CLES / Newstart
Project launched to build low-carbon housing for parentless children in Ukraine
SOS Children’s Villages Denmark (SOS DK) have created a scheme to help house children in Ukraine. Even before the tragic war erupted, the country was found to have one of the highest rates of children living without a stable home.
Today, 15th April 2024, SOS DK have launched their new initiative, which is otherwise known as the Children’s Living Project. The idea, which was made possible through the support of 11 charities and organisations across Denmark, is to create new, sustainable homes for children in Ukraine.
The project couldn’t have come at a better time. Even before Russian military forces entered Ukraine in 2022, research from Save the Children found that the country had one of the highest rates of children living in institutional care in Europe, with around 100,000 living in some form of residential care facility. However, since the war began, the problem has tragically escalated.
To help the ongoing crisis, the new project from SOS DK will see a cluster of buildings created in three different locations across Ukraine. Each cluster is set to feature homes for foster families, shared recreational and social spaces for both inhabitants and local communities, and social centres that will supply a range of mental health support for foster families as well as locals living in the surrounding area.
Commenting on the news, Mads Klæstrup Kristensen, managing director of SOS Children’s Villages Denmark, said: ‘The ongoing war in Ukraine has affected millions of children, leaving many of them without parental care, protection, and a safe space to call home. Our priority has always been to ensure children around the world have their needs and rights met to enable them to grow up in a caring home, thrive and become their strongest selves.
‘Through this project, we want to inspire better ways of caring physically, emotionally, and socially for children without parental care and help move toward de-institutionalization by demonstrating new, holistic solutions for alternative care environments.’
According to SOS DK, the new establishments will be constructed within existing neighbourhoods to help better integrate new families and make children feel as at home as possible.
Lee Petersson, CEO of the VELUX Group – one of the partners of the new project – claimed that the scheme will hopefully help inspire other organisations and authorities to act, as no one should have to experience what individuals in Ukraine are, especially children.
‘With the war causing unprecedented destruction across the country, we want to contribute with a more sustainable way of rebuilding homes in Ukraine,’ Lee said. ‘With our Living Places concept, we demonstrate that it is possible to build healthy homes with a low carbon footprint – and we are happy to contribute to this impactful project that helps secure a more promising future for children without parental care in Ukraine.’
Lee added: ‘Our contribution is small in the grand scheme of things, but the children who will be living in the new homes will grow up in an environment that promotes health and their wellbeing. We hope that this project will help inspire others to take action – both in terms of supporting the rebuilding of Ukraine, but also to transform the building industry.’
Image: SOS DK
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Another rise in GDP shows the UK are on track out of recession
Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show gross domestic product (GDP) rose by 0.1% in February, but despite positive indicators experts have warned ‘challenges still persist.’
January 2024 was potentially one of the wettest starts to a new year that has been experienced for a while. Conditions had major effects on construction and retail, but deposit this, new ONS data shows GDP increased by 0.1% in February, matching City economists’ forecasts and extending a recovery after growth in January was revised up from 0.2% to 0.3%.
Commenting on the news, Liz McKeown, ONS director of economics statistics, said: ‘The economy grew slightly in February with widespread growth across manufacturing, particularly in the car sector. Services also grew a little, with public transport and haulage and telecommunications having strong months.
‘Partially offsetting this there were notable falls across construction as the wet weather hampered many building projects.’
In addition to the data showing a growth last month, the latest figures also highlight the rise of 0.1% over the last three months to the end of February. This is the first time this has happened since last summer, with activity recovering from a slump last year as households cut back on spending amid the cost-of-living crisis.
However, Douglas Grant, group CEO of Manx Financial, has warned that despite a positive increase, individuals and businesses are still set to face financial difficulties.
He said: ‘The most recent GDP figures in the UK serve as a stark reminder that despite certain recent positive indicators, challenges still persist. This underscores the importance for SMEs to seize this moment to reassess their existing lending arrangements and strengthen their positions.
‘The data is reflective of separate research conducted by Manx Financial Group that reveals a significant shift in the financial landscape for SMEs. In contrast to the previous survey, where only 25% faced challenges, the current findings indicate that two out of five SMEs are now grappling with operational slowdowns or halts due to a lack of external financing.
‘The survey also underscores that 15% of SMEs seeking external finance or capital are unable to secure the necessary funds. These financial constraints, coupled with a potentially unprecedented and volatile environment marked by ongoing conflicts, multiple elections, a tightening labour market, and persistent cost-of-living challenges, pose obstacles to the prospects of SMEs and national economic growth.’
In addition to SMEs struggling, the research from the ONS shows that construction output collapsed by 1.9% on the month as heavy rainfall forced cranes to sit abandoned on building sites. The UK’s dominant services sector, which makes up about four-fifths of the economy, also struggled. Figures show the sector only grew by 0.1% in February amid weaker activity in retail and wholesale distribution.
John Glencross, CEO and Co-Founder of Calculus, said: ‘Following a surprise contraction in UK GDP at the end of last year, today’s data signals small consistent steps back towards growth for the economy. The slight growth seen in the second quarter indicates that the UK is steadily emerging from a relatively short recession in record time.
