The Housing Forum

🗣️ Judith Kelemen, Associate at PRP, will be speaking at The Housing Forum's Housing Partnership Summit in London tomorrow! The summit will dive into key housing challenges faced across the UK, and Judith’s session, "Beyond Fire Safety to Successful Remediation," will provide valuable insights from an architect’s perspective on the complexities of remediation projects. Newlon Housing Trust #Remediation #FireSafety #Architecture

The Housing Forum has submitted feedback on government spending priorities, ahead of the Spring Spending Review. The Government faces tough fiscal choices – nevertheless spending on housing will support growth, reduce future costs to other departments (welfare, healthcare) and is essential to deliver the Government’s ambition of 1.5 million homes.

Our month with Cambridge City Council now comes to a close! A huge thank you to the team at Cambridge for sharing their insights and contributing to the conversation on delivering 1.5 million new homes. If you missed last Friday’s webinar, you can now catch up on our YouTube Channel https://lnkd.in/evs-ursF We spoke to Ben Binns, Assistant Director of Development at Cambridge, about what’s at the top of his in-tray and explored the potential impact of planning and Local Government reform in Cambridge and beyond. Many thanks to our webinar panellists: 🎙️Benedict Binns - Cambridge City Council 🎙️Anna Clarke - The Housing Forum 🎙️Simone Marsberg  - Hill Group UK 🎙️Danny Sutcliffe - Red Loft Stay tuned throughout February as we visit London Borough of Hounslow to find out their take on the Government’s goal to build 1.5 million new homes. #webinar #1p5mnewhomes #housingdelivery #planningreform #cambridge #hounslow #affordablehousing #housingtargets

This is a nice write up of an our forthcoming Housing Partnership Summit next Thursday (6 Feb) with Newlon Housing Trust. We're looking forward to hearing more about the development of the Emirates Stadium to provide 700 new homes, with 352 affordable, and fire safety work on existing homes. With thanks to Symon Sentain BA PGDip MA CIHM FRSA AoU ACIOB.  https://lnkd.in/e4AqtHwK

We're recruiting! We're looking for a new Corporate Services Executive - to support our team Do share. https://lnkd.in/eNKTUnq9

We're recruiting! We're looking for a new Corporate Services Executive - to support our team Do share. https://lnkd.in/eNKTUnq9

In this episode we visit East Barnwell, where Cambridge City Council wants to build 120 new homes, a community centre, library and other commercial units in the city’s most deprived ward. What’s stopping it? Among other things, worries about falling between the end of one Affordable Homes Programme and the start of another, says Benedict Binns, Assistant Director for Development. Binns lists a raft of requests that would boost the Council’s delivery programme, including more flexible Homes England funding, discounted borrowing, collaboration with other parts of the Combined Authority of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, and fast track planning in return for over-delivering. “We should be rewarding developers that are above policy,” he says. “That would drive up standards and delivery.” Watch the full video here: https://lnkd.in/er59qq6d Thanks to founding sponsor Red Loft and this episode’s co-sponsor Hill Group UK, and to Cambridge City Council for taking part. The Housing Forum Cambridge Investment Partnership #1p5mnewhomes #cambridgecouncil #housingdelivery #councils #cambridgeinvestmentpartnership

The Housing Forum has responded to the Government's consultation on the Right to Buy. The Right to Buy policy reduces the supply of affordable housing: - When a home is sold it will never again become available for a new household in need of social housing. It will never be possible to replace the homes that are sold on a one for one, like for like basis, meaning that the Right to Buy causes a gradual erosion of the housing that is most directly available to relieve homelessness and housing need. - The presence of the Right to Buy deters councils from building new homes. Many of our members are keen to build new council homes, but are forced to set up complex legal structures in order to avoid risking losing them – in some cases within months of the first let. The Housing Forum’s view is therefore that the Right to Buy should be abolished. We are, however, supportive of the reforms proposed because they will slow the loss of social housing stock. We set out our proposals for reform in our paper Reforming the Right to Buy last year (https://lnkd.in/euNQmwFK), and are pleased to see that some of our suggestions have been picked up in the consultation document. The main points we raise in the consultation response are: - Eligibility criteria should be tightened so as to ensure that the scheme is used by its intended beneficiaries (longer term tenants who intend to remain living in the home and are capable of sustaining homeownership) - Discounts should be reduced, to a maximum of 20% - Councils should be given discretion to exclude properties from the scheme, such as those in particularly short supply locally. - Newbuild housing, built after these changes are made should be permanently excluded. - Councils should be free to use the receipts however they see fit, to replace the housing or invest in existing homes. https://lnkd.in/e3nCCj-h

Delivering 1.5 million homes in the UK: What is stopping us?   From skills shortages to supply chain issues, what problems are you experiencing?   The Housing Forum Futures Network are looking to collaborate. Work with us to tackle the pinch points in housing delivery.   There will be plenty of ways to get involved. Watch this space!    We want to hear from you. Let’s talk solutions at Futures.Network@HousingForum.org.uk

With significant delays in Gateway Two approvals throwing project timelines and budgets into turmoil, how can the industry move forward under the Building Safety Act 2022? A recent Housing Forum roundtable, held in partnership with BPTW, took a close look at the role of the Principal Designer under the Building Safety Act 2022, diving into some key challenges like ensuring competency and making registration processes more effective. Industry professionals brought their perspectives to the table, raising concerns about the hurdles in registering Principal Designers, securing insurance, and dealing with the Act’s impact on existing buildings. The group also explored various registers and standards for assessing Principal Designer competency, including those from RIBA and CIAT, and stressed the importance of maintaining integrity in manufacturer products. The roundtable wrapped up with a clear message: there’s an urgent need for better guidance and stronger collaboration across the housing construction industry to tackle these challenges effectively. You can read the full report now: