing this gap, but the sheer size of the skills gap will need supplementary policies and recruitment techniques.

Focussing on shorter to medium-term policy, the government reaffirmed previous commitments to a nuclear power supply in the UK, CCUS, and hydrogen production.

While this may feel like an indirect policy towards housing, it will benefit the sector as a more resilient energy market and great diversity in the portfolio of energy sources could stable bills and usage for social housing residents across the UK.

This links to the alternative heat sources in homes strategy, which will be further assessed through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements Programme in Autumn 2023.

Heat pump installations are a long way off 600,000/per year

The DLUHC is seemingly bought into the idea that heat pumps are the way forwards, with the recent announcement of the £30m Heat Pump Investment Accelerator fund to help meet 600,000/year by the late 2020s.

Additionally, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme will be extended to 2028 to help households install more energy-efficient boilers and reduce energy bills.

It is hoped that these funding avenues will allow for heat pumps to become more readily available, and the market will be incentivised to install them at a rapid pace with £5k installation assistance.

Focusing on a fabric-first approach is something that can be overlooked, especially with the rise of technology.

Ensuring that there is funding for this approach, the Powering Up Britain paper announced the movement of ECO+ to the Great British Insulation Scheme alongside a commitment to £1bn in investment by March 2026 for fabric first measures up to 300,000 homes.

As cleaner and green products come on the market, it is important that consumers can make a switch to these products with ease to ensure they are incentivised to make the change. This was recommended by the Net Zero Review and Energy White Paper.

This will allow for the balancing in the price between the gas and electricity pricing, which will begin at the end of 2023/ beginning of 2024.

Electricity market frameworks to see sweeping reforms

Further to this, there will be sweeping reforms to the electricity market frameworks through the Review of Electricity Market Arrangements Programme Autumn 2023 to ensure consumer security.

This could reduce some of the impacts of fuel poverty across the social housing landscape through comparable tariff pricing alignments.

Less disparity between heat sources coinciding with electricity market reforms will show a greater alignment in pricing. Further consultation on these aspects is expected for the remainder of 2023, with the implementation of policies hoped to come into effect following these consultations.

There is cautious optimism surrounding these policy announcements, despite the fact that many in the sector highlighted that a lot of these policies are re-announcements and not all policies have come with new funding, but rather the use of pre-existing funding schemes ‘rebadged.’

Lloyds Banking Group: Five Steps to Greener Homes

by Floyd March

Lloyds Banking Group is the latest bank to issue advice to the UK government on the appropriate steps to help make homes greener and incentivise the retrofit of private homes.

Despite appropriate steps in place to help decarbonise the social housing sector, with ECO 4 and the SHDF, Lloyds Banking Group have been advocating for more ways to encourage landlords and private owners to make their homes greener. Recently, through a social media campaign Lloyds Banking Group published a 5-step action plan for the government to follow, allowing for homeowners to be incentivised into improving the EPC rating of their homes and help contribute to the net zero agenda.

Stamp duty rewards for green homes

As it currently stands, there are only a handful of grants available for homeowners that still sees a large number of costs pushed onto them for the installation of solar panels, heat pumps etc.

This links to the first action plan, which stipulates that the government needs to provide more certainty around green home improvements with a package of incentives and regulations.

Another aspect of the plan is to use stamp duty to reward green home improvements. Finding new ways for people investing in their own housing stock to claw back money faster than the repayment costs through cheaper bills is one of the best ways to incentivise investment.

ROI is at the top of the priority list for people looking to make changes to their homes; acting purely for the benefit of the planet is unlikely to convince large swathes of the population to make these changes.

Additionally, Lloyds Banking Group stated that improving EPCs provide accurate and up-to-date information; this should be at the heart of government policy moving forward.

Further tax incentives may be required

Across the automotive sector, there are employer tax incentives to encourage people to invest in EVs, something that has grown significantly since the announcement of the ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2030. Similarly, Lloyds Banking Group have advocated for similar schemes related to homeowners, using employer tax schemes to encourage people to retrofit their own homes and encourage employees to make green improvements.

Finally, they suggested supporting new green jobs across the whole country with the apprenticeship levy. This will encourage the private sector to invest in developing more retrofit infrastructure and will encourage more young people into the sector, improving the skills gap.

Cymru

Mercure Holland House Hotel, Cardiff

11 July 2023

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS

First Minister of Wales

Building on the initial phases of the Optimised RetroFit Programme (ORP), this one day conference will explore how a whole house, pragmatic approach to decarbonising existing homes is essential across Wales.

