SWO Planning News RSS http://planning.swo.org.uk/swo-planning-news.rss The Future Homes Commission, chaired by business leader, Sir John Banham, is conducting a major national inquiry into the quality and delivery of newly built housing, and has announced a call for evidence, asking the public, housebuilding industry, architects, academia and policy makers to submit their views on the future of housing in Britain. The commission will engage with the public and experts from across the housing sector as part of a major consultation, aimed at gaining an in-depth understanding of the challenges affecting the delivery of housing and identifying innovation in order to shape its blueprint for the future. Alongside the Call for Evidence and conversations with the housing industry, the Commission will be visiting people in their front rooms, town centres and online, to build a truly comprehensive picture about what people want and need from their homes and how the market can deliver this. The Commission was instigated by the RIBA as part of its HomeWise campaign which aims to improve the quality of the nation's new build housing. In reaching its recommendations, the commission will report back to Government, housebuilding industry and RIBA in autumn 2012. Sir John said: "We want to hear from all of those with a stake in the housing sector in order to gain a deep understanding of the barriers to development, the challenges in the design process and the impact of economic pressures on the housing products that are delivered. We're embarking on a demanding and challenging exercise to understand what makes a quality home today, and how it can be designed and delivered to ensure a sustainable housing stock for the future. "Crucially, we won't just be analysing the problems of the past. We want to look to the future, draw lessons from some of the excellent and innovative schemes that have been delivered, from the developers that are doing things differently and look to find solutions that will ensure that more new homes are delivered, to the right quality and at the right price for the British consumer." The Future Homes Commission has called for evidence on the following areas: > Internal design - how housing design impacts on the lives of the household, and what are the barriers to improving quality and driving innovation in internal design, focusing specifically on accessibility, energy performance, security, space and storage. > Designing local communities - which amenities, facilities and infrastructure are needed to ensure economically and environmentally sustainable neighbourhoods that have a positive impact on wellbeing, public and mental health > Housing marketplace - what the priorities are for consumers when choosing a home are, how is the housing market segmented, the role for consumers and how the market might influence the design of new homes > Finance and affordability - is there potential for new models of delivery and investment within the housing market, what are the barriers in terms of viability to delivering more high quality homes, within the context of the current planning system and investment markets. http://housing-planning.swo.org.uk/news/all-news/?entryid9=51192 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:37:51 GMT 20120125103751 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:37:51 GMT 20120125103751 Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:40:40 GMT 2012012510104040 SWO has today responded to the current ONS consultation on measuring national wellbeing. This consultation by the ONS is looking at proposed domains and measures for measuring national wellbeing. Click on the icon below to read SWO's response. http://housing-planning.swo.org.uk/news/all-news/?entryid9=51179 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:29:07 GMT 20120123112907 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:29:07 GMT 20120123112907 Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:37:07 GMT 2012012311113707 The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has published Reinvigorating Right to Buy and a one for one replacement: Consultation as announced in the November Housing Strategy. The consultation starts on 22 December 2011 and lasts for 6 weeks. Responses must be sent to the Department by 2 February 2012. For more information on this click on the link below. http://housing-planning.swo.org.uk/news/all-news/?entryid9=50992 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:59:05 GMT 20120106105905 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:59:05 GMT 20120106105905 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:05:45 GMT 2012010611110545 The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has issued detailed guidance for developers wishing to apply for the £420m 'Get Britain Building' programme. The new programme, unveiled in November as part of the Government's housing strategy and managed by the HCA, will enable work to start on stalled sites with planning permission. The programme is intended to address difficulties in accessing development finance faced by some house builders and to help bring forward sites where viability is marginal by sharing risk. It will operate by making loans available to projects on commercial rates, or taking equity stakes to share risk. The prospectus and further information is available by clicking on the link below. http://housing-planning.swo.org.uk/news/all-news/?entryid9=50990 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:55:23 GMT 20120106105523 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:55:23 GMT 20120106105523 Fri, 06 Jan 2012 10:58:55 GMT 2012010610105855