Tag Archives: design
New £2.7 million initiative launched in UK to help tackle housing shortage
Over 45,000 new home building workers will be trained by 2019 to help tackle the UK’s housing shortage through a £2.7 million initiative announced by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and Home Builders Federation (HBF). The first of its kind, the Home Building Skills Partnership, working with research on their needs from some 40 UK home builders, will bring together firms of all sizes to ensure that the industry has the skills it needs to build more homes. This will include initiatives to promote collaboration on skills across the supply chain, so that the industry can better plan for its future needs and the partnership will support over 3,500 construction businesses and, by 2019, train 45,000 new entrants and 1,000 experienced workers with the new homebuilding training qualifications. It comes at a time when the house building industry has delivered unprecedented increases in house building over the past two years. The latest figures show that 181,000 new homes were provided last year, up 25% year on year, with the largest companies increasing their output by 50% since their troughs. With the industry looking to meet Government ambitions to increase output still further, whilst maintaining high levels of build quality and customer service, it is imperative industry capacity is increased. The aim is that the new partnership will use industry insight to understand skills needs and develop new training and qualifications ideally suited to the modern home building sector and create long term skills solutions to meet the government’s target of one million new homes by 2020. It will be overseen by a Board that will be chaired by Redrow chief executive officer John Tutte and include a range of senior industry representatives and CITB. ‘The number of new homes is up 25% in the last year because the country is building again and delivering the homes the nation wants. That’s why the Home Building Skills Partnership is an important initiative and will help deliver the training of skilled workers we need to get the job done and to improve quality across the industry,’ said Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis. ‘Construction offers an exciting and rewarding career and we need to build a new generation of home grown talented, ambitious and highly skilled construction workers,’ he added. Initiatives throughout the four year programme will include research led by the HBF and employers, to get a better understanding of the barriers faced by the home building sector and the design and delivery of a new Home Building Training and Developmental Needs Analysis tool to ensure the right training is delivered to ensure the sector’s skills needs are met, now and in the future. There will also be the establishment of a framework that will set common standards for skills and training in the home building sector. This will deliver a more relevant and valued curriculum and ensuring the safety and satisfaction of homebuilders and their customers. ‘The industry… Continue reading
Grand Designs presenter Kevin McCloud’s company to build new homes in Bristol
Presenter of the hit TV show Grand Designs is to build his biggest and most sustainable housing development to date in Bristol. The new housing development in Southmead should be complete by 2019 on the site of an old primary school after Bristol Council agreed to sell the land to housing association United Communities. The association will build the homes in partnership with Kevin McCloud's development company HAB Housing (Happiness Architecture Beauty) which will include 150 properties of which a third will be affordable. The affordable homes will be built to the equivalent of Passivhaus energy efficiency standards and all homes will meet level four of the Code for Sustainable Homes. And it is not just the homes that are to be sustainable. The whole development will be built with the environment in mind. The estate will have a green infrastructure, including sustainable food production, low carbon energy sources and new cycle routes. ‘This development will raise the bar in terms of sustainability and quality of design. The aim is for this to be a transformative housing scheme, one that drives a healthier way of living. “We have worked really closely with the Southmead community throughout the process, and their ideas have been reflected strongly in the design,’ said George Ferguson, Mayor of Bristol. ‘HAB has been eager to win a project in Bristol ever since we began to plan our move here. Now that our offices are in the city, it's with great relish that we can roll up our sleeves and begin work at Dunmail,’ said McCloud. ‘This scheme gives us the opportunity to work alongside local people and organisations and to partner with United Communities, whom we particularly admire. We're looking forward to working in Southmead and delivering something of quality, richness and sustainability for the area,’ he added. Local residents helped to shape the design of the development, and the community will continue to be involved throughout the project. Feedback from residents reflected in the scheme includes the desire for smaller low rise properties, the need for a mixed tenure site and the inclusion of outdoor community space. ‘As a locally based housing association we already have a long track record of working in Southmead, so we’re really thrilled to have won the bid to redevelop the former Dunmail School site. The 150 new homes here will help to tackle the affordable housing crisis in the city, by providing a mix of homes for sale, rent and shared ownership,’ said Oona Goldsworthy, Chief Executive of United Communities . ‘We’ve already starting talking to the local community about what the homes might look like and hope that existing and future residents will be really proud of the new development,’ she pointed out. It is hoped that a planning application for the development will now be submitted in March 2016, and if consent is given work would be due to start in September 2016. Continue reading
New starter home initiative launched in the UK
A new website has been launched in the UK for first time buyers where they can register in buying a new starter home under a new government initiative. The starter-home.co.uk website comes as new rules have cut planning requirements for the new starter homes, allowing house builders to slash 20% off the usual price and building on the first properties is expected to start within months. It is the latest major push from the government to boost home ownerships and build more homes and it is claimed that there is the potential for discounts of around £100,000 per house. With average house prices for first time buyers in England standing at around £218,000, a new starter home could save young first time buyers across the country an average of £43,000 while helping to get them onto the housing ladder. The plans will allow young first time buyers the opportunity to secure a new starter home at a 20% discount to the market price and thanks to changes in planning policy, builders that develop commercial and industrial land that is either unusable or surplus for the new starter homes will be able to save on costs by freeing them from the requirement to provide affordable housing. In return, developers will have to offer the homes at a minimum 20% discount on the market price to first time buyers who must be aged under 40. Leading home builders and councils have already have said they would consider bringing forward land to develop the new homes from this year, and from today will be able to start submitting their plans to get work started and pass the savings onto home buyers as soon as possible. As well as reducing the prices of properties for young buyers, a design panel, including world class architects Sir Terry Farrell and Sir Quinlan Terry have drawn on housing designs from across the country for home builders to consider for starter homes developments. Aimed at making sure the new homes are attractive properties that can meet the demands of modern life, the panel’s draft report highlights at a range of exemplar new build styles, which in time it is hoped will become the default approach for starter home developments. They aim to be well proportioned homes, homes that fit in with existing local housing styles, and homes that get the details right with good parking and community spaces. ‘A 20% discount off the price could be a real game-changer for many aspiring home owners. My message is clear: we are on your side and we will help you fulfil your dream of buying your first home,’ said Prime Minister David Cameron. Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said that the number of first time buyers is already at a seven year high and these starter homes will help even more people realise their dream of home ownership. Sir Terry Farrell, founding partner at Farrells, said he believes that the templates developed by the government’s Housing… Continue reading
