The Housing Forum

The Government has set outs its plans today for the Building Safety Levy - We are pleased to see that the start date has been postponed until Autumn 2026, which will give the sector a bit more time to prepare. The levy rates have also been published - it will be based on the floorspace of new housing (Gross internal area), and will average around £17 per sqm for brownfield sites to £34 per sqm for greenfield sites. This means the levy will range from: - £10,000 for a 100sqm dwelling in Kensington and Chelsea greenfield site, to - £635 for a 100sqm dwelling in County Durham on a brownfield site. Affordable housing is exempt, though we are concerned that there may still be an adverse impact on the affordable housing sector, because of site viability. https://lnkd.in/eyBPmbSB

Natalie Tate spoke at our conference last year about their fantastic work on talking about housing - teaching the sector how to use the right language to build support for housing. This webinar is free and focusing particularly on making the case for affordable housing. Do share.

The Housing Forum is pleased to see the HBF raising concerns about the proposed building safety levy (https://lnkd.in/eVQJYQJS). This levy has no direct impact on building safety, and adds a further tax to the costs of housebuilding at a time when the sector can least afford it.    Shelagh Grant, Chief Executive of The Housing Forum, said: We are particularly concerned about the impact on affordable housing delivery. Around half of new social rented homes are cross-subsidised from market housing. If developers are having to pay a significant new tax on each home they build, affordable housing may become unviable.    The Housing Forum published a report last year on The Cost of Building a House, which highlighted the range of costs that need to be covered by housebuilders. It now appears that the cost of proposed building safety levy may be higher than expected. The whole of the housing sector wants to work with government to deliver the 1.5 million homes over this parliament, including much-needed affordable homes. We support the HBF's calls on government to reconsider the impact of the levy. https://lnkd.in/eWUprNZn

The Housing Forum welcomes the Planning and Infrastructure Bill which follows extensive consultation and will be instrumental in delivering reform to drive momentum in housing delivery and ensure responsible planning decisions increase at pace. The Housing Forum’s Chair, Stephen Teagle said: “The introduction of the Bill underscores the ambition of the government to remove barriers to the delivery of much needed homes and give the benefit of increased economic activity. The supply-side actions of this government will be transformational in facilitating delivery and represent a commitment that the sector is desperate to see. Coupled with further demand-side interventions, this will help us to build a platform of new homes delivery for future generations.” Inside Housing https://lnkd.in/e6aBcYyX

The Housing Forum is committed to supporting the Herts Housing Conference. This year's event will take place on 13/05/2025, so be sure to save the date 📅

Fire safety and cladding remediation—how can we do it right? Our Housing Partnership Summit, held on 6 February, brought together experts tackling one of the biggest challenges in residential buildings: making homes safer. Symon Sentain BA PGDip MA CIHM FRSA AoU ACIOB at Newlon Housing Trust shared lessons from their Queensland Road apartments project—covering funding, logistics, and resident engagement. Judith Kelemen at PRP highlighted the importance of expert design solutions in ensuring long-term safety and compliance. Calum Pearse at John Rowan and Partners emphasised the need for rigorous inspections and quality assurance throughout the remediation process. Nick Price at Mulalley highlighted innovations in site coordination and community initiatives. Key takeaways: - Early planning is crucial—unexpected challenges will arise - Resident communication builds trust and smooths the process - Collaboration between housing providers, contractors, and experts drives better outcomes Thanks to Newlon Housing Trust for hosting and Mulalley for sponsoring the summit. We are looking forward to future events and continued collaboration within the housing sector. Read the full Insight Report here: https://lnkd.in/euZbwRvz

The Housing Forum has responded to the Government’s consultation on reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime. Energy Performance Certificates (EPCS) to provide tenants and property owners with information on the energy performance of properties. We broadly welcome the proposed changes to EPCs. Since their inception in 2007, the use made of EPC ratings has grown significantly and these changes help to keep pace with this environment and ensure that EPCs remain fit for purpose. The Housing Forum considers that there are three key property-based metrics that EPCs should contain: - Fabric performance: assessing the thermal performance of a building - Smart readiness – relating only to attributes of the property (ie not to things within it that would be removed if the property changed hands) - Estimated energy use – split by type of energy We would term these the ‘primary metrics’ because they are fixed things that will only change when changes are made to the property. There are then two metrics that are of key interest to occupants of housing, but which will vary with changes in energy prices or the carbon intensity of the grid: - Energy cost: helping individuals understand the financial implications of a building’s energy efficiency and make informed decisions about potential improvements  - Carbon: an estimate of the carbon emissions arising from the energy used in the building (this will be the single key one for non-domestic, for now). Both of these ‘secondary metrics’ can be calculated from the primary metrics above, alongside other data (energy prices and the carbon intensity of the grid). EPC certificates can provide an estimate of both of these at the point that they are issued, but should note that they will change over the lifespan of the certificate. EPC certificates should provide a link to an online calculator tool to facilitate an up to date estimate of the two secondary metrics. Regulation and funding eligibility that currently relates to EPC ratings should instead relate to one or more of the primary metrics. This is important, because a property that complies with regulation or is eligible for funding should not cease to be so because of changes to energy prices or the carbon intensity of the grid. You can read our response in full here: certificates/https://lnkd.in/eQ5nQhbc

Work in the built environment? Have a spare 5 minutes to do a survey? Our Futures Network would love for you to tell them your thoughts and experiences on what holds us back from building more homes. Do share.

The Housing Forum has submitted evidence to the Communities and Local Government Committee’s inquiry into land value capture. The Committee is examining the effectiveness of current land value capture methods and the need for new ways of capturing any uplift in the value of land associated with the granting of planning permission or nearby infrastructure improvements and other factors. The Housing Forum’s planning working group, comprising of members from across the whole of the housing sector, has met to discuss the proposals and questions set out in the inquiry, which has helped inform our response. The main points we raise are: - The current system of CIL and S106, whilst not perfect, are effective means of capturing land value and ensuring that affordable housing is built without stifling land supply and housebuilding. - The previous government tried to establish a new system of land value capture via the infrastructure levy. We saw very little enthusiasm for the levy from across the whole of the housing sector and were part of the cross-sector group that came together to raise these concerns publicly, and were pleased to see the new government confirm that it would not be taking forward the levy. The Housing Forum believes that the current system should be retained and improved rather than introducing a new mechanism. - Reforming land value capture – beyond what is already underway via reforms to CPO powers and benchmark land values – would be a distraction and would not support the ambition of delivering 1.5 million new homes by the end of this parliament. https://lnkd.in/et5KugMU