Setting out core objectives of the ORP, Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS will explore the core themes of the programme, including affordable warmth decarbonisation goals and understanding the best pathway to better energy efficiency for social homes and their residents.

The day will consist of a series of keynote speeches, panel discussions and technical seminars, with an exhibition zone running throughout the day.

#HousingCymru

#HousingLeaders

housingindustryleaders.com

Five Peculiar Housing Trends According to Housemark

by Floyd March

In the latest installation of the Housemark survey, which sees over 350 members help chart the performance of UK social housing providers, there have been new revelations as policy and regulations tighten across the sector.

Each month, the survey covers 15 key performance metrics, such as tenant satisfaction, complaints, building safety, staffing and repairs; all key aspects of the social housing sector that have come under particular scrutiny over the last few years.

Housemark is a data and insight company for the UK housing sector and is jointly owned by the National Housing Federation and the Chartered Institute for Housing.

Established in 1999, it has around 350 member organisations across housing associations, local authorities and ALMOs in the UK.

Five takeaways show peculiar housing trends

In the March edition, there were five key takeaways, including that of the members surveyed, there were 7500 empty homes, a 25% increase in the number of complaints year on year from February, equating to 41 complaints per 1000 properties overall. Despite reports of anti-social behaviour increasing 30% year on year, there was a 23% drop in emergency call-outs across the members surveyed.

The proportion of social homes let compared to the ratio of homes available to let but are left vacant has widened year on year from February 2022.

The report explained: “Data shows the number of additional empty homes in the social housing sector has risen by 7500.”

Statistics such as this highlight the growing issues surrounding the housing crisis, as the longer homes are left empty, the sooner they turn to disrepair, with a lack of maintenance and general upkeep being the core reason for this.

41 complaints per 1000 households, may indicate a deterioration in the quality of housing stock

Clearing bottlenecks still proving too difficult

Additionally, with thousands of people waiting for social housing to become available, serious action is required to get these houses to a standard of habitation, reduce these long waiting lists, and somewhat ease the housing crisis. While fixing this issue can ease the bottleneck of people waiting for accommodation, a rampant increase in the number of houses being built is the only way to truly solve the housing crisis.

Increase in complaints may be due to more complaint awareness

A dramatic 25% rise in the number of complaints being made, increasing to the equivalent of 41 complaints per 1000 households, may indicate a deterioration in the quality of housing stock.

However, on further analysis, while the issues being present shows a lack of quality in housing, the increase in complaints may be due to an increased awareness of the complaints processes and a specific media campaign from the UK government to encourage tenants to make landlords aware of issues.

The report highlighted that 41 per 1000 will likely continue throughout 2023. It stated: “We forecast this will become typical for

landlords across the UK for much of 2023 as tenants’ and landlords’ knowledge and use of complaint systems become more widely utilised.”

After wintry conditions experienced across the UK in December and January, February’s dry and mild weather led to a 23% drop in emergency call-outs – with volumes close to the annual average.

The weather played a prominent role in the reduced call-outs, but it can also be because retrofit projects have been rolled out throughout the winter and housing stock, generally speaking, may have improved resilience to adverse weather. Focuses will now be turned to ensuring this number is below the national average as that will be a significant indicator to determine whether resilience has grown. Reports of anti-social behaviour rose sharply by 30% in February 2023 when compared to the same time last year. Determining the direct causes of this is difficult to pin down, with the previous argument of tenants being more aware of the complaints processes potentially playing a significant role in this.

Housing Industry Leaders will continue to report on the Housemarks survey of its members and track the trends in the social housing sector throughout 2023 and beyond.

CMA Release

Reinvigorated Approach to Annual Plans

The release of the annual CMA plan saw the reinvigorated approach to how the plan is laid out. Hopefully, the out-ofthe-box thinking will trickle down onto ground level and help improve standards across the housing sector.

Freshening up the way the plans are set out, the CMA is setting out the 2023 to 2024 Annual Plan in 2-time horizons: ambition and medium-term priorities for the next three years, and the key areas on which the CMA intends to focus in the next 12 months.

To get there, they explained that they had: “Taken a step back and asked some important questions afresh. What is the purpose of the CMA? What is our ambition - that is to say, what are the outcomes that we aim to deliver for those we serve? And how should these shape our priorities for the next three years and our activity in the year ahead?”

They have been undertaking significant work on behalf of people with leasehold homes who fall victim to unfair terms, specifically by securing the removal of doubling ground rent clauses from leasehold contracts and obtaining refunds for thousands of householders. Looking ahead, they will be examining the accommodation sector more broadly over the next 12 months.