‘As we observe where the economy will head in Q2 and beyond, now more than ever we need to support UK smaller businesses, which ignite growth, increase employment, and drive innovation.’
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No infrastructure, no greenlight: Housing development rejected in Calne
An application to build up to 100 new homes on land east of Spitfire Road in Clane has been refused due to infrastructure concerns.
Robert Hitchins, a family-owned property company, submitted the application in 2022 to create ‘much needed housing in Calne’ however, Wiltshire Council denied planning permission after they found the proposal was contrary to multiple polices in the Wiltshire Core Strategy.
The application remarked: ‘The overarching vision is to create a distinctive development with a strong identity that responds to the local character of the site, its position close to newly build development and environmental context to deliver a new development appropriate to its location and setting.
‘The proposed development will create much needed housing in Calne in a sustainable location whilst improving public access across the site and to the wider pedestrian and cycle network.’
However, Calne Town Council and Calne Without Parish Council have expressed their concerns about the development of the new homes, particularly the location of them and their impact on local services.
The town council said: ‘The level of recent development in Calne has left a serious issue with infrastructure in the town and this application will worsen the situation.
‘Specifically, there is real concern that no additional doctors and dentists have been provided to address the additional housing numbers and residents are already experiencing issues in accessing medical and dental provision in the town and that this proposed development will only worsen this already very serious situation.’
Against this backdrop, 13 further representations were received, with residents raising issues such as the potential traffic congestion and loss of greenfield.
Wiltshire Council also discovered that the plans were contrary to multiple policies in the Wiltshire Core Strategy and denied planning permission for the development.
The case officer report said: ‘Issues of noise, odour and dust impacts arising from the immediate neighbour at Abberd Fields Farm have not been appropriately considered and addressed, resulting in a maintained objection from the Public Protection Officer.’
Overall, it was concluded that problems the development was causing outweighed the benefits, ‘particularly in light of the fact that the council can at the current time, demonstrate sufficient supply of housing land.’
Image: Jonny Caspari
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Single-family housing investments have grown fivefold – report
According to knight frank’s 2024 Single Housing Family (SFH) report, investment into the properties soared by £1.9bn last year as investors acquired or funded the development of over 6,200 rental homes.
Launched yesterday, the report found that the amount of money that has been invested into SFH represents a fivefold increase compared to the £388m committed in 2022.
Overall, SFH investment accounted for more than 40% of all Build to Rent investment in the UK last year, with the remainder targeting multifamily apartment schemes and co-living.
Jack Hutchinson, a partner in the residential investment team at Knight Frank, said: ‘The single-family housing sector is experiencing a period of significant growth, as evidenced by a fivefold surge in investment volumes in 2023, reaching £1.9bn, compared to the previous year.
‘Despite an improving sales market forecasted, we fully expect this trend in increased investment volumes to continue into 2024 and beyond, thanks to a growing weight of capital attract to the sector by its strong fundamentals. In addition, developers and housebuilders are becoming more comfortable with the concept of incorporating single family housing into their wider sales and marketing strategies, which is helping to accelerate delivery of much needed housing.’
Whilst speaking with investors who are currently interested in SFH, Knight Frank, a global real estate consultancy and estate agency, discovered that together they plan to commit £17bn of capital to the SFH sector within the next five years.
Against this backdrop, the consultancy have said that if patterns continue, SFH rental units in the UK will almost triple from the current level of 26,575 homes.
Oliver Knight, Head of Residential Development Research at Knight Frank, added: ‘Our research provides clear evidence of the opportunities for single family rental housing to play a key role in addressing the UK’s housing shortage, particularly for families. The geographic distribution of the sector is broadening as institutional investors increasingly eye suburban markets across regions like the East of England and West Midlands to deploy capital at scale.’
Image: Nathan Dumlao
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Homes England have been warned they must strengthen relationships with councils
An independent review has recommended that funding methods for Homes England should be rethought and they should grow closer with local authorities.
Since the cost-of-living began squeezing budgets, various government organisations, including Homes England – the government’s housing and regeneration agency that was founded in 2008 – have come under fire. However, findings from a new review, which is part of the Cabinet Office’s public bodies review programme, have claimed that the government organisation should have ‘closer’ relationships with councils to ensure projects that require urgent attention are prioritised.
Tony Poulter, a non-executive director for the Department of Transport, who led the review, told the Local Government Chronicle that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (DLUHC) must ‘determine the balance’ between Homes England’s role in regeneration and housing delivery.
Tony said: ‘If you want to do more regeneration and placemaking, in the short term, it might mean slower housing delivery.’
As part of the government’s levelling up agenda, Homes England has a series of priority places for regeneration work, however, to ensure schemes run smoothly, Tony claims that the ‘DLUHC needs to coordinate better with Homes England to make sure that they aren’t tripping up over each other.’
Mr Poulter referenced the incident that occurred in 2023, when Homes England faced backlash after they were forced to return funding to the Treasury.
