Housing Comment – Page 7
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Comment
Housebuilding: For starters…
The government’s pledge to create 200,000 starter homes by 2020 is ambitious, and must be paired with clear regulation from the off to avoid confusion and delays
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Comment
Down the garden path
The government still seems keen to invoke the garden city movement of the past to provide much-needed housing. Planning and innovation will be key to deliver high-quality results
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The NHS working with developers? It'll be tough
The ‘healthy towns’ initiative is welcome, but there will be challenges along the way
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Comment
What makes good housing?
When creating homes you have to put people first, then work on the buildings and spaces. Placemaking simply doesn’t work unless you start with a vision for the community
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Comment
Money where the mouth is
The picture painted by the government of a fresh regeneration push as a fix to poverty ignores the complexity of the communities it is designed to help
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Comment
Sticking up for red tape
The government’s promise to remove ‘red tape’ to help housebuilders could wipe out effective standards
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Comment
Housebuilding: In the balance
The rate and extent of change to different housing policies designed to stimulate delivery could see their desired effects cancelled out. Maintaining stability of delivery is key for the sector’s growth
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Comment
Time for a change
Harry Rich was unable to drive the necessary reform at RIBA, his departure is an opportunity
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Sink estates: Has their time come?
We don’t plan and invest for the long term. £140m will help identify the issues on particular estates but it won’t tackle the root causes
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Comment
A big year
Construction starts the year at the epicentre of political and economic debate, and over the next 12 months it will be constantly under the spotlight - here are the hot topics to keep an eye on
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Comment
Dear minister...
As the festive season draws to a close it’s time to look at the big challenges for 2016. What would our columnist say to a new built environment minister about the year that lies ahead for the construction industry?
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Comment
2016 will see build to rent come into its own
Politicians remain obsessed by the idea of home ownership but build to rent is where the real opportunity lies
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Comment
Housebuilding: Home delivery
The government is keen to move away from `generation rent’ but are the measures it is putting in place enough to deliver the homes the country needs?
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Comment
Specs and the City
The City of London has progressed past its original Square Mile perimeter physically. Now what businesses want culturally from the urban landscape has also changed
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Comment
Housing association reclassification - what it means
The ONS’s decision to put £60bn of housing association debt on the public sector books is no cause for panic
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Comment
Who’s counting?
Despite decades of changes to planning law, the number of homes we’re building has barely increased. Does the Housing and Planning Bill hold out the hope that this time things will be different?
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Comment
Footing the bill
The new housing bill would cut permanently the regulation on converting office or light-industrial sites into housing, circumnavigating both local authorities and affordable housing obligations. So who would be the winners and losers?
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Comment
Councils can find a way to make Right to Buy work for them
Housing associations can help councils ease the pain of ‘forced’ housing sales