Competitive, fair-dealing businesses can innovate and thrive

In February, they launched a market study into housebuilding and a separate project considering consumer rights for those in rented homes. The market study follows concerns that builders are not delivering the homes people need at sufficient scale or speed. The CMA’s consumer protection work will seek to shed light on the experience of renters and explore whether more could be done to help landlords and intermediaries to understand their obligations.

At a time when public and household finances are under particular pressure, they will also continue to clamp down on cartels and other collusive behaviour that stops public bodies and private households from making the most of their available budget. For example, agreements that seek to keep prices up in public procurement or interfere in labour markets.

In the coming year, they will also bring a greater focus to emergent markets where the CMA may be able to provide advice or recommendations to help shape effective competition. This can apply to the housing sector by improving procurement methods and ensuring there are more contractors, subcontractors and SMEs applying for contracts and delivering climate objectives more efficiently and effectively.

The whole UK economy can grow productively and sustainably

The CMA’s recent State of Competition report is an example of work they do to inform public debate and policy formulation around issues such as the drivers of greater productivity and innovation.

The CMA has a continuing role to play in supporting innovation, productivity and growth and productivity across the UK economy. “The Microeconomics Unit in Darlington will be a centre of gravity for this work, developing and producing a programme of research culminating in the third edition of the State of Competition report referred to above. It will support the wider work of the CMA and policymakers, exploring areas including investment, innovation and competition.”

On sustainability, there are three ways in which the CMA can and should contribute to promote environmental sustainability and help accelerate the transition to a net zero economy.

“First, we can help ensure that markets for sustainable products or services develop in competitive ways. Second, we can help people make informed choices about the climate impact of the goods and services they use. Third, we can help ensure that competition law is not an unnecessary barrier to companies seeking to pursue environmental sustainability initiatives.”

In 2023 to 2024, as well as continuing ongoing programme of work to address possible ‘greenwashing’, they will follow up on the call for information in the green heating and insulation sectors. More broadly, they are consulting on draft guidance to help businesses take action on climate change and environmental sustainability generally, without undue fear of breaching competition rules.

Existing Housebuilding Slow Down Continues to Accelerate

by Floyd March

In further bad news for housebuilding activity, it has been recorded to have fallen at the fastest rate since the first lockdown in March. Borrowing costs have been highlighted as the reason for the slowdown.

The updated S&P Global/CIPS UK purchasing managers survey published earlier in April 2023 accredited an index score of 44.2, compared to 47.4 in February of the same year.

Housebuilding down for the fourth month in a rowis there and end in site?

This is a continuing trend for the housebuilding sector, as the index has been spiralling for four consecutive months. The latest score is the lowest since May 2020, when the closure of building sites across the UK disrupted housebuilding.

Findings from the report highlighted that: “There were fewer tender opportunities in March due to rising borrowing costs and a subsequent slowdown in new house building projects.”

Lack of housebuilding hasn’t seemed to have an effect on the prices of housing, despite supply and demand scales tipping more unevenly than ever before. Shortly after the housebuilding index was released, Halifax unveiled a house price growth of 0.8%.

House prices still on the rise, even if it is less than 1%

Updated figures have the average house price at £287,880, with annual inflation down to 1.6% from the previously reported 2.1% in February.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders, voiced concerns regarding the purchasing managers index and a lack of direction from the government to increase housebuilding.

He said: “It’s troubling that house building is the weakest-performing area within the construction as the country is in the grips of a housing crisis, with smaller builders feeling the pinch on top of the decline in their output over recent decades.”

W

e need to see increased funding to local authority planning departments to help them take on and train more planning staff and a greatly simplified planning process to get homes out of planning purgatory.

Brian Berry Chief Executive Federation of Master Builders

Covering all Angles of the Housing Industry

11 July 2023

Mercure Holland House Hotel, Cardiff

Why Housing Industry Leaders?

Setting out core objectives of the ORP, Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS will explore the core themes of the programme, including affordable warmth decarbonisation goals and understanding the best pathway to better energy efficiency for social homes and their residents.

The day will consist of a series of keynote speeches, panel discussions and technical seminars, with an exhibition zone running throughout the day.

Join us on 11 July 2023 at Mercure Holland House Hotel, Wales, where housing leaders, experts and innovators will be discussing what is needed right now to drive meaningful change and create communities for the future.

Join the conversation #HousingLeaders