Category Archives: Developers/ Development

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7 Nov 2018

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Developers/ Development, EDDC, Housing (local), Land banking, Land Supply, NPPF, Planning System, Spin

Housing minister threatens councils on housing numbers – NOT developers!

The Express headline is:

‘Make their EYES water!’ Housing minister WARNING to councils who FAIL to meet targets

and the article goes on to blame councils for low housing numbers rather than developers who are hoarding hundreds of thousands of planning permissions, trickling out completions to keep house prices artificially high.

Message to Minister: stop shooting own foot, stop shooting councils, start squeezing developers till THEIR pips squeak!

Oh, and that bit about “developers starting on site” within two years. Legally, all they have to do is put in minimal foundations then they can leave the site unbuilt for as long as they want.

“Kit Malthouse MP was speaking to Nick Ferrari on national radio this morning to explain how the Tories are intending to “up the ante” for both developers and council planning teams so as to roll out new housing.

Mr Malthouse cited the introduction of a new scheme, the ‘Housing Delivery Test’, as one way in which the government’s building objectives might be more effectively met.

He said councils “have to hit a certain percentage of the forecast housing in their plan, and if they don’t we essentially take it out of their hands.

“If they drop below 85 percent of delivery they have to use an action plan, but if they drop below 25 percent delivery the government takes it out of their hands and they lose the ability to control a certain amount of housing in their area.”

“We want them to issue two year planning permissions, not three or five years, and if the developer doesn’t start on site within the two years that they’re able to say ‘your site’s out now’.

“You only have to do it once or twice for the development community to realise that we’re serious about this.”

The Minister explained that the Tories would give developers “big tools” to compel them to develop.

He concluded: “We’re putting big pressure on local authorities, big pressure on developers to come together.

“I do feel sometimes a bit like a marriage guidance councillor between the two because they do all shout at each other and point across the table at events that I’m at.”

Ministers say they will build 300,000 new homes a year, considerably up on the current build rate and more than in any year since the 1960s.

But a survey for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that only 12 percent of members expressed any confidence in that number of new homes being delivered.”

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6 Nov 2018

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, EDDC HQ, Hugo Swire

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Swire wants planning officers to be accredited yearly while a Tory aesthetic political philosoper tries to improve building design!

One should see this in context.

1. This government refused to support CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) and it was subsumed into the charitable “Design Council”. Design Council CABE, is intended to operate as a “self-sustaining” business ie no support from the government.

2. NOW the government is worried about all the developer-led atrocities of design and building and needs to be seen to be sort-of doing something (preferably something on the cheap).

3. The person Swire refers to effusively – Sir Roger Scruton – is described thus in Wikipedia:

“Sir Roger Vernon Scruton FBA FRSL is an English philosopher and writer who specialises in aesthetics and political philosophy, particularly in the furtherance of traditionalist conservative views.”

4. Swire is positioning himself for a general election – expect more of this sort of thing!

Question from Swire:

“I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend on the establishment of the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission and the inspired choice of Sir Roger Scruton as the chairman, but, first, does my right hon. Friend not agree that this will only have any teeth if we can get the volume house builders to buy into it? Secondly, I think that the commission should be extended to look at the quality and the variable advice often given by local planning officers and at a full accreditation scheme for those planning officers on an annual basis to refresh them.”

Response from James BrokenshireJames Brokenshire The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government:

“I certainly want the new commission to drive quality in the built environment, which is at the heart of what my right hon. Friend said. If we do that, we can speed up this process and get greater support and consent from the public in building the homes that our country needs. I therefore think that the house builders should very much embrace this.”

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4 Nov 2018

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Affordable and Social Housing, Austerity cuts, Developers/ Development, Housing (local), Inequality

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“Theresa May’s flagship policy to solve housing crisis will deliver no new homes in half of England”

“Theresa May’s flagship policy for sparking a revival in council housebuilding will not deliver a single new home in more than half of the local authorities in England, The Independent can reveal.

Some of the most deprived towns and cities with the greatest need for new homes, including Liverpool, Bolton and Wakefield, are among areas that will miss out as a result of changes that will only benefit some councils.