Against this backdrop, the review, of which the findings were published earlier in the week, also proposed changing Homes England’s funding arrangements so it can ‘commit to large, long-term schemes’.
Likewise, authorities have suggested the government allow Homes England to ‘take more risks at some points in the economic cycle [which could increase] additionality and impact.’
In response to the review, Peter Denton, chair of Homes England, said: ‘Much of this work is already happening. Other recommendations will require changes in partnership with the DLUHC and Treasury, but if progressed could be transformational in how we deliver new homes and create thriving places.
‘While there is much to celebrate, we are steadfast in our resolve to always to improve, ensuring that we are effective and efficient in driving forward the country’s housing and regeneration ambitions.’
In addition, Michael Gove, remarked: ‘[The] independent report shows Homes England is the right vehicle to deliver more affordable homes and support our plans to regenerate towns and cities across the country.’
Image: Ming Jun Tan
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ASK unlocked £45m in real estate investment liquidity for private clients
The specialist property lender has developed its own digital private wealth platform for high-net-worth investors.
ASK Partners have recently announced that £45m invested in commercial and residential real estate debt has been exchanged via its secondary market platform.
The platform, according to ASK, is currently used by an exclusive network of individuals and family offices to invest in commercial and residential property loans originated by the organisations specialist lending team.
People involved with the platform, also have the option to exist via a secondary market and this exchange function has now facilitated 174 transactions between ASK’s private client investors on loans provided for commercial and residential real estate across the UK.
Against this backdrop, experts have found that 71% of the loans provided went to covering planning costs associated with the real estate projects, with the largest property type being mixed-use/life-science projects (24%).
Following closely behind were mixed use residential buildings as 23% of loans provided went into these schemes.
Mark Templeman, CIO at ASK, commented: ‘Reaching over £45m in exchanges is evident of the growing number of investors looking for the greater choice, flexibility, and liquidity which our private wealth platform can provide.
‘ASK’s investment in technology aims to reshape the market, challenging traditional fund managers and operators, and fostering evolution in property finance and private investment sectors.
‘We are committed to developing our own digital platform to meet the rising demand from high-net-worth investors for a best-in-class service and the ability to fully manage their own portfolio in one place online.’
From the research, regionally, London came out on top of the list for investment opportunities (85%), however, in a shocking turn of events, the Midlands was found to represent 5% of all secondary transactions.
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Half of British homes meet insulation standards set in 70s
A study of 25 million British homes has found that just over half of properties still only meet the insulation standards set in 1976 or earlier.
In the words of Cher, if we could ‘turn back time’, I’m sure developers and builders would try and create better insulated homes if they knew how the state of housing in England would turn out in 2024.
Two years ago EDF Energy, in partnership with property data platform Sprift, analysed the current levels of home insulation (including floor, roof, window and walls) against buildings regulations that were set across different time periods to calculate the nation’s ‘Home Insulation Age’.
Experts, who examined 25 million homes, found over 13 million properties in England and Wales, which equates to (55%), only meet the insulation standards of 1976 Building Regulations or earlier.
However, the latest iteration of research, which was published yesterday, has revealed that there has been a small improvement in the nation’s home insulation standards over the past two years, with 18% of properties now having an insulation age of 2022 or younger compared to 8% that was discovered two years ago.
However, most of this improvement comes from newer properties, built since 2022 which are required to meet new regulatory insulation standards.
The primary causes of heat loss in these homes are insufficient cavity wall insulation, absence of double-glazed windows, inadequate loft insulation, and poor floor insulation. These are all features that current building regulations require.
Philippe Commaret, Managing Director for Customers at EDF, said: ‘It’s clear from this research that, despite the energy crisis, little progress has been made in improving the energy efficiency of older British homes in the past two years, meaning millions of homeowners are missing out on significant savings on their energy bills.
‘Our ongoing efforts to support and improve crucial initiatives such as the Great British Insulation Scheme will help empower customers to embrace energy efficiency so they can save both cash and carbon.’
Although energy prices have been coming down over the past few months, bills remain, on average, 56% higher than they were before the cost-of-living crisis began. Despite this fact, researchers found that two thirds of respondents are unaware of the EPC rating of their home and almost a fifth of homeowners have no knowledge about various insulation methods available to help individuals save money in the long-run.
As there have been little changes to housing insulation standards, EDF Energy are now lobbing the government to expand their Great British Insulation Scheme [GIBS] in the following ways:
• Allowing the installation of more than one measure. Currently only one measure per home is allowed. Allowing multiple measures in homes that require them would help customers lower customers energy bills and carbon footprint, as well as reducing the costs of delivering the scheme.
• Including heating control measures e.g. room thermostats, as a secondary measure for all customer groups (currently only delivered within the ‘low income group’). Heating controls are cost effective to install and can bring a big benefit on bill and usage reduction for households.
• Extending the scheme eligibility to include Council Tax Band E homes in England, which would bring in scope an additional 2.4 million homes – representing an extra 10% of all homes in England. Currently the eligibility criteria is Council Tax Bands A-D. This could open up much needed support to customers, including those on low incomes, struggling with the cost of heating a larger home.
Image: Erik Mclean
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The impact of the Building Safety Act in reducing structures heights
The news recently has been rife with ways on how to improve buildings’ fire safety. However, Carter Jonas’ James Staveley, examines how the development of tall buildings will be effected by such changes.
Following the 2017 Grenfell fire, the issue of fire safety within high-rise residential blocks has come into sharp focus. It had become abundantly clear that the UK needed to update regulations to prevent such a tragedy happening again. In Summer 2023 the government announced that the threshold for the introduction of second staircases into new residential buildings would be reduced to 18 metres, effectively in the region of seven storeys in height. This was an update on announced plans in late 2022 that second staircases would be required in buildings of over 30 metres. Although the government have published and confirmed its building safety guidance for second staircases to be implemented, in October last year it was revealed that there will be a 30-month transitional period from when they will be introduced.
So how will the new regulations impact the development of tall buildings?The new policy will reduce the sales areas within schemes: traditionally, developers of residential towers in urban areas aim for at least 80% of a floor plate as ‘saleable’ (individual apartments for sale, as opposed to circulation spaces). With the requirement for a second staircase and the additional corridor area that this necessitates, the ratio of saleable area to circulation space would reduce by approximately 5-10%.
In parts of London, on an eight-storey development, this could result in a reduction in gross development value by maybe £1-2m per floor and a total reduction of possibly £15m or more. Clearly, this has a significant impact on the land values anticipated by landowners and could even lead to challenging viability when coupled with other factors such as escalating build and finance costs and affordable housing.
In instances where land has been purchased at a premium, developers may then look to use the requirement for an additional staircase to argue for reductions in the levels of affordable housing from policy-compliant levels.
Alternatively, developers may look at options to reduce the height of developments to below the 18m threshold, maintaining the strong relationship between a building’s footprint and saleable area. Whilst this would result in fewer units, it could be that for landowners promoting such schemes through the planning process, a ‘less is more’ approach is sought instead, to maximise the land value. Certainly, there would appear to be limited commercial value in pushing to promote for a development with a single additional storey – which could result in more units but may introduce a requirement for a second staircase. As such, it is likely that future schemes will either be below 18m or will be considerably higher.
This would then have a knock-on effect on urban councils, which need more housing to support a growing population. Sites which have previously been consented for eight, nine or ten storeys may no longer be viable. This would especially impact parts of Zones 3-6 in Greater London. With limited land supply for new residential schemes, there is a preference for taller developments in these locations, where sales values in the region of £650-£800 per sq ft may be anticipated. Councils in such areas may potentially be forced to look at additional or alternative sites for housing.
Developers who chose to submit a planning application for a lower height development than previously consented may be criticised for under-development, even if such a scheme is demonstrated to be the optimum financially and delivers policy-compliant levels of affordable housing. And whilst some councils may accept a reduction in scale, this will lead to a decrease in CIL revenues, which could impact investment in local services. There would also be fewer affordable housing units delivered overall as the number of such units is based on a percentage of total units constructed.
The alternative may be for even taller developments than had previously been considered appropriate. This will greatly increase density, which apart from being very controversial, may, in some circumstances exacerbate social problems.
There is a strong possibility that the design and density of buildings will change: the days of eight-storey development could be limited with a preference for either developments to be reduced to seven storeys or below. The impact on tight development sites is likely to be greatest. Having once exceeded the height threshold to enable a second staircase to be included as a part of a scheme a developer will likely push the height as much as possible to maintain a gross development value to compensate a reduced gross-to-net ratio. For a scheme on the cusp of the requirement for a second staircase, the developer’s preference would probably be for a decreased height, unless they can secure reductions in the levels of affordable housing. The alternative might be for developers to absolutely maximise building footprints and minimise the impact on the saleable area.
Either way, this very significant legislation will change both developers’ approaches to tall buildings and city skylines too.
Images: João Barbosa and Sean Pollock
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Exposed: Over 100 affordable homes proposed for Bradford
Plans to construct 130 new homes on two neighbouring sites in the northern city have been revealed.
Incommunities, one of the largest social housing providers in Yorkshire which was formed in 2023 after a stock transfer from Bradford Council, has submitted an application for the plots of land in the Ravenscliffe area.
If the application is approved, one set of homes will be built on land to the east of Roundwood Glen and Ranelagh Avenue, which is located near Fagley Beck. The other set of properties will be taking place on an area of green land off Norbury Road.
However, before the development can take place the planning application has also requested to improve Norbury Road – an unmade road that passes through one of the sites that will become the main access for some of the new houses.
The application said: ‘The scheme will deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits whilst utilising the space to meet an identified housing need within the area and will deliver positive outcomes for the local area.’
Although, the application goes on to detail that trees will have to be removed from the sites and that any controversy that this might cause should be considered against the ‘delivery of a significant number of homes and the provision of landscaping.’
The application added: ‘Ultimately, the scheme has sought to deliver a successful housing scheme on the allocated site.’
