Month: January 2020

The shortlist has been revealed for the Homebuilding & Renovating Awards, celebrating those in the industry offering services and products to self builders, renovators and home improvers.

The Homebuilding & Renovating Awards have received hundreds of entries across all categories, and the public vote is now open to determine the winner in each category.

Categories include Best Renewables Supplier and Best House Designer, and you have until 28 February 2020 to cast your vote. 

Shortlisted entries have been decided by a panel of industry experts, with all companies, products and services shortlisted demonstrating a positive impact on the lives of self builders and renovators.

The winners will be announced at the National Homebuilding & Renovating Show on 27 March at the NEC Birmingham. Ticket details for the awards ceremony will be released soon. 

The awards scheme is designed to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing and diverse businesses and people that make our sector what it is.

30 Years of Helping Self Builders

The launch of this award scheme ties in with the 30th anniversary of Homebuilding & Renovating. 

We have long championed those who choose to self build or take on substantial home improvements as well as those who help make it possible, and we are delighted to be able to showcase some of the most influential companies, products and individuals in the industry.

The average adult would have to give up more than 3,000 pints in their lifetime to afford a house deposit in the UK, a survey has revealed.

The survey of more than 1,500 over-18s in the UK, all of whom were taking part in Dry January, found that 69% cited saving money as their main reason for participating.

The delivery of affordable housing has stagnated over the last 10 years, and self build offers a viable alternative: helping many climb several rungs up the property ladder and typically enjoy a profit of 25% on their investment, as reported in the Homebuilding & Renovating Self & Custom Build Market Report 2017.

(MORE: Self Build: The Complete Guide)

As part of the Dry January survey by shutters and blinds supplier Thomas Sanderson, it was revealed that the average participant would save £73.40 over the course of the month.

The researchers estimated that the average Dry January participant aged 25 would drink the equivalent of £6,150 in their lifetime, which equates to 52% of the average deposit needed for a home. The average 30-year-old would have drunk away £10,570, or 91% of the average deposit. 

Those in London would have to give up 5,167 pints to afford a deposit, while Northern Ireland residents would have to give up the fewest number of pints: 1,750. Across the whole of the UK, the average number of pints to give up to afford a house deposit was 3,174.  

Renovation Goals

With 18% of participants saving money to afford things around the house, the average participant would save enough to renovate their kitchen if they remained dry for eight years and 20 weeks. 

(MORE: How to Renovate a Kitchen)

The survey also revealed that a couple could save up to £3,000 after 18 months of going dry, which would be enough to replace the average bathroom. 

The average number of pints that would make up the minimum deposit in these areas, via Thomas Sanderson:

If you are planning, currently undertaking or have completed a self build or home improvement project, then we want to hear from you.

Homebuilding & Renovating is conducting a survey into the motivations behind the home improvements we make, our experiences on site, and the lessons that we have learned with hindsight.

The survey should only take a couple of minutes to complete.

No project is too big or too small — if you have been taking steps towards creating your dream home, through a self build project, whole house renovation, substantial extension, or a simple redecoration scheme,  then please do complete our survey to help us better understand your needs and discover how we can assist in making those projects easier and cheaper for you.

Submit your email address with your survey and you will automatically be entered into the draw to receive a £100 Amazon gift voucher. T&Cs apply.

Survey closes on 31 March 2020. T&Cs can be found at the end of the survey.

The energy efficiency of English homes has considerably increased over the last 20 years, but slowed in recent years, according to the latest English Housing Survey 2018-19. 

The English Housing Survey, a national survey of housing circumstances which has been running since 1967, also revealed positive news for young homeowners and progress being made on reducing the number of non-decent homes in the UK.

Energy Efficiency Improvements

Today’s release of the English Housing Survey showed progress is being made in making more homes environmentally-friendly. 

The number of homes with an SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) rating of A to C energy efficient has increased from 9% to 34% since 2008, and in 2018 the average SAP rating of English dwellings was 63 points, up from 62 in 2017. Moreover, the proportion of dwellings in the lowest F and G bands fell from 14% to 4%.

There has also been an increase in the number of smart meters in homes: 22% of dwellings with mains electricity were using a smart meter in 2018, up from 15% in 2017. 

The findings are positive for a plenitude of reasons. Not only can upgrading your home’s energy rating make a difference for lowering carbon emissions and tackling climate change, but it can also increase your home’s value by up to £25,000. And a recent study on energy efficiency in homes revealed the benefits of greater education for homeowners whose properties waste less energy.  

Home Ownership for 25-34 Year Olds

Other findings included 41% of 25-34 year olds now owning their homes, an impressive turnaround considering that between 2003-2014 the proportion in owner occupation of this age group dropped from 59% (2003) to 36% (2014). 

Interestingly though, home ownership was down to 55% among those aged 35-44, compared to 67% in 2008-09.

Despite more young people reportedly being homeowners, Joseph Daniels, founder of modular developer Project Etopia, urged the importance of lowering house prices further. 

“Falling home ownership among the young still threatens to become a national crisis rooted in high property prices and stretched affordability but the tide has finally started to turn,” he said.

Significant Improvement in Homes Standards

Moreover, the number of non-decent homes – defined as homes considered to meet the Decent Homes Standard – fell to 18% in 2018, a significant improvement on 33% in 2008.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govt said: “The number of non-decent homes has continued to decline – but we are committed to eliminating it entirely and in the private sector we are cracking down on rogue landlords to increase standards.”