The prime minister used her speech to the Conservatives’ annual conference last month to announce a major change that will see the government scrap restrictions on how much councils can borrow to fund housing.

She said: “Solving the housing crisis is the biggest domestic policy challenge of our generation. It doesn’t make sense to stop councils from playing their part in solving it.”

No 10 said the move would allow councils to build up to 10,000 new homes a year for low-income families, as councils scale up borrowing by £4.6bn.

However, ministers have admitted that less than half of councils have the type of account that will allow them to increase their borrowing.

Only 160 of the 326 councils in England with responsibility for housing have housing revenue accounts (HRAs), the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said.

The revelation will prompt fears that people in areas with a desperate need for new homes will lose out, while those in neighbouring areas could benefit from a boom in housebuilding.

Councils set to miss out on the potential funding boost include several with some of the longest housing waiting lists in the country.

Authorities that will be unable to borrow more include Bolton, where 25,600 households are on the council waiting list – the third highest in England – and Wakefield, the sixth highest with 20,600 families waiting for a home.

Liverpool, which has the 11th longest waiting list, totalling 16,500 households, will also miss out.

The Independent has revealed that the government spending watchdog believes the lifting of the HRA cap will deliver far fewer new homes than Downing Street claimed.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the move would result in fewer than 9,000 new homes over the next five and a half years – a fraction of the 10,000 per year predicted by ministers.

While it will allow councils to build 20,000 new homes – around 3,600 a year – the OBR said this would be offset by fewer homes being built by housing associations, meaning the net total is just 9,000.

Many councils have already transferred their housing stock to a housing association and closed their housing accounts, meaning they will miss out on the ability to use their increased borrowing powers to fund thousands of new homes.

In response to a parliamentary question from Labour, housing secretary James Brokenshire said: “There are 160 local housing authorities without a housing revenue account, as they have transferred their housing stock to a housing association.”

Governments have long encouraged councils to close their housing accounts and transfer their homes to a private body because, unlike council borrowing, housing association debt has traditionally not been included in national debt figures.

Under current rules, councils must own 200 homes before they are allowed to open a housing revenue account, creating an obstacle for many that might now wish to do so. Authorities are also likely to have lost their housing expertise when they transferred their properties to a housing association. …”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/theresa-may-housing-policy-local-councils-rents-revenue-borrowing-half-england-a8617201.html

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4 Nov 2018

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Developers/ Development, Inequality, Lobbying

NIMBY MPs get their way in Milton Keynes

“Plans for a major expansion of one of Britain’s best known “new towns” were dropped from the Budget at the eleventh hour after heated objections from a government whip and a defence minister, The Sunday Telegraph can disclose.

Iain Stewart and Mark Lancaster, the Tory MPs for Milton Keynes, opposed proposals for some 100,000 new homes on the outskirts of the town, over fears that an influx of residents could clog up its roads and overburden the local hospital. …”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/11/03/milton-keynes-major-expansion-dropped-budget-eleventh-hour/

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3 Nov 2018

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Developers/ Development, Persimmon, Redrow, Wainhomes

Wain Homes, Redrow, Persimmon – more local horror stories

One home selling for £50,000 less than bought for after 10 months to escape it (Wain Homes, South Molton); one family moved out for 3 weeks at their own expense as the house was unliveable in (Redrow, Exeter) and one home allegedly still has 120 problems 5 years after moving in (Persimmon, Exeter).

https://www.devonlive.com/news/new-build-horror-home-stories-2177182

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2 Nov 2018

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Developers/ Development, Exmouth, Fords of Sidmouth, Planning System, Sidford Business Park

Exmouth has too much employment land says retirement developer*

* How odd – Sidmouth doesn’t have enough employment land and Exmouth has too much – maybe Exmouth could take the companies that want to occupy the Sidford Business Park!

“The planning inspectorate has now set a date of February 5, 2019, to hear arguments for and against a 59-apartment retirement community on land near Tesco, in Salterton Road originally refused by East Devon District Council as the land has been earmarked for commercial use.

In its appeal statement, developer YourLife Management Services – a joint venture between Somerset Care and McCarthy and Stone – argues that the employment allocation is ‘surplus to requirements’ and not a ‘viable’ proposition ‘now or in the near future’.