One part of making this new scheme ‘successful’ includes the plans to incorporate certain measures that boost biodiversity in the area with street trees and hedgerows, according to the Local democracy Reporting Service.
News of these new homes potentially being in the pipeline couldn’t have come at a better time as recent data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed full-time workers in Bradford could except to spend 5.1 times their annual earnings on purchasing a home in 2023 – close to the ratio of five times the previous year.
In addition, figures from the ONS found that houses in Bradford were 3.2% more expensive last year as opposed to 2022, at an average price of £160,000.
MPs from Bradford Council are due to meet in June to discuss the new homes application.
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Largest renewable energy system to be built in Nottinghamshire
A geothermal heat pump project, worth millions, has launched in Nottinghamshire with an aim to save British Geological Survey’s (BGS) headquarters 30 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year.
Ruth Edwards, MP for Rushcliffe, broke ground on the scheme, which was launched towards the end of last week. The project, worth £1.7 million, is the largest renewable energy system of its kind in the area, consisting of an array of 28 boreholes drilled into the depth of 225m.
Forming part of BGS’s Keyworth campus decarbonisation plans, the new energy system will see the removal of gas boilers and will heat two buildings on the site.
News of the new project taking off has been welcomed with open arms, especially as more organisations are pushing to hit net zero goals by 2040.
Ross Goodband, senior environmental engineer at Pick Everard – the company leading the scheme – said: ‘This is a complex and fascinating project to be a part of. It has seen several members of our geo-environmental, project management and building services teams work closely with BGS and their partners. Our role was to carefully manage the initial investigation and subsequent installation of the borehole array, utilising the latest borehole drilling and downhole geophysical techniques.’
‘Our combined work has facilitated several research experiments, including core analysis, electrical resistivity, thermal modelling and a full suite of downhole geophysics, which will help inform our knowledge of environmentally-sound energy solutions, such as ground-source heat pumps, in our public and private infrastructure,’ Ross added. ‘We look forward to playing an active role as the site evolves over the coming years and continue our long-standing relationship with BGS.’
In addition, Steve Wilkinson, head of commercial projects at Cenergist, remarked: ‘Cenergist are proud to be supporting the British Geological Survey in their plans to achieve net zero by 2040. Our solution for this site will provide modernised futureproof low carbon heating and hot water systems to these two buildings, significantly reducing carbon emissions.’
Funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) and the UK government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, this huge project has helped to restore some faith that organisations are looking to install heat pumps, after research that was reported last month found that the UK are falling majorly behind on heat pump targets.
Daniel Crow, head of BGS Estates and Facilities, said: ‘This exciting project gives us the opportunity to blend our observation of the subsurface with leading low-carbon heating. The disruption to BGS staff will be kept to a minimum, with short closures of a couple of buildings to allow for the installation of heat emitters.
‘The drilling and heat pump installation is due to last around three months. The borehole installation should not impact on Keyworth site operations due to the careful planning and specification involved in the project.’
Image: Pick Everard
Rents have increased by 28% in England
New research from Goodlord has found that rents have climbed by over 6% compared to year-on-year figures.
Although change is something we’re all objectively weary of, an exception to this would be the continuing increases of rents across England. Unfortunately, new data from Goodlord, an award-winning lettings platform, demonstrates that individuals will be bearing the brunt of high rents for a little while longer.
The firm’s latest rental index highlighted that rents are now 28% higher than in March 2020 – just before the country was put into lockdown as a result of Covid-19. During this period, the average rent for a property in England was £909, but by the end of March 2024 this figure has jumped to £1,160.
According to the findings, which were published towards the end of last week, rent rises particularly accelerated in 2022, with a 10% year-on-year rise. Though, the data does show that the pace of increases has since slowed, but warns rents continue to rise.
Data from Goodlord showing how much rents have increased in England.
William Reeve, Goodlord’s chief executive, said: ‘March was another strong performing month for the rental market, with rents and voids holding steady.
‘However, the truly eye-opening data can be found in the year-on-year figures, which show just how rapidly rents across England have shifted since 2020.
‘In this post-pandemic era, rent rises have consistently outstripped inflation; evidence of the needs of the growing tenant population colliding directly with a lack of stock and a complicated combination of pressures facing landlords.’
Goodlord has claimed that while February experienced a higher-than-expected climb in rents, there was a brief respite last month – the average rent remained nearly unchanged at £1,160 compared to February’s £1,162.
Certain areas in England also experienced worse rent increases than others. In Greater London some rents hit £1,954 last month, whereas in the North East some landlords were only charging £851.
In addition to showcasing the increasing rental costs, the data also found that voids were unchanged month-on-month, with the number of days a property is vacant in between tenancies holding at 18 days, mirroring the trend seen in March 2023.
Image: Mika Baumeister
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Government publishes anticipated guidance for second staircase rule
If it wasn’t already known to be ‘Good Friday’ it would be now, as last week the Department for Levelling Up finally published guidance for the second staircase rule.
