A small development

Everyone wants to see more houses built, not least the people who are making and installing their windows and doors, and all are agreed on the need for more affordable housing – but what happens when those two factors are in direct conflict? That obstacle was largely eliminated this week with the Appeal Court’s decision limiting the obligation towards affordable housing on small developments.

We are told that nearly half of all SME housebuilders know of sites they would like to develop if they didn’t have such obligations and, with the ruling covering sites of up to ten houses, that could add up to to a lot of windows and doors. Of course, we will have to see whether the words of the builders turn into actions but the potential could be very significant indeed. Read Here

…Oh and, yesterday was the deadline day for all those ‘double-glazing’ nuisance cold-callers – as well as others – to reveal a genuine phone number, either by caller display or via 1471, as in our article of April 26th Read Here .

So, for anyone who resents the image they are giving the industry, it is even easier to stop them. Whether they are not displaying a number, or simply if they are calling despite your being registered with the Telephone Preference Service, you only need contact the Information Commissioner’s Office Here or call the helpline 0303 123 1113 …and the ICO stresses that calls can be traced even if a number is not given.

So now, the next time such people disturb you – now is your chance to disturb them a little as well.

Chris Church Editor

Please send all your news stories to news@the-glazine.com

This Week's News

Appeal Court upholds Section 106 waiver
– move could unlock thousands of new
home starts

A ‘serious barrier’ to thousands of new home building schemes was lifted this week with the Appeal Court ruling that smaller developments can go ahead without being forced to include affordable housing provision.

The ruling, upholding housing minister Brandon Lewis’s 2014 statement that planners could not impose affordable housing contributions in small developments, was immediately welcomed by all new-build trades.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “These contributions are prohibitive for many smaller developers, killing off thousands of otherwise viable schemes, and acting as a serious barrier to expansion. We welcome the Appeal Court’s decision to confirm the Government’s right to waive Section 106 affordable housing contributions for sites of ten units or fewer.

“It’s widely recognised that if we are tackle the long-term undersupply of new homes in this country, then we will need to see renewed growth in output from SME house builders. Today’s verdict will go a long way in backing these firms. It will make the economics of small scale development that much easier and should increase the use of small sites in sustainable locations for the delivery of new homes.”

Read the Rest Here...

Scots house prices drop again amid UK increase

UK house prices rose by 9.0% in the year to March, led largely by London and the South East and East of England, but Scotland showed a sharp decline of 6.1% in the same period, according to the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics released today (May 17).

Much of Scotland’s price drop, compared to only 0.1% year on year to February, could be attributed to the one-off anomaly of last year’s replacement of stamp duty by land and buildings transaction tax there but is still against a background of stagnant figures for the 12 months previous.

In Wales, prices increased by 2.1%, in Northern Ireland by 6.4% and the figure for England of 10.1% includes 13% for London, 12.2% in the South East and 12.1% in the East. Prices in North East England remained static with all other regions showing some increase.

Read the Rest Here...

GGF launches
ADR website

The GGF has launched a dedicated website for The Glazing Arbitration Scheme (TGAS), The TGAS scheme complies with the EU Alternative Dispute Resolution Directive implemented 1st October 2015, and is the primary ADR Scheme for the glass and glazing industry.

Becoming a TGAS trader and listed on the TGAS website is free of charge for GGF member companies, and is also available free of charge to FENSA registered firms that wish to “opt in” to ADR.

TGAS is operated independently by a Chartered Trading Standards Institute Certified ADR body, the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), Consumers will be signposted to TGAS by the Citizens Advice helpdesk which receives consumer enquiries regarding ADR. However, consumers will have had to go through the GGF Conciliation Scheme or FENSA complaint process for at least 56 days and still be in dispute before being able to progress to arbitration.

ADR is usually cheaper and quicker at resolving disputes than going to court. Whilst the Directive does not make the offering of ADR mandatory, there is the “business obligation” for all businesses who sell to consumers to comply with.

Read the Rest Here...

New e-learning platform launched

The BRE Academy, BRE’s training and education arm, has launched a new e-learning platform for construction operatives, professionals and leaders in the UK and around the world.

With an initial 25 digitally delivered courses ranging from BIM Essentials and BREEAM Associate to Manging Change - Risk in Construction, the aim of bre.ac is to make and deliver quality education and training more accessible to time poor people and organisations needing to upskill. Courses carry recognised qualifications and CPD certification and are developed by leading global experts in the field.

 BRE Academy Director Pauline Traetto said: “One of the key issues we identified in our recent skills gap survey was the need for accessible learning via the web and mobile that fits around the people rather than the training providers - bre.ac represents the positive action we decided to take in response to this.

Read the Rest Here...