Ian Cann, vice chairman of the emerging neighbourhood plan – currently being assessed by independent examiners ahead of a public referendum – has urged the planning inspectorate to consider the need for employment land in Exmouth.

He said: “One of the focuses of the neighbourhood plan is for Exmouth to be ‘demographically balanced’ and at the moment it’s out of sync and we need to retain our younger people in the town.

“It’s all well and good giving them a house but they need to have job.

“If you want to retain this people in the town you need to create as many jobs as possible. To do that, we have to identify as much commercial land as possible.

“We have to defend against other uses of land identified for commercial use – we have to defend that to the hilt.”

If the planning inspector agrees with developers, the application, which includes self-contained flats for those over 70 years old, would be approved.

Exmouth Town Council’s planning committee has twice opposed the application, despite the developer putting its case forward.

All previous representations made about the proposal have been forwarded to the planning inspectorate and people have an opportunity to either change or add their comments by Monday, November 12.

Visit https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk or emailing west2@pins.gsi.gov.uk to comment on the plans.

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/planning-appeal-date-set-for-rejected-exmouth-retirements-flats-plan-1-5762317

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2 Nov 2018

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Persimmon

Persimmon: yet another horror story

(The photographs accompanying this article are truly shocking)

“A STRESSED-out dad is suing over his “shoddy” brand new home which has brick walls looking like a wavy patchwork quilt.

When Darren Harris collected the keys to his freshly constructed £210,000 four-bedroom house, he was shocked to find more than 80 defects.

The 53-year-old was also stunned to learn the bumpy brickwork on his house wall had become a laughing stock of the neighbourhood.

The civil engineer has shared pictures of the poor workmanship and plans to take legal action against Persimmon Homes, which built the house on the Martello Park estate in Pembroke, West Wales.

Harris said: “We got the keys to our house and I drove down to the property with my wife.

“The neighbours came over and asked me if I had seen the brickwork on the back of the house.

“They said to me ‘We have been having a bit of a laugh and a giggle’. It looks unstable, the brickwork is wavy and looks unsafe.”

He and his wife, an area manager for Greggs bakery, then decided to take a look inside their property, but struggled to open the door.

The engineer said: “We put the key in but the door wouldn’t budge. We couldn’t get in.

“I thought there must be a problem and went back to the site office. A Persimmon agent came back with me and in the end he had to shoulder-barge the door to get it open.”

They discovered later that the door frame was fitted incorrectly.

As time went on the list of problems expanded with Harris finding that “drain covers weren’t fitted properly, paving was laid on top of rubble, the guttering doesn’t reach the end of the house and water cascades down the sides when it rains.

“The doors inside all had to be rehung and I’ve done so much work myself just to get it liveable.

“Everything is appallingly built – the workmanship is just shoddy. The problems are unbelievable.”

Mr Harris bought the house before it was built, after seeing a show home on the site.

He said: “It looked like a nice spot, with views of Pembroke Castle. We put a deposit down in February and planned to rent it out.

“But ever since we got the keys, the reality has been far from perfect.

“It’s caused my wife and I no end of worry and stress. She has been in tears. If my marriage wasn’t so strong this could have finished us.”

Now Harris, from Sutton Coldfield in the Midlands, says he has no option but to take Persimmon Homes to court.

He said: “I have been on to head office. I have been brave enough to take them on and take them to the small claims court.

“The rectification work they attempted was not acceptable. I have given them the opportunity to put it right.

“I have had to put off getting my tenants in, which has resulted in losses of £1,600.

“We have been forced to get on with the retrospective work ourselves and it has cost us thousands. That’s the only way I could get the house finished and ready for our tenants.”

A spokesman for Persimmon Homes West Wales said: “We are aware of Mr Harris’s concerns and we are working to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

“We have many happy customers across South Wales and we take customer service seriously.”

In October, Persimmon’s boss Jeff Fairburn walked off in the middle of a BBC interview after he was grilled about his whopping £75million bonus.

When questioned over any regrets about last year’s payout – cut from £100million after a public outcry – Fairburn replied: “I’d rather not talk about that”.

