Articles

As I write, the political party conference season is in full swing; a time famed for promising proposals and heated debates. As party leaders took to their stands, the housing industry sat with bated breath and waited to hear what strategy would be taken in tackling the housing crisis and alleviating fuel poverty. Then, at the end of the Conservative Party Conference 2017 PM Theresa May took to the stand with BIG news… an impressive £2bn of additional funding to help deliver the affordable housing so sorely needed in this country today.

With so much left unsaid, but a bigger governmental focus on our industry from now on, HA Magazine’s Joe Bradbury takes a look at what the affordable housing sector needs from its government:

There is no doubt that the need to build more houses has become one of the key issues for all political parties and it is great news to see both government and opposition expressing determination to increase the number of affordable and rented homes.  The challenge, of course, is how to actually build them.

For the past two years, H+H has been working with SIG to develop an entirely new concept in modern masonry construction: the SIG I-House System incorporating Celcon Elements from H+H.  The promise of this innovative new offer is to deliver the complete weatherproof shell of a masonry house on site in just one week.

Significant changes to Building Regulations are likely to take place in 2018 to raise domestic boiler installation efficiency. How can you stay ahead of the curve? Chris Yates, Managing Director at
Johnson & Starley discusses....

In December 2016, the government ran  a consultation entitled Heat in Buildings – the Future of Heat. The purpose of the consultation was to ask views on options the government proposed for raising domestic boiler installation efficiency. The aim was to bring in measures that  reduced energy bills for tenants, giving more choice of ways to heat homes but also support the government’s targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through to 2050.   Gas boilers play a huge part in our heating industry accounting for around 1.5 million being installed every year.  The UK is by far the largest boiler market in Europe and the proposals do show that the government does recognise how big an impact these appliances make.

According to the housing white paper published earlier this year, the Government intends to utilise offsite technologies and build around 100,000 modular homes across Britain by 2020. This call for a quick and sustainable solution to the current housing shortage has created a unique opportunity for offsite construction to become a key building method to meet the demand in the housing industry.

The UK finds itself in the midst of an acute housing crisis. Current annual construction levels are typically less than half of the estimated 250,000 new homes this country needs built every year through to at least the 2030s. With only 63% of projects delivered on time and only 49% delivered to budget, it’s clear to see that traditional building practices, whilst still integral, are falling short of meeting major challenges on their own.

Bevan Jones, managing director of Sustainable Homes looks at the latest report into sustainability in the housing sector.

We have just published a new report into how sustainable the housing sector. Safe as Houses supported by H+H, throws up some interesting and surprising facts about the industry which should provide a salutatory lesson for social housing providers, housebuilders, manufacturers and suppliers alike.

The report sharpens the case for a more robust sustainability strategy for the housing sector across all tenures as it provides evidence that environmental accreditation enhances performance in terms of sustainability and climate action.
The social housing sector is undergoing major changes and sustainability has been frequently side-lined – but being sustainable impacts on decisions by investors and sustainable organisations are best placed to provide the safe, sustainable homes that is so desperately needed.

Johnson & Starley offer a complete range of energy-efficient solutions for heating and ventilating - from the smallest house to the biggest blocks of flats - ensuring a warm, healthy home with clean air and a clear conscience!

Johnson & Starley’s LE155 whole house ventilation systems with heat recovery are playing a major role in the refurbishment of social housing within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Over 70 units have been installed within the kitchens of apartments in Hazlewood Tower to provide an energy efficient means of ventilating the properties, preventing condensation and combating the problem of mould growth which affects so many properties of this type built in
the 1960s.

“Putting it very simply, better homes perform better for all,” says Bevan Jones, manging director of Sustainable Homes, the research, accreditation and consultancy organisation behind SHIFT – the sustainability standard for the housing sector.

Sustainable Homes sees itself as a sustainability leader in the housing sector and Mr Jones sums up the organisation’s purpose as “every home encouraging more sustainable lives.”
The not for profit organisation seeks to influence policy, deliver learning to the sector and provide insight through its Awards, events and conferences. It supports the housing sector through research, accreditation and consultancy to make a difference both to how businesses are run and upon individual people’s lives.