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Retrofit insights: perspectives for an emerging industry
Posted on: 14 December 2012
By: mackene
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Between May 2011 and July 2012, the UCL Energy Institute (UCL-Energy), working in partnership with the Institute for Sustainability, undertook a post-occupancy evaluation study on a sample of the projects funded by the Technology Strategy Board’s Retrofit for the Future (Rt4F) programme in London. The core aim of the programme was to reduce the carbon emissions of existing homes by a minimum of 80% while providing affordable warmth for the occupants. The intention of this report is to use learning and insights from this analysis to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry to prepare for emerging business opportunities in retrofit.
Based on a series of interviews and feedback sessions with project teams, the Retrofit project team perspectives summary guides identify lessons learned during projects covering: These include:
mechanical and electrical systems integration
The Occupant-centred retrofit: engagement and communication guide summarises the findings from the post occupancy evaluation interviews with retrofit occupants. Detailed analyses will also be made available on the Institute’s website. A separate guide, Best practice guidance for successful SME engagement, also released by the Institute for Sustainability and Action Sustainability, in association with Lend Lease, provides best practice guidance for large organisations looking to diversify their supply chain by engaging with SMEs.
Finally, the Institute’s updated Buildings opportunities for business: Low carbon domestic retrofit guides, reflecting the latest developments on Government incentive schemes including the Green Deal, are also being made available here. The guides, written by leading academic and industry experts, provide practical and commercially focused advice and best practice to both trades and professions.
Towering ambitions: transforming high rise housing into sustainable homes
Posted on: 14 December 2012
By: mackene
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The Green Alliance has published a report which examines how sustainable living in high rise housing can be realised. It concludes that people who live in tower blocks are missing out on the chance to make energy savings and live greener lifestyles. Green policies, like those encouraging energy and water saving, more sustainable transport and recycling, are mostly designed with individual, street level properties in mind, so high rise residents can’t take full advantage of them. To address this, the report makes recommendations for what various actors, from national and local government to landlords and residents themselves, can do to make the most of existing policy to enable tower block living to become more sustainable. Alongside the report the Green Alliance has published a toolkit, A better place to live: a toolkit for high rise green living, which aims to help high rise residents take actions to make their homes better, greener places to live. Additional resources, as well as tips for residents on how to bring people together and how to use meetings to come up with a plan of action, can be found here.
RICS Housing Market Forecast 2013
Posted on: 14 December 2012
By: mackene
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According to the Housing Market Forecast report for 2013 pubkished by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, house prices in the UK will see an increase of 2% over the course of next year while the cost of renting a home should rise by around 4%. Although challenging times are still ahead for the nation’s economy, the report forecasts that 2013 may see some slight improvements and this will be reflected in the housing market.
Bringing empty properties back into use as affordable housing: Bidding guidance
Posted on: 12 December 2012
By: mackene
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On 26 November 2012 the Government announced a further round of funding aimed at bringing empty properties back into use. As well as tackling empty homes this new bid round has an additional emphasis on the refurbishment of empty commercial and non-residential properties as affordable housing. Bidding for this funding is now open and bids must be submitted through the Homes and Communities Agency’s Investment Management System by noon 25 March 2013. Full details on how to bid for this funding are in this guidance document.
2011 Census: Key Statistics for England and Wales, March 2011
Posted on: 12 December 2012
By: mackene
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The Office for National Statistics has published key statistics from the 2011 Census. With regard to housing, the survey found that the number of people renting homes from private landlords has almost doubled in 10 years, according to the latest census. Statistics show that the number of private renters in England and Wales has jumped from 1.9 million in 2001 to 3.6 million in 2011. People renting from their local authority has fallen 23 per cent, from 2.9 million in 2001 to 2.2 million in 2011. Those renting from other social landlords is up from 1.3 million to 1.9 million over the same period, an almost 50 per cent increase. The number of people who own their own homes has stayed relatively stable, rising just 0.5 per cent since 2001.
No place to call home: The social impacts of housing undersupply on young people
Posted on: 11 December 2012
By: mackene
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The Institute for Public Policy Research has published a report which explores the social impacts of the undersupply of housing on young people, in areas such as life aspirations, starting a family, professional ambitions, relationships with parents and partners, security and control, and community belonging. It calls for residents to embrace the principles outlined in the government’s National Planning Policy Framework and play a greater role in directly shaping the terms of proposed developments to enable more homes to be built.
Let’s get building: The case for local authority investment in rented homes to help drive economic growth
Posted on: 11 December 2012
By: mackene
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This report argues that councils should be allowed to take advantage of low levels of debt to raise loans to build homes. The report making this case has been jointly produced by a partnership of the Chartered Institute of Housing, the Local Government Association and the Association of Retained Council Housing, supported by the Councils with ALMOs Group and led by the National Federation of ALMOs. The report makes use of two new pieces of work. The first one assesses in detail the capacity of the local authority sector and its readiness to build new homes. The second, assesses the market’s reaction to the extra borrowing that would be required if the proposals made here were to be adopted.
The housing crisis in London: mobilising the church
Posted on: 10 December 2012
By: mackene
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This report, jointly published by Christian charity Housing Justice, the London Churches Group for Social Action and the Methodist, Baptist and United Reformed churches, callst calls for Christian landowners and investors, including churches, to use available land for the development of affordable housing. It calls for churches to support development and to take a stand against nimbyism.
Planning for custom build housing: A practice guide
Posted on: 7 December 2012
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This Guide is intended to help all those involved in making it easier for people to build their own home in England, including local authority planning and housing officials and their elected members, housing associations, developers and self build community groups. The Guide is not intended to be prescriptive as each area or site will have its own particular set of circumstances, so each will require a bespoke approach. The Guide therefore provides some pointers and ideas as to how the subject could be approached and, above all, it aims to inspire action to grow the self build sector. This is the first edition of the Guide, which is intended to be a ‘living document’ that will be updated regularly with examples of new, emerging policies and practices.
Meeting Londoners’ housing needs: Investing in housing infrastructure
Posted on: 5 December 2012
By: mackene
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Up to 54,000 new homes in the capital could begin construction almost immediately if the government lifts an artificial cap on local housing authority borrowing, according to a new report by London Councils, the organisation which represents the capital’s 33 local authorities. It calls on the government to support an amendment (New Clause 10) to the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, which is currently making its way through parliament. At present, an artificial cap on borrowing mean that local authorities are not able to borrow against the full value of their housing assets to finance new homes.
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