A landmark High Court ruling that the government remove planning practice guidance exempting small developments from affordable housing obligations will impact many schemes' viability and could alter the way ministers approach policy changes in the future. New planning guidance that exempts small sites from affordable housing obligations has been scrapped following a landmark High Court judgment. 

Mr Justice Holgate’s ruling, issued after a judicial review made by two councils in the south e...

A government industry working group is being set up to promote increased use of off-site prefabrication in house building. The working group has been launched by housing minister Mark Prisk following on from the findings of a new report produced by the Construction Industry Council (CIC). 

Issues for the group to review include:

• encouraging off-site construction and prefabrication to deliver an increased number of new houses
• promoting investment in the emerging sector
• helping to create market con...

New chief construction adviser Peter Hansford has stressed the importance of building information modelling (BIM) to the industry’s future. “BIM is a catalyst for a more collaborative way of working. It is a key agent for economic growth,” Hansford said at the launch of BIM2050 in London this month.

BIM2050 brings together 17 young construction professionals to consider future digital technologies, including BIM. Chaired by David Philp, head of BIM at Mace, BIM 2050 members include Rebec...

The UK’s first well being survey has revealed that owning your own home makes you more happy when compared with living in other tenures.

The survey, carried out by the Office for National statistics, found that 80% of people that owned their home outright or had a mortgage were of medium to high levels of satisfaction. This compared with only 68% of people that