The changes to the government’s building guidance covering fire safety, otherwise known as Approved Document B, make it crystal clear that a second staircase is required in a tall block of flats that reach 18 metres or taller.
It also confirmed the end date of the transition period for the rules as 30th September 2026 and revealed that evacuation lifts will not be a requirement.
The new guidelines follow Michael Gove’s announcement last year that the government will impose a requirement for second staircases on all new buildings that are 18 metres or taller. Initially, the requirement was set at 30 metres when the consultation on the policy was launched.
In addition, the guidance specified that interlocked stairs ‘do not constitute an alternative means of escape’ and should always be considered as a single escape route.
Through introducing these new requirements, the government have separated provisions for horizontal escape and vertical escape.
According to the Approved Document B amendments: ‘Where evacuation lifts are provided, these should be located within an evacuation shaft containing a protected stairway, evacuation lift and evacuation lift lobby.
‘An evacuation lift lobby should provide a refuge area for those waiting for the evacuation lift, have direct access to a protected stairway and not be directly accessible from any flat, maisonette, storage room or electrical equipment room.’
Housing minister, Lee Rowley, said: ’The change in guidance to include two staircases for buildings over 18 metres provides clarity for developers and ensures both new and existing buildings provide safe and secure homes for all residents.’
Plans to install second staircases in huge residential buildings came after the tragic incident at Grenfell Tower. They help to ensure adequate access for both firefighters and a possible full evacuation of residents in the structures.
Image: Junar Eliang
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Council to borrow millions to address homelessness crisis
Leicester City Council have agreed on plans to borrow over £40m to buy properties in a desperate attempt to ease the growing housing emergency.
As the cost-of-living continues to bite and interest rates are set to stick at 5.25% for the foreseeable, demands for affordable housing are increasing. Without action, Leicester City Council have said they would face extra costs of £23m in the coming financial year.
Against this backdrop, the local authority are set to borrow £45m so they can purchase more homes. Overall, 225 properties will be bought to use as temporary accommodation and a further 125 will be leased at affordable rent rates.
Previously, this idea was put to councillors in January although it was withdrawn after legal concerns were raised.
City Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, said the matter was ‘legally complex’ and the council would be using the time to seek assurances from the government that its proposals were above board. In addition councillors were also concerned that the borrowing costs would come from the general budget rather than a pot of money specifically set aside for housing.
However, this time around councillors have been assured that other authorities have undertaken similarly funded purchases without problems. Although, Patrick Kitterick, a councillor for the Green Party, warned, just because legal action has not yet been taken on cases like this, it doesn’t mean it can be ruled out in future.
The most recent published housing waiting list figures for Leicester display just how much new affordable housing is needed. In January this year, 6,431 people were on the list and more than 5,0000 can expect to wait more than five years for a suitable home.
In addition, the number of people without a permanent place to call home is also increasing. In August 2022, there were 94 households in temporary accommodation across the city and by December 2023 the number had soared to 332.
Image: Jamie Hunt
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Canary Wharf receives first cladding bill under new powers
Michael Gove has launched legal action against the landlord of a Canary Wharf apartment complex to pay over £200m towards building safety works.
The Grenfell Tower disaster left thousands of people across England heartbroken and has since forced the UK government to evaluate the safety of buildings across the country. With this in mind, last week the Secretary of State served the landlord of an apartment complex in Canary Wharf with legal action to improve the safety of the building.
From this, the landlord will be required to pay £20.5m towards building safety works.
In addition, according to government officials, the housing department have also applied to a property tribunal in a bid to get John Christodoulou’s Yianis Holdings Ltd, a privately owned property organisation, to contribute to fixing safety problems at the Canary Riverside development.
Two other companies in the Yianis Group have been affected by the action, which marks the first move by Gove to use legal powers under the Building Safety Act. The legislation was passed in 2022 following the aftermath of Grenfell tower.
The department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said: ‘Where developers and freeholders have profited from unsafe buildings, we will use powers in the landmark Building Safety Act to recover funds.
‘We will continue to take action against those who do not take responsibility for building safety issues.’
The Building Safety Act allows the government, regulators or other ‘interest persons’ such as leaseholders to apply for orders requiring building owners, developers, or others to fix building safety defects or make payments towards the costs.
Against this backdrop, Yianis Group said that property tribunals had uncovered that the two other companies were ‘accountable persons’ under the act for the four residential buildings within the Canary Riverside development.
According to the developments website, inspections of the buildings unmasked problems with cladding and insulation that needed to be remediated.
The fire at Grenfell Tower tragically killed 72 people when it spread through the external cladding. It triggered a building safety crisis that led to defects being identified in residential blocks across the country and has left some leaseholders unable to sell their properties and are now, as a result, facing huge bills.
Image: Fas Khan
Developers yet to begin cladding repairs on unsafe buildings, research shows
WeWork co-founder presents bid to buy back the company
Adam Neumann has offered more than £350m in an attempt to regain ownership of the problematic shared office space organisation.
