Social Housing Construction Continues To Defy Downturn

Work on social housing construction is set to rise from 2019-2020, according to Glenigan’s construction market analysis. Increased support for shared ownership developments that were announced in the last Budget is expected to provide a stimulus to social housing construction. While projects disrupted by the 2017 Grenfell tragedy are also expected to begin moving onto site. In the three months to July 2019, the underlying value of social housing construction projects starting on site surged 40% according to Glenigan’s analysis. Read more on the PBC Today website.

https://www.pbctoday.co.uk/news/planning-construction-news/social-housing-construction/62123/

Help To Buy Has Driven Record Rise In Planning Permissions

A report produced by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) in association with construction market analyst Glenigan has suggested that the Help to Buy scheme is having a significant impact on the housing market. According to Stepping Up, a report produced to assess its impact so far, Help to Buy now accounts for one in every 12 first-time buyer transactions and is such a success that it is “driving industry confidence to invest in new sites at a time when activity in the market generally remains stubbornly slow”. The study suggests that the number of planning permissions granted in the first half of 2017 was the highest for new homes on record.  Read more on the Planning Portal.

Planning Permissions Highest Since 2008

The number of planning permissions granted for new homes in Q1 of this year remained high, HBF and Glenigan’s latest Housing Pipeline report shows. Permissions for 66,102 homes were granted in the first three months of the year in England, up 4% on the previous year.  The Moving Annual Total has now recovered to just short of the pre-crash peak in the 12 months to March 2008, and is ahead of the levels in 2006 and 2007, suggesting house building can continue increasing to meet the very high level of demand for new homes. Whilst many of these permissions still have some way to go before builders can start building them, the figures are a strong indicator of future supply.  Read more on the HBF website.

Housing: Planning Permission – House of Lords Written Answer

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the number of approved planning applications for housing that have yet to be built.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: As at 1 March 2016, data provided to the department by Glenigan indicate that there were full planning permissions for 658,000 homes in England on sites on which work had either not yet started or completed. Of these around 55,000 (8 per cent) were on unstarted sites granted permission more than three years ago. Typically permissions for these homes will have expired.

Housing Suffers Election Hangover

The Glenigan Index for June, which covers the value of projects starting on site during the previous three months, has declined by 10% as activity stalled in the run up to polling day. Civil engineering and non-residential work fell by 21%, with further declines in the retail, office and industrial sectors. Following last month's strong performance, hotel and leisure starts have now also fallen into the red, down 20% on a year ago. By contrast, the Glenigan Residential Index is up 9%, with value of schemes started by private housebuilders 14% higher than a year earlier - the fastest expansion since July 2014. Social housing starts were also up on a year earlier, with the sector seeing a modest upturn in recent months after weakening during 2014. Read more on the Housing Association Magazine website.

Social Housing Planning Approvals Down By 44%

Social housing approvals were down by 44% across Great Britain year-on-year, according to research by the Home Builders Federation.  The figures in Home Builders Federation (HBF) Housing Pipeline report,  produced by construction analysts Glenigan, show that there were 3,824 social homes approved in Q2 2014 compared with 6,873 in Q2 2013. This is the lowest number of social housing planning approvals in two years. Social permissions were down in England by 55% year-on-year, 2,892 in Q2 2014 compared to 6,474 in Q2 2013, and down by 53% in London, 1,120 in Q2 2014 compared to 2,399 in Q2 2013. Download a copy of the Housing Pipeline report from the HBF website.

Flooding Leads to Drop in New Build 'Social Housing' Starts

The recent flooding that afflicted large parts of the country has led to a 15% drop in the amount of 'social housing' new build starts. However, the latest Glenigan Index, which covers the value of projects starting on site from December 2013 to February, shows that construction growth as a whole continued to rise despite the disruption caused by the bad weather.  Construction in the UK was up 10% year-on-year in February, which Glenigan has credited to new infrastructure and private non-residential starts. Read more on 24dash.

Social Housing Only Highlight As Building Sector Suffers Poor Start To 2013

The Glenigan Index for the three months to January fell by 18 percent compared with January 2012, as activity across most of the construction sector dropped off.  Social housing starts were up by one percent compared to last year - the only area of the sector to see an increase.  Read more on 24dash.

Social Housing Starts Up 48%

The number of social housing starts in the final quarter of 2012 was up 48% on the same period in 2011.  The latest Glenigan index shows that private housing starts were also up by 20% on 2011's last three months. Underlying construction remained strong in the final month of 2012, with project starts up 9% for the three months to December compared with 2011.  Read more on 24dash.