One notable negative from the report was the increase in overcrowding in the renter sector, up from 5% in 1998-99 to 8% in 2018-19. Conversely, the under-utilised space in owner-occupied properties has risen amongst homeowners from 42% to 52% in the past 20 years. A 2019 study revealed the average homeowner over 50 is sitting on over £56,000 of empty space.

Shadow Housing Secretary John Healey MP said of the report: “The Conservatives didn’t want to talk about housing ahead of the general election and the Government’s own statistics show why. These figures confirm that the number of younger home-owners has fallen dramatically since 2010, with over 800,000 fewer households under 45 now owning their own home, and the number of recent first-time buyers is falling.

“After 10 years of failure on housing […] Labour will not let the Tories get away with having no plan to fix the country’s housing crisis.”

A new design for a net-zero-carbon housing scheme in Wales, that will be powered by renewable energy, has been unveiled.

Developed by Loyn & Co Architects, Parc Hadau is a carbon neutral neighbourhood that will comprise 35 eco-friendly dwellings, built from cross laminated timber, on a scrubland site in Pontardawe.

Construction is set to begin later in 2020, with residents expected to move in during the summer of 2021. 

Environmentally Friendly

Earlier this month a study flagged that more homeowners need to be aware of the benefits of making their home more environmentally friendly, so the development of neighbourhoods like this are a great way to champion eco-friendly measures in the world of house building.

For self builders, designing a home that is more energy efficient from the outset can involve initial capital costs, but result in much lower long-term costs. 

Parc Hadau has been designed with landscape architects Farrer Huxley for Sero Homes to use passive design and renewable energy technologies to generate enough electricity to power the scheme. 

Each house will be built using cross laminated timber, which absorbs atmospheric carbon as it grows, and retains it during its lifecycle.

Externally, the homes will be clad in a mix of locally sourced and low-energy materials including timber, local stone and reclaimed brick. 

(MORE: House Cladding: A Homeowner’s Guide)

Low Energy Demands

According to Loyn & Co, Parc Hadau’s layout and form is “optimised to ensure the correct balance of daylight, solar gains, heat loss and thermal efficiency” to reduce the energy demands of the homes.

The Passivhaus principles of the homes will be combined with a mix of renewable energy technologies including solar panels and ground source heat pumps, meaning that residents will not have to pay energy bills. 

(MORE: A Guide to Renewable Energy)

“Parc Hadau will be an international exemplar of what great places to live can look like, and we hope will be one of many opportunities for us to create new neighbourhoods across the UK that enable more people access to great quality, zero-carbon homes at a time when they are needed most,” said James Williams, managing director of Sero Homes.

Once complete, Parc Hadau will comprise 11 two-bed homes, 22 three-bed homes and two four-bed homes. Residents will also share a large communal garden and community building. 

A growing minority of local authorities are using “dirty tricks” to limit the number of people joining and remaining on Right to Build registers, according to the National Custom and Self Build Association (NaCSBA).

Around 11,400 new registrations have been added to the self and custom build registers in the past 12 months, NaCSBA has revealed, but these numbers do not match the underlying demand. 

The Right to Build is legislation that supports people who want to build their own homes. Passed as part of the Housing and Planning Act 2016, Right to Build requires local authorities to help to find plots for aspiring self builders, which is done through the Right to Build register. You can find your local self and custom build registers on NaCSBA’s Right to Build Portal.

NaCSBA believes the increasing use of “dirty tricks” by local authorities are preventing people who want to build their own home from achieving this, highlighting three areas of what it considers unacceptable practice:

• Local authorities are charging excessive fees to join registers and denying those living outside an authority to build a home there
• Local authorities are counting plots intended for building on by housing developers as being suitable for self building when they clearly are not
• Local authorities have removed the names of people who’ve joined a register to justify reducing the number of plots that they need to permission – around 8,000 names have been cleansed.

Andrew Baddeley-Chappell, CEO of NaCSBA said: “For the first time, local authorities have had to meet a statutory duty to help self builders access the plots that are needed. It is clear that overall they have come up short. In some cases, this is despite the hard work and best efforts of the authority, and we recognise those that have worked hard in this area.  

“In too many cases however local authorities have spent scarce time and effort not on delivering plots but rather on seeking to avoid their obligations. This cannot continue; not least if we are to deliver homes in the volume and of the quality that this country needs.”

Right to Build Registers Grow

NaCSBA’s research indicates that since 1 April 2016, an estimated 55,000 people have signed up to Right to Build registers across England. However, due to roughly 8,000 removals, the total currently sits at around 47,000.

The register is growing, which is extremely positive for the self build and custom build community, with 11,400 new sign-ups to the Right to Build registers between 2018-19. But, while 13,000 plots are being delivered per year, this is not enough to meet the demand.

On Right to Build Day (30 October 2019), local authorities had to demonstrate whether they had granted planning permission for 18,000 plots for custom and self build homes (to match the number of people who signed up to the self build and custom build registers between April 1st and October 30th, 2016), but NaCSBA’s bid to track which local authorities are performing in their duty to create housing diversity in the UK led to some concerning findings.

Only 45% of councils claim to have met their legal duties with regards to the Right to Build registers, 37% failed to provide any response to NaCSBA, and 18% accepted that their obligations have not been met. 

NaCSBA is now calling on local authorities to address the areas of unacceptable practice that have been identified, and that they act within the letter and the spirit of the law, and to ensure more plots are permissioned.