Back in November last year, WeWork filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, suggesting the potential end of the company. However, last month it become known that the former co-founder of WeWork, Adam Neumann, was trying to meet with the company to negotiate a deal to buy it outright. Now, Neumann has made his offer.
Flow, Neumann’s property company – which is expected to launch this year, but details are yet to be released – claimed last week that it had submitted a bid with a ‘coalition of half a dozen financing partners.’ The Wall Street Journal, who were the first to report on the offer, said it was tabled at more than $500m, which equates to £350m.
In a statement shared with Reuters, WeWork said their organisation is ‘extraordinary’ and it’s ‘no surprise we receive expressions of interest from third parties on a regular basis.’
The company added: ‘Our board and our advertisers review those approaches in the ordinary course, to ensure we always act in the best long-term interests of the company.’
Neumann, who was once tipped to join the ranks of the world’s richest people, resigned as chief executive of WeWork in September 2019. Earlier that year, the company invested heavily in long-term leases for some of the world’s most expensive real estate markets, amassing almost 800 locations that spanned 39 countries.
However, investors were sceptical of the terms of the stock listing, including demands that each of Neumann’s shares should carry 20 times the votes of ordinary stock, and that his wife should have a say in selecting his successor should he die. As a result, the IPO was postponed, and Neumann later left the company altogether.
Images: P. L. and Brandon Hooper
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Here’s how we stop the built world from being a contributor to GHG emissions
The UK’s undershoot on heat pumps underlines the challenge of decarbonising the built world. Catriona Hyland, research analyst at A/O, presents six priorities we need to tackle urgently.
Once again, despite good intentions, targets and soundbites, yet another attempt at decarbonising our homes is on the ropes as it’s reported the uptake of heat pumps across the UK has sputtered and stalled.
If we’re to meet our climate change targets, the government wants to install 600,000 low-carbon heat pumps a year over the next four years. In 2022, total installations hit just 55,000. The blame has been placed on their price, low awareness among consumers and divisions within government itself. Wherever blame lies, we’re falling damagingly short of making this necessary change.
Decarbonising homes is a priority for the government because heating generates 18% of UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions contribute to the wider, large-scale emissions created by the built world as a whole. Data shows that of the 50 billion tonnes of greenhouse gases released each year, and counting, more than a third (37%) comes from the built world. Three quarters of buildings in the EU are classed as energy inefficient – a number that’s set to rise to as much as 90% by 2050 – and the world’s carbon dioxide emissions from energy rose yet again in 2023. All against a backdrop of another month of record-breaking global air, and sea surface temperatures in February.
Decarbonising the built world sector, therefore, is urgently required if we are to meet our global climate targets. Yet the scale of the problem, and in particular knowing what to prioritise, also presents the greatest challenge.
Building owners and investors are increasingly waking up to this challenge, as are policy makers. But as the National Audit Office’s report on decarbonising home heating demonstrates, change can not be driven in isolation. There must be a considered and joined up approach where we double down on the most impactful factors. Here are the most pressing.
1. Powering up the grid: There are systemic difficulties in making the switch to renewable energy. One of the biggest being how we power up the grid to be able to reliably and sustainably access the renewable energy we generate. If we’re to make the transition, we urgently need to create better energy storage, and smarter trading and grid tech solutions. Investors need to ramp up investments into companies building future-proofed grids, while real estate owners and property developers need to play their role, from fitting solar arrays and batteries, to investing in ways to monitor building efficiency and reducing the costs associated with clean energy.
2. Addressing the labour and skills shortage: The energy transition is creating huge demand for new skills in construction causing global, industry-wide transformations the likes of which haven’t been since the Industrial Revolution. This shift will require the workforce involved in the retrofitting and climate tech sector to quadruple by 2030. At the same time, there is an urgent need for plumbers, welders, joiners, fitters, electrical engineers and surveyors to upskill. Companies like Germany’s Enter are helping to address this talent shortage, but the private sector cannot meet this demand alone. There needs to be a public policy push towards training programmes, apprenticeships, and reskilling initiatives that make these skills a priority.
3. Building smarter with AI: There’s a huge, and relatively untapped, opportunity to solve many of the problems facing today’s inefficient and unsustainable built world sector using Generative AI and automation. These systems can optimise design, improve efficiency, and reduce errors in construction. Bricklaying robots in Europe, from firms like Monumental, work alongside humans to improve productivity and safety. Yet such advancements require deep collaboration between tech companies, construction firms and the investors backing these technologies to introduce tools that materially shift the dial.
4. Electrifying industry: Industrial heat generation releases massive carbon emissions which need to be tackled. One solution would be to mandate the electrification of industrial processes. Industrial heatpumps and electrical heating solutions will target industrial energy consumption at the lower temperature range, where there is substantial demand. For higher temperature applications that are today predominantly supported by natural gas, coal and biomass, there are emerging thermal storage solutions that can make use of green energy to charge and discharge high temperature heat from companies like Kraftblock.
