tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-992461296589385932011-11-07T12:58:09.317ZFocusing on New Property and Housing Developments in the UK.Signoreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-76209338424980856202010-07-06T10:38:00.002+01:002010-07-06T10:42:57.175+01:00

Leading home builder Persimmon PLC, today posted a positive, but cautious report for the first half of the year. Reflecting the slight recovery experienced in the wider housing market for this period, Persimmon released the following figures: Legal completions grew by 16%, from 4,006 to 4,657 compared to the same period last year. Turnover for the period increased by roughly 26% to £785

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-59495165832690065092010-06-25T10:31:00.003+01:002010-06-25T12:19:20.246+01:00

A worried man? HCA chief executive Sir Bob Kerslake. The following excerpts from Jamie Carpenter's, article for Regen.net, 25 June 2010, give more details about Grant Shapp's plans to streamline the HCA, and place it under local authority.  Shapps said that the HCA will be "much leaner" and that he saw the agency’s future as an "enabling and investment body". Shapps told delegates:

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-32173039656440543062010-06-24T17:15:00.014+01:002010-06-25T09:22:52.397+01:00

New plans to give local people more power over the number of homes built in their area, are causing concern among housing experts. The news comes at a time when household formation outstrips house-building, increasing life expectancy, and people remaining single, are all causing demand for social and affordable properties to grow rapidly. Although some accept that action is required, there remain

Signoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-69985921807210731392010-06-18T11:12:00.002+01:002010-06-18T13:28:15.388+01:00

Amongst all the doom and gloom surrounding the housing market, it's a welcome change to come across a positive news story! The Council of Mortgage Lenders today issued a press release, showing a considerable increase in gross mortgage lending in the UK. Their figures show a 7% increase for the month of May compared to April, and 10% compared to May of last year. According to the CML, the

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-60336820962320416472010-06-17T11:23:00.005+01:002010-06-25T09:24:29.708+01:00

Unabashed by recent controversy surrounding the amount of information it stores, Google yesterday unveiled its new property listing service. Adding a house-hunting function to Google Maps UK, it provides all the vital housing-hunting information such as statistics on rooms, distances to amenities, price and location. The service allows users to select a location and view available properties in

Signoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-26170630510980449652010-06-17T10:06:00.005+01:002010-06-18T13:00:57.882+01:00

In his first Mansion House speech, George Osborne outlined plans to give The Bank of England (BoE) far reaching new powers over Britain's financial system. In particular, the BoE will given the responsibility of overseeing the health of the housing market. Citing the easy availability of credit, 100%+ mortgages and low interest rates as key factors behind unsustainable house price increases, the

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-64310043591296203272010-06-15T12:12:00.000+01:002010-06-15T12:12:55.582+01:00

Department of Communities and Local Government House Price Index:  According to the Department of Communities and Local Government's latest House Price Index, annual average house prices paid for new properties in April 2010 were 7.6 per cent higher than a year ago. This is a sizeable increase from the 1.3% increase seen in March.  In the month to April, there was an increase of 5.6% in

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-65280307425845778872010-06-14T10:08:00.000+01:002010-06-14T10:12:15.613+01:00

A new report from The National Housing Federation (NHF) has suggested that the number of affordable homes being built this year could decline by as much 65%. Changes to the planning system combined with funding cuts could result in as few as 21,000 homes being built. Housing Minister Grant Shapps, warned last week that up to 150 social housing projects were in danger, due to a £610m "black hole"

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-86915181710178467192010-06-10T15:29:00.000+01:002010-06-10T15:36:29.218+01:00

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has announced that it will be closing the  Low Carbon Building Programme, to new applicants. Introduced by the labour government, to date the programme has provided over 20,000 grants, with over half going to applicants seeking to install Microgeneration equipment.  Citing government cuts of £6 billion to departmental spending over the next

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-79147242136781481882010-06-08T12:09:00.000+01:002010-06-08T12:17:57.630+01:00

Whether you are moving to a new home or looking to buy a second home, choosing the ideal location can be an overwhelming task. Fortunately, with the advent of "media rich" websites, house hunters have a wealth of tools at there disposal to make the job less stressful. This post will cover some of the key tools available for house hunting online. When starting out it's key to remember that one

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-86078854710404305142010-06-03T10:43:00.000+01:002010-06-03T13:00:45.647+01:00

Update 03/06/10: Following on from the Telegraph articles (see two posts below) purporting to show 30% increases in houses going to market as a result of HIP's being removed, it seemed prudent to examine other factors contributing to the aforementioned increase. Firstly, Nationwide's chief economist, Martin Gahbauer has suggested one possible reason. He cites that a looming increase in Capital

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-62769293394000367442010-06-03T10:16:00.000+01:002010-06-03T11:49:46.270+01:00

The guardian has collated figures released by the big three providers of Average House Price Indexes. Presented in an interactive graph, covering from Mar 2006 to the present day, it illustrates the variance in figures released by Halifax/Nationwide/The Land Registry. The graph is updated with each new release of figures, and is often annotated with feature articles, helping to provide

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-62106607610285012952010-06-02T17:12:00.000+01:002010-06-03T10:39:44.783+01:00