The payout is believed to be the largest by a listed UK firm, the BBC said.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7647536/brand-new-house-wales-wonky-brickwork-sinking-garden/

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2 Nov 2018

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Housing (local), Local Government Finance, Spin

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Affordable housing: with this government there is ALWAYS a catch!

“Government’s new council house building drive will come at expense of housing associations”

The Government’s council house building drive will come at the expense of fewer new units constructed by housing associations, The Independent has learned.

The revelation that housing associations will be partially crowded out casts doubt on the Government’s claims to be fully committed to a surge of new housing for people on low incomes.

In her Conservative conference speech in October Theresa May announced the borrowing cap on local councils would be lifted in order to allow authorities to start building houses for low-income families again in serious volumes for the first time in thirty years.

It was a reform that housing campaigners and many council bosses had long pressed for as a vital element of solving the shortage of social housing.

In the Budget on Monday, Philip Hammond followed up on the pledge, with official Treasury estimates suggesting the removal of the cap would lead to extra borrowing to build by councils of £4.6bn over the next six years.

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility said it expected new council house construction of 20,000 units over the period as a result of the lifting of the cap.

However, the OBR, also added that it expected this to crowd out private house building, with every two new council houses resulting in roughly one less new private house, meaning the net impact on new housing supply as result of lifting the cap would be only 9,000.

And The Independent has learned that the basis for this assumption is that councils, as well as funding new council building from borrowing, will also partly fund the new supply by tapping funds from the Affordable Housing Programme (AHP).

This is a pot of government grant money currently mainly drawn on by housing associations (charities and third sector organisations that provide housing at below-market rates) to fund their own construction of social housing

The upshot is that the OBR thinks housing associations’ available government grants will effectively be squeezed to accommodate councils. …”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/council-house-building-social-housing-associations-theresa-may-a8614281.html

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2 Nov 2018

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Accountability, Developers/ Development, Unitisation

More on that unitary council “sunset clause”

(See post below also)

Looks like, after March 2019 there will be no chance of a Devon unitary council as ALL councils to be subsumed will have to agree.

To many vested interests (particularly in the area of planning!) even if there were financial savings to be had. Developers trump savings!

http://localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=37206%3Acommunities-secretary-warns-councils-ahead-of-change-to-process-on-reorganisations&catid=59&Itemid=27

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31 Oct 2018

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Austerity cuts, Developers/ Development, Housing (local)

“Budget 2018: Big housing plan will supply only 9,000 extra homes”

“Theresa May’s plan to solve the housing crisis will result in only 1,500 additional homes being built each year, the government’s budget watchdog has said.

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts that the decision to allow councils to borrow extra money to build more social housing, which was the centrepiece of the prime minister’s party conference speech, will result in no more than 9,000 extra homes by 2024. It said that the plan would “crowd out” private sector construction as local authorities were forced to poach skilled tradesmen from house builders.

The analysis is likely to anger the prime minister because it contradicts previous predictions that the policy will help the government to meet its target of 300,000 new homes a year. “

Source: The Times (pay wall)

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29 Oct 2018

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Developers/ Development, Housing (local), Persimmon

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Developers get another easy ride budget

“In a boost for U.K. homebuilders, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will introduce a new Help to Buy program that will run from 2021 until 2023.

The scheme extends the original program, which has drawn criticism for boosting prices. It will be limited to first-time buyers and regional price caps will be introduced, limiting the value of the home to 1.5 times the price for an average debut home purchaser.

The government gives home buyers an interest-free loan of 20 percent to 40 percent of the purchase price under the program. The announcement was made alongside the publication of an independent, government-commissioned review of the original program. Some had feared the review might result in the policy being scrapped, but it confirmed the policy has boosted house building.

Persimmon plc, the U.K.’s largest home builder, has gained about 107 percent since the introduction of Help to Buy in April 2013. About 60 percent of the company’s home sales are through the Help to Buy program, according to research by analysts at Liberum. The policy, which has already been extended once, was due to expire in 2021.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-29/u-k-to-start-new-help-to-buy-program-for-first-time-buyers

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25 Oct 2018

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Affordable and Social Housing, Developers/ Development, Housing (local), Land banking

“Developers hog land for record 130,000 homes, analysis reveals”

“Developers are sitting on land for more than 130,000 homes in England that have never been built – the worst gap on record, according to new analysis.

The record gap between planning permissions granted and new homes being built has led to calls for tough new penalties to be enforced against developers that sit on land rather than build.

… The analysis of housing ministry (MCHLG) figures showed that in 2016-17, planning permission for 313,700 new homes was given, but only 183,570 homes built, meaning a notional annual gap of more than 130,000 homes, the biggest divergence since records began in 2006.

The percentage of homes built versus permission granted was just 58%, a rate that has been roughly steady since 2012.

… Landowners sell at a price that factors in a significant increase in value after obtaining planning consent, meaning a hectare of agricultural land worth £20,000 can sell for closer to £2m if it is zoned for housing. Developers regularly deny using land to speculate, arguing more profit can usually be made from building.

Labour is considering a policy to give the Land Trust powers to buy sites at closer to the lower price, by changing the 1961 Land Compensation Act so the state could compulsorily purchase land at a price that excluded the potential for future planning consent. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/25/developers-hog-land-for-record-130000-homes-analysis-reveals

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25 Oct 2018

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Axminster, Developers/ Development, EDDC, Persimmon, Transport (local)

EDDC hopes Persimmon and Crown Estates will pay them back for Axminster Relief Road!

Owl says: good luck with that!

“Councillors are being asked to borrow nearly £7m to ensure the long-awaiting Axminster relief road can be delivered.

The £16.7m road, which hopes to finally end the bottleneck of traffic travelling through the town centre, would be built to the east of the town near land allocated in the Local Plan for 650 homes, eight hectares of employment land, and a primary school.

£10m from the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund will help deliver the road, with the remainder of the cost covered by developers.

But East Devon District Council’s Cabinet is being recommended to borrow and forward fund the remaining £6.7m, and claw the funds back from developers at a later date, to ensure the road can be built in one swoop and not in stages, as Persimmon Homes control the northern and southern parts of the site and would provide the two ends of the relief road, while the Crown Estate control land in the middle.

A draft masterplan which will provide a template for the development of the site is expected to come before the Strategic Planning Committee by the end of 2018.

The report of Ed Freeman, Service Lead for Planning Strategy and Development Management, to next Wednesday’s cabinet meeting says: “The relief road is vital to the future growth of the town given the impact that HGV’s and other traffic passing through the town has on congestion, air quality, the attractiveness of the town centre and the damage that has been caused to historic buildings as large vehicles try and navigate its narrow streets. The relief road has the potential to divert 30 per cent of all traffic which travels east after passing through the town centre.”

Mr Freeman is recommending that the Council deliver the road in its entirety from the start of this project using the £10m HIF funding they have successfully bid for and borrowing the shortfall.

He added: “It is considered that the only realistic and viable means of delivering the relief road and doing it in good time to deliver the benefits for the community of Axminster is to procure and deliver the entire relief road borrowing the additional funds from the public loans and works board with repayment secured from the developers.

…. Questions though have been raised about whether the proposed north/south bypass that runs to the east of the town is the best option for Axminster.

At a recent town forum event concerning the relief road, residents said that a western route would be preferable as it would eliminate the bottleneck at the Weycroft Bridge, which the current proposed eastern route did not.

However, reporting back at a town council meeting, Cllr Ian Hall, East Devon District Council’s ward member for Axminster Rural and County Councillor for Axminster, said that the £10 million Housing Infrastructure Funding was not transferable to another route in Axminster.”

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/7m-borrowed-council-ensure-axminster-2147861

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25 Oct 2018

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Accountability, Affordable and Social Housing, Developers/ Development, Environment (local), Housing (local), Sustainability, Transport (local)

“New houses must be more than Noddy dwellings in the middle of nowhere”

“….. A report by the campaign group Transport for New Homes reveals a landscape pockmarked with new developments cut off from public transport, forcing people on low and middle incomes into car ownership – often two per household – for the sake of a cheaper house. Researchers visited 20 new housing developments around the country, many of which, in the report’s words, didn’t “connect to anything other than the road network”.

