Help to Buy at centre of the political debate
At the HMI conference shadow communities secretary Hilary Benn did not dwell on the initiative for long, but what he did say was that the Bank of England should review it now, not in a year’s time
Exploring Help to Buy
Keith Barker, commercial director at Wienerberger, says suppliers and housebuilders need to work together to meet the demand increase generated by the Help to Buy initiative
Back on land and plans
With land buying firmly back on the agenda, Steve Menary looks at the landbanks of the big players and where they are planning to build
Business models emerge from the ashes of recession
Richard Jones, group head of regeneration and growth at EC Harris, says that the recession has prompted a re-evaluation of business models, sometimes prompting radical change, sometimes merely fine tuning
Industry capacity key to solving supply crisis
To have any hope of solving our housing supply crisis we need to restore pre-1991 supply conditions so that housebuilders can respond to market demand and industry capacity can expand
Joy for Osborne as builders start to deliver
Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt all issued statements confirming their positive view of the market and their plans to build more
Government delight as builders build
<p>The government has pinned its colours to increasing housebuilding - so it will be delighted, says Ben Roskrow, that the new Housing Market Intelligence Report launched on October 9 reveals the top builders are building more</p>
Summertime news
The good news from housebuilders is continuing to impress the City. Steve Menary looks at the summer’s results
Cost increases drive the return of MMC
Richard Jones, group head of regeneration and growth at EC Harris, says that material and labour shortages will increase costs and once again open the door for modern methods of construction in housebuilding
A welcome contribution to planning
HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley welcomes new planning guidance emanating from the Taylor Review and calls for consistency and certainty in building standards