5. Greener banks: Banks already play a critical and trusted role in financing the built environment and they can help drive the energy transition by acting as a key bridge between public and private capital. Whether that’s through their own partnerships with installers, connecting solution providers to utilities and real estate funds, or instilling trust among consumers. Governments also play a role, through regulations, policies and incentives, that can encourage banks to ‘green’ their loan portfolios. This will not only help boost investments in energy-efficient real estate and green technologies but will help the banks mitigate the energy risk of having property or loan portfolios.
6. Energy for all: Investing into the technologies and policies needed to decarbonise the built world can also have a substantial impact on society. Not just in terms of fuelling economic growth through employment and returns, but in levelling the playing field. A staggering 41 million Europeans were unable to keep their homes warm in 2022. Making energy-efficient housing more accessible and affordable is therefore key, especially for low-income communities. Leaning on tech to retrofit buildings, promote smart meter usage and expanding access to renewable energy will also significant societal gains. Gains that require governments, solution providers, and property developers to be on the same page.
Heat pumps are only the tip of a very large iceberg when it comes to decarbonising our built world. Technology will be essential to address the problems caused by the built world. But long-term changes – that cut across political parties – are needed to accelerate change and to maximise the value of public and private investment in this area.
Images: Youssef Abdelwahab and Ümit Yıldırım
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Mayfair development scheme set up for failure amidst net zero plans
Westminster have announced plans to become the UK’s first net zero city and although this will be good for the planet, it’s not good news for future developments.
Foster & Partners, a global studio for architecture, engineering, urban and landscape design, have submitted plans to demolish and rebuild an eight-storey building in Mayfair, however they are set to be refused by Westminster council next week as the borough targets its goal to become a ‘retrofit-first’ city.
The proposal details plans to demolish 18-19 Saville Row and replace it with a new build office of roughly the same size, aiming to address issues with the existing building which developer The Pollen Estate believes are ‘increasingly rendering [it] obsolete’.
However, Westminster’s planning officers have said the redevelopment of the site is ‘not considered to be justified in sustainability or circular economy terms.’
Against this backdrop, Foster & Partners’ proposals for a retrofit of a former Fenwick department store, which is also located in Mayfair and closed last month, have been recommended for approval ahead of the same planning committee meeting.
The two recommendations come as the council is running a public consultation on its plans to significantly strengthen its planning policies on retrofit aiming to discourage developers from pursuing new build schemes.
If these plans are approved, developers could face carbon offsetting payments up to nine time higher than current levels and would be required to prioritise re-use options on existing buildings before considering demolishing them.
The local authority’s planning officers said the Savile Row scheme ‘fails to adhere to circular economy principles and principles of sustainable design, both of which prioritise the retention, refitting and refurbishment of existing buildings’.
The officers’ report added it would ‘fail to help transition London to a low carbon circular economy through generating unjustified waste and carbon emissions’.
The planning committee are set to meet on 2nd April, when they will make a decision on the two applications.
Image: Jamie Street
Construction begins on major Westminster affordable housing development
Henry Brothers celebrates key development stage in Staffordshire project
The leading UK construction company has held a topping out ceremony to mark a key stage in the project to deliver new facilities at Beacon Barracks.
Henry Brothers have been building a new, two-storey facility for the Squadron – the only British Army unit permanently assigned to NATO – which is set to move from Dorset to Beacon Barracks near Stafford.
The facility in question will include new offices, conference rooms, a reception area, workshops, garaging, storage rooms, welfare facilities and mechanical and electrical plant rooms. In addition, to ensure the new development meets sustainability requirements, it will also feature solar panels on the roof.
As well as constructing this new development, Henry Brothers are also working to create a single-storey satellite communications building, which, as a Deployable Communication Module, has a role to install and control strategic communication and information systems supporting a deployed NATO headquarters.
Personnel at the topping out ceremony for the new facilities, which cost around £22m included representatives from NATO, 280 (NATO) Signal Squadron, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO), Beacon Barracks, contractor Henry Brothers Construction, project manager Mott MacDonald and multi-disciplinary design consultants Pick Everard.
Ian Taylor, MD of Henry Brothers Construction, said: ‘We are very pleased to see this significant milestone being reached on the new facility that Henry Brothers Construction is delivering at Beacon Barracks for 280 (NATO) Signal Squadron. The squadron plays an important role in NATO, and we are proud to support our armed forces.
‘Henry Brothers has worked in partnership with the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) to deliver many improvements and new developments over the years. It’s great to see one of our current projects proceeding well and on track for completion next year, providing 280 (NATO) Signal Squadron with a new base to relocate to from Dorset.’
Steve Cummings, operations director at Pick Everard, who also helped design the project, said: ‘This is an exciting project to help deliver, supporting our troops as well as NATO. We’re delighted to be working collaboratively with Henry Brothers as well as the Ministry of Defence, to design facilities that operate with efficiency and security front of mind, utilising the latest techniques to assist the 280 (NATO) Signal Squadron’s aims.
‘It’s been a great pleasure to help reach this important milestone collectively, combining expertise across the construction supply chain and build on our strong reputation in the defence sector. We look forward to playing an active role as the project progresses through its development stages.’
Image: Henry Brothers
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