Central government assigns housebuilding targets to councils, which they must deliver purely on the basis of numbers. Local planners ask meekly for funding to integrate new developments into public transport networks and are told to get lost, because properly planned and integrated transport takes time, money and, above all, political will.

Planning incentives ‘lead to housing estates centred on car use’

The net result is that “we are building car parks as much as new homes”, according to the report. Compare this with the Netherlands, where any new development has to have integration into walking, cycling and public transport as a primary priority, and where a nationwide smartcard can be used anywhere in the country on any mode of public transport. (This fact alone makes me want to move there.)

Britain right after the war was better served by public transport than it is now. Until the late 1950s most towns and cities had extensive and cheap tram and trolleybus networks to complement buses. Rural and semi-rural areas were served by an extensive branch railway network until the 1963 Beeching report cut thousands of miles from the national network and closed more than 2,000 stations.

Only in the late 1970s did some councils, facing increasing congestion and pollution, try to redress the imbalance by offering super-cheap bus fares on their municipal services.

While car ownership appears to have peaked, the number of car journeys has risen since the 2008 crash, suggesting more pressured lives, longer and more frequent commutes, and the legacy of public transport cuts. Younger people are increasingly drawn to cities, where public transport tends to be better, and are less likely than ever to own cars. Yet those who live outside cities are increasingly forced towards car use, purely because planners can’t force developers to do anything other than build houses. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/25/new-houses-housing-targets-residents-car

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25 Oct 2018

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Accountability, Austerity cuts, Developers/ Development, EDDC, Local Government Finance

EDDC cannot protect heritage assets due to its “limited resources” leaving them at the mercy of developers

Owl says: no surprises there …..

“Hundreds of hours have been ‘wasted’ trying to protect important historical buildings after a council delayed a formal review for the third time, say a campaign group

The criticism was levelled at East Devon District Council (EDDC) by the Otter Valley Association (OVA) after a formal review into heritage assets in the area was postponed for a third time.

OVA campaigners are worried without a review planning decisions may be made which compromise important historical buildings and structures.

An OVA spokesman said: “For the third time since 2016, EDDC has postponed the long promised formal review of the local heritage assets list by the strategic planning committee.

“So, 100 hours of work wasted as the list is not legally accepted for planning purposes, as demonstrated by an inspector’s decision on a recent planning application which dismissed any idea of the ‘specialness’ to the community of a beautiful Hatchard Smith house in Budleigh Salterton.”

A spokeswoman for EDDC responded to the association’s criticisms, she said: “We very much value the hard work that the OVA has put into their list of nominations for the local list of heritage assets and are sorry that we have not been able to progress this work more quickly.

“Unfortunately, we have limited resources and, first and foremost, we have to prioritise undertaking our statutory duties in relation to listed buildings, conservation areas and other heritage assets to ensure that the nationally important heritage assets in the district are conserved.”

According to EDDC there are more than 3,000 entries on the national list in East Devon and the work involved in conserving the structures ‘leaves little time to commit to compiling a list of locally important heritage assets’.

However, work is being done on the council’s heritage strategy which will clarify the council’s position on the local list as well as provide a timeline for production of the list.

The spokeswoman added: “The heritage strategy has been delayed to enable wider engagement with the membership of the council, however this additional work will lead to a better strategy and a wider understanding of the issues among council members before it is presented to the Council’s strategic planning committee on November 27.”

http://www.exmouthjournal.co.uk/news/heritage-asset-review-east-devon-1-5751668

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25 Oct 2018

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Austerity cuts, Cranbrook, Developers/ Development, Inequality

EDDC says it can’t afford to part-fund a community worker for Cranbrook

Yet it can spend £10 million-plus on a new HQ and says section 106 funding is running out despite continued building-out of the town. Developers seem to be getting a really easy ride in Cranbrook.

http://www.midweekherald.co.uk/news/fundraising-bid-to-employ-community-development-worker-for-cranbrook-dashed-1-5751029

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24 Oct 2018

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Accountability, Cranbrook, Developers/ Development, EDDC, Transport (local)

Cranbrook: no road markings causing serious problems with anti-social parking

Cranbrook Town Council Facebook page draws attention to a serious traffic problem:

“APPEAL FOR CONSIDERATE PARKING ON CRANBROOK’S ROADS:

There was another near miss earlier today when a resident pulling carefully out of their road was unable, due to cars parked at the junction, to see a group of approaching cyclists. Although nobody was hurt on this occasion, the cyclists had to swerve and could have been forced into the path of oncoming traffic. Although Cranbrook has no road lining may we remind residents that the principles of the Highway Code still apply.”

