A victory for gentle persuasion
Ben Roskrow argues that those who dismissed the chancellor's Budget measures for the housebuilding industry as inadequate, are wrong, unrealistic and missing the point
Private pain
Publicly listed housebuilders have been required to keep us constantly informed of their troubles during the past two years. But what of the private firms? It has taken a while for details of their dealings to emerge, but now they have and, as Steve Menary reports, they do not make happy reading
Time for a proper debate on design
HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley argues that the recent intense criticism of housing design is not justified. If there is to be a debate on this key issue, he says, it should be done properly and avoid populist knee jerk reactions
Home builders in viability trap
The state has backed the home building industry into a viability trap which is incompatible with the government’s desire to see a large increase in housing completions
Seeking solutions to consumers’carbon concerns
Housebuilders have long been mindful of the lack of warmth among the public for the zero carbon agenda
What if Shapps is right?
Housebuilders are seriously concerned about proposed Tory planning policies which, they say, could bring residential development to a halt. But are they giving the plans a fair hearing?
In a state
All of Britain’s biggest housebuilders have managed to avoid the recession black hole. Steve Menary reports on how 2009 has been for the top players and how things look for the smaller guys
Open minds needed to make land levy work
HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley highlights concerns over the new Community Infrastructure Levy while looking ahead to a possible Budget and a certain General Election
Home builders need freedom to deliver
Looming public borrowing and spending constraints mean private home builders will have to deliver the vast majority of new housing over the next decade. Freeing the private sector to deliver will require a revolution in policy thinking
Housing provides an antidote to dull politics
In housing – or the provision of new homes in the UK – there is a fundamental difference in the views of Labour and Conservative. The difference is based on old fashioned ideology
