A mixture of our favourite news articles from the property world. This includes new developments, auction dates and changes to the UK law.

Smaller developers key to boosting quality housing delivery in Scotland

House Loan News:-Scotland’s smaller builders need to be cultivated to help the country tackle its backlog demand for new homes, claims Homes for Scotland in a report released this week. The trade body said although 2018 was the best year in a decade for housing, small builders’ contribution to the 20,000 plus homes built had fallen by 40 per cent. They accounted for just 2,500 of the new homes, before the 2008 recession they were building an average of 4,000 [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:55:59+00:00November 27, 2019|Blog, Finance News, Planning News, Projects|0 Comments

New builds reach highest level since 80s but there may be trouble ahead

Developers are calling on the government to increase the variety of sites which can be built on following figures showing housing supply nearly doubling over the past six years. The ministry of housing, communities and local government's statistics reveal 214,000 new completions - the highest number since the 1980s and nearly twice the low of 124,000 in 2012-13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK9_6vD5tuA However, the Housing Pipeline report shows planning approvals dropping to 97,278 in the second quarter of 2019 - a 7 per [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:56:15+00:00November 15, 2019|Blog, Finance News, Planning News, Projects|0 Comments

Government promise of 200,000 starter homes hasn’t happened

Bridging Finance News:- Plans to build 200,000 homes for first-time buyers under 40 have been sidelined due to lack of parliamentary time to pass the necessary legislation before December's general election. A National Audit Office investigation discovered no such homes have been built since the Conservatives announced the initiative in their 2015 manifesto. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZkYeRN7z9k In the November 2015 spending review, £2.3bn was earmarked for delivery of the first 60,000 which were to be sold with a 20 per cent discount. [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:56:22+00:00November 5, 2019|Projects, Blog, Finance News, Planning News|0 Comments

Construction output falls for sixth consecutive month

Construction Loans News:- Building output carried on declining although the latest purchasing managers' index showed the rate of contraction was the slowest in three months. Construction companies were continuing to reduce their workforce numbers due to weak order books and concerns about the near-term business outlook. New orders dropped for the seventh month in a row during October, but the rate of decline was the least marked since July. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYJjPXGYWvo The 44.2 index for October was up on September's 43.3 [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:56:31+00:00November 4, 2019|Blog, Finance News, Planning News, Projects|0 Comments

Infrastructure blitz to unlock sites for thousands of new homes

Bridging Loans News:- More than £250m is to be spent on infrastructure to enable 20,000 new homes to be built nationwide, the government has announced. Chancellor, Sajid Javid, said six major projects had won funding to invest in roads, rapid bus transport and schools across the country. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK9_6vD5tuA "This step-change in funding will ensure that all parts of the country benefit as we level-up opportunities." He added: "The government is committed to levelling-up communities across the country so that all [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:56:37+00:00November 1, 2019|Projects, Blog, Finance News, Planning News|0 Comments

Garden town of 10,000 new homes planned for Gatwick area

Construction Finance News:- A rural spot in West Sussex is set to expand exponentially within the next few years to ease the acute housing shortages in Crawley and Horsham. The government's housing accelerator, Homes England, is to start consultation on November 1st on an ambitious scheme to develop land west of Ifield village which currently has 9,000 inhabitants. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ_ylUh-2Zc&t=3s More than a third of the planned homes, 35 per cent, will be affordable with three linked neighbourhoods making up a [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:56:43+00:00October 31, 2019|Blog, Finance News, Planning News, Projects|0 Comments

SME builders keep headcounts low amid unpredictable economic conditions

Small building companies are halting staff increases despite increasing workloads as political uncertainty mounts, according to the Federation of Master Builders' latest trade survey. The trade body found small to medium-sized construction companies reporting a growing workforce has decreased from 19 per cent to 15 per cent for the third quarter of 2019. Nearly a quarter, 23 per cent, said they had cut back on staff compared with 21 per cent in the second quarter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYJjPXGYWvo&t=2s FMB chief executive, Brian [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:56:50+00:00October 30, 2019|Projects, Blog, Finance News, Planning News|0 Comments

Hackitt enlisted to help establish new building safety regulator

Bridging Loans News:-Dame Judith Hackitt, who conducted the building regulations review post the Grenfell fire disaster, is to advise the government on establishing a new building safety regulator. Housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, said he was grateful Dame Judith, an engineer and former chair of the UK Health and Safety Executive, had agreed to take on the role. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw_dTlS7_Ug&t=2s "Her expertise will be essential to forming a strong regulator with teeth to ensure all residents are safe, and feel safe, in [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:56:55+00:00October 29, 2019|Blog, Finance News, Planning News, Projects|0 Comments

New towns set to make a comeback

Construction Finance News:-Councils are being invited to bid to build economically led new towns in their communities which would generate jobs and create new homes. Housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, has announced £10m to enable local authorities to come up with locally-led proposals to deliver new towns on the scale of Canary Wharf or Milton Keynes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYJjPXGYWvo "We want to drive economic growth outside London and the South East. Our new development corporations will empower local areas to come forward with [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:57:02+00:00October 28, 2019|Projects, Blog, Finance News, Planning News|0 Comments

Homes England gives £38m to speed up building more than 2,000 homes

Bridging Loans News:- Six local authorities have won £38.2m worth of investment to accelerate the building of at least 2,072 new homes. The funding will be ploughed into infrastructure for 13 sites spread across England from Somerset to Cheshire. The councils who've gained funding are being encouraged to employ SME housebuilders and also developers who harness modern methods of construction. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYJjPXGYWvo Homes England chief land and development officer, Stephen Kinsella, said: "This funding will enable local authorities to prepare their [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:57:14+00:00October 24, 2019|Projects, Blog, Finance News, Planning News|0 Comments

London’s green belt needs to be overhauled for the capital to hit new homes target

Bridging Finance News:- A strategic review of London's green belt is needed if the capital is to hit its target of building 66,000 new homes a year, argues the inspectorate report. The report claims that the capital's small sites development target, which was to have delivered 38 percent of London's new homes, is unrealistic. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK9_6vD5tuA "The evidence simply does not justify the reliance placed by the Mayor on small sites to fill the gap. To accept the targets attributed to [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:57:22+00:00October 23, 2019|Projects, Blog, Finance News, Planning News|0 Comments

Housing minister calls for a digital revolution for property development

Bridging Loans News:-New ways for councils to share data with developers to help them find brown field land suitable for building on, are being launched by the government. A national index of all brown field data, simplifying and improving the quality of the current brown field land registers, is to be introduced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZkYeRN7z9k Housing minister, Esther McVey, said: "The UK property sector is on the cusp of a digital revolution. It's time to harness new technology to unlock land and [...]

By |2021-11-13T10:57:28+00:00October 22, 2019|Projects, Blog, Finance News, Planning News|0 Comments