6 mins ·
MESSAGE & APOLOGY FROM E.ON FOR PHASE 4 RESIDENTS – OVERRUN
E.on is sorry that the works to the temporary energy centre on Phase 4 have overrun but assures residents they should be completed by 5pm.

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23 Oct 2018

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Affordable and Social Housing, Developers/ Development, Housing (local)

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Empty secret database of “rogue landlords” to be kept secret!

More than one MP destined to be in it, perhaps?

“The government’s new rogue landlord database was billed as a key tool for local councils to target the country’s worst landlords, but, more than six months after the system started, not a single name has been added – and even when some are added, the public will not be able to find out.

A freedom of information request filed by the Guardian and ITV News revealed that by the end of August the database was empty. When details of rogue landlords are eventually entered they will only be accessible to central and local government, unless the rules are changed.

When the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was asked via another freedom of information request to spell out why the public would be denied access to the database, it said the reasons behind keeping the database’s contents secret were also secret. …”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/oct/23/governments-rogue-landlord-list-empty-after-six-months

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23 Oct 2018

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Developers/ Development, Persimmon

“Furious families are forced to EVACUATE their 11-year-old homes while developer Persimmon pays its chief executive £47m”

“Families forced to evacuate their homes because they could collapse have accused one of the country’s biggest builders of abandoning them while it paid executives millions of pounds in bonuses.

Residents of Philmont Court, a four-storey block of flats built in Coventry just 11 years ago, said they felt betrayed by developer Persimmon after more than a decade of problems with their properties.

They have been forced into temporary accommodation while repair work takes place after experts warned extreme winds could cause the building to partially collapse.

The alarming problem was only discovered when builders were called in to fix defects with insulation throughout the 48 apartments, which residents say have caused widespread damp and mould. One resident claimed the conditions have caused her seven-year-old son to develop breathing problems.

There were also complaints about guttering, noise, the plumbing and electrics – but despite repeated pleas for help over ten years, Persimmon has refused to deal directly with the residents.

The situation is a further embarrassment for the company after it paid its top three executives £104 million last year. Jeff Fairburn, the chief executive, was paid £47 million alone.

He last week flounced out of a television interview when asked about the payout. The 52-year-old is under pressure to give up his massive bonuses and for the company to provide compensation to the residents in Tile Hill, Coventry.

Geoffrey Robinson, MP for Coventry North West, said: ‘For Jeff Fairburn and Persimmon to treat these residents in this way, many who are first-time buyers, is utterly scandalous. If he had any compassion, he would compensate my constituents.’

Hayley MacSkimming-Barnett said a bedroom used by her children Lydia, ten, and Cameron, eight, had been severely affected by mould. The 34-year-old interior designer said: ‘There was mould growing up the bedroom walls, in the wardrobes, under the children’s mattresses and on their teddy bears. But every time we raised it we were told there was nothing wrong with the building.

‘My son has developed chest problems and during every winter we have had to take him to hospital because his airway has closed up.

‘Persimmon built these homes and it should accept responsibility. The bosses wouldn’t live somewhere like that – and I’m sure their children don’t have to sleep on mouldy mattresses.’

Philmont Court was built in 2007 by Westbury, a company owned by Persimmon.

But soon after moving in, residents began to complain of condensation and mould. Landlord Whitefriars, which bought the building, told them they were not airing the flats properly. In 2016 inspections were finally carried out and problems with insulation around windows were discovered.

Under a warranty which applies to most new homes, industry body the National House Building Council (NHBC) was called in to fix the problems. But builders discovered even more serious structural problems and residents were moved into temporary accommodation in May this year and repair work began in August.

Resident Hannah Perch said the ordeal had ruined the experience of buying her first home.

The 27-year-old teacher said: ‘The idea of the Persimmon executives getting paid these bonuses makes me livid.’ …”

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