Thirteen days ago, the Lib-Dem Conservative Coalition culled the HIP industry overnight. Thus far, the response from from estate agents has been overwhelmingly positive, with many citing a surge in the number of houses going to market. However, the ten thousand or so workers directly involved in the HIP industry have been left facing bleak and uncertain futures. Below is a brief selection of

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-47948848875051088462010-05-20T17:04:00.000+01:002010-05-21T10:34:29.694+01:00

The government today announced that it is suspending Home Information Pack's (HIPs) for homes sellers with immediate effect. “Mr Pickles today laid an Order suspending HIPs with immediate effect, pending primary legislation for a permanent abolition. The Secretary of State has taken this swift action in order to avoid uncertainty and prevent a slump in an already fragile housing market. Today’s

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-54221159371142996562010-04-07T12:09:00.000+01:002010-04-07T15:21:10.055+01:00

Good news for those in the market for an affordable, attractive and energy efficient home. Towards the end of this year, UK home builder, Barratt Homes will be offering the first Code for Sustainable Homes* Level 6 rated sustainable houses to enter the mass market.This news follows the agreement last summer of contractual commitments between Barratt Developments PLC, the Homes and Communities

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-56634271909035870592010-03-26T12:53:00.000Z2010-03-26T13:48:26.500Z

Arguably, one of the most important changes in recent history to construction standards comes into effect on 31 March 2010. The introduction "Eurocodes" will see The British Standards Institution (BSI) withdraw 54 British Standards for the design of buildings and civil engineering structures. Detailed overviews of the codes can be found in the sources section at the bottom of this article.The

Signoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-10043107356164326302010-03-10T11:12:00.000Z2010-03-19T11:39:38.711Z

Housing Minister John Healey, has announced that £83 million of recently secured funding will enable work to restart on the construction of over 5,500 new homes, which had previously been stalled by the recession.The Department for Communities and Local Government announced the initial batch of funding allocations for the next round of its Kickstart programme. This will allow work on previosuly

Signoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-18421394104977580702010-03-02T15:49:00.000Z2010-03-04T14:59:17.155Z

Government plans for "green loans" to help home owners make their homes more energy efficient by installing technology such as insulation and solar panels were announced by the Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband.The Warm Homes, Greener Homes scheme will see the loans tied to the house where the eco-measures are applied, so they can be repaid over a long enough period that the savings

Signoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-49863136726020447952010-03-02T09:55:00.000Z2010-03-02T10:25:30.750Z

Persimmon back in blackPersimmon, the housebuilder, reported a return to full-year pre-tax profit, helped by a one-off gain from the revaluation of its land values.Persimmon, the UK's largest housebuilder by market value, plans to create 90 new sites after trading conditions showed further signs of improvement. Some of the sites will be facilitated by Government grant funding for affordable

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-81173783490730147182010-03-01T14:14:00.000Z2010-03-01T15:45:24.241Z

A week ago, the Conservative Party finally published their long-awaited planning green paper. The paper proposes an overhaul of current regional spatial strategies, with the removal of the regional tier of planning, by instead transferring the responsibility of setting housebuilding goals to local authorities. Another key proposal of the paper is to give "third parties" such as residents, the

Signoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-29517263997870457272010-02-26T13:10:00.000Z2010-03-04T11:42:22.859Z

According to figures released today by Nationwide, the price of a typical UK property fell by a 1% month-on-month in February. This ends the nine month run of gradual increases in house prices. Commenting on these figures, Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said:“The price of a typical UK property fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.0% month-on-month (m/m) in February, ending a strong run

Signoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-78946272889592749092010-02-24T13:54:00.000Z2010-03-01T15:57:18.685Z

Over the last three years, housing developers have been bit by a multitude of setbacks. Sharp declines in the value of owned land, decreased numbers of house buyers coupled with increasing material costs, have seen many smaller developers fall by the wayside. However, as the signs of recovery start to appear, the larger, more robust developers are left in a stronger position than ever.One such

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-42793931509193539152010-02-23T09:02:00.000Z2010-02-23T16:43:52.579Z

As mentioned in my first post, I aim to use a variety of sources and tools to detail developments across the UK. One such tool, Skape 3D mapping, caught my attention. This post may be bordering on being a blatant advertisement, but I think this tool holds true potential for planners (and those who are simply interested in having a nose around). Skape is one of the first 3D mapping tools designed

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-74313284673166669552010-02-22T12:51:00.001Z2010-02-23T13:48:15.984Z

The first area covered by New Property UK is Swindon, Wiltshire (map). This town offers a great case study of an area featuring a number new housing developments, combined with a major redevelopment scheme in the town centre. Designated as one of the Government’s Strategically Significant Towns, developers have been assigned growth targets of a staggering 35,000 new homes complimented by an

Signoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-99246129658938593.post-92217639033034108492010-02-22T10:28:00.000Z2010-02-26T11:32:30.905Z

Hello, and welcome to New Property UK. I'm a 20-something, recent geography graduate with a keen interest in regeneration and redevelopment schemes throughout the UK. Over the coming months, I aim to utilise a variety of sources to analyse and provide coverage of development and regeneration schemes across the UK.At the time of writing, the economy is in a state of flux. Whilst certain indicators

Signoreply@blogger.com0