August, 2009

New Build — Comments Off
26
Aug 09

Construction Champion to be appointed by Government

The Government has confirmed it will appoint a chief adviser on construction, to be in place by November 2009.

The new position will report to ministers at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, and the Treasury. He or she will also chair a ‘construction category board’ to oversee the development of Government construction procurement.

Working closely with the Strategic Forum for Construction, a ‘sustainable construction strategy delivery board’ will also be chaired by the appointment to the position.

Low carbon solutions — Comments Off
25
Aug 09

Low carbon projects confirmed

Details of the successful schemes for the second round of funding from the Homes and Communities Agency’s (HCA) low carbon infrastructure initiative, totalling £8.80m, have been announced.

The initiative is a partnership with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and Communities and Local Government (CLG). It will provide funding for schemes across the country to benefit from new and existing low carbon energy plants by creating the infrastructure needed to link them up.

Energy saving / New Build / Social Housing — Comments Off
19
Aug 09

Eco-Towns to set out affordable housing plans

The four successful eco-town proposals have each been asked to submit plans for the developments, to include affordable housing.

The Communities and Local Government department has issued a consultation document, which sets out how the developers should construct a ‘programme of development’ for the sites.

The document is set to determine how much funding each eco-town developer will get over the next two years, from the £60m available.

Educational Building — Comments Off
14
Aug 09

Tories plan for change to school building programme

The Conservatives are planning to overhaul the UK’s school building programme, including slashing the budget of delivery body Partnership for Schools.

The plans are part of an overhaul of schools policy, including the £55bn Building Schools for the Future programme, being discussed by the shadow Treasury team and shadow schools department. It is likely to see funds diverted from new buildings and major refurbishments towards smaller improvements in areas such as IT and furnishings.

Uncategorized — Comments Off
5
Aug 09

Government’s failure on CO2 targets could cost taxpayers millions to offset

The Government’s failure to meet its own climate change targets could result in taxpayers paying millions of pounds every year, according to a new report by the Environmental Audit Committee.

The Committee’s report found that although the Government has made progress in areas like transport, it has failed to make cuts in the most polluting areas including buildings, recycling and the amount of electricity from renewables.

The Government has pledged to reduce carbon dioxide from its own buildings and transport by 12.5% by 2012 on 1999 levels. If the target is missed the Government will have to pay millions of pounds extra to “offset” the carbon dioxide produced, at a significant cost to the taxpayer.

Social Housing — Comments Off
4
Aug 09

Government’s Housing Pledge

A Whitehall paper has disclosed the responsibilities and roles of Central and Local Government for the Housing and Regeneration Sectors.

The Central-Local Agreement paper states the role of the Homes and Communities Agency alongside details of what ministers expect from town halls in exchange for funding affordable housing and renewal projects.

Social Housing — Comments Off
3
Aug 09

Attitudes to social housing allocation revealed

The Government has published research on attitudes to social housing, which includes its plans to allow councils to give greater priorities to applicants with jobs.

The survey, carried out by polling company Ipsos MORI in 2008, revealed 48% of respondents believed more low-income working households should be given social homes, as opposed to always housing the most vulnerable first. An equivalent number suggested that people who had lived in an area for a long time should have priority for social housing.

However, the Communities and local Government Department has also carried out focus groups, which highlighted the difficulties encountered when applying general beliefs and attitudes about social housing allocation.

Participants did support notions of mixed communities in general. But when presented with limited available stock, they reverted to allocating homes to the most vulnerable, with the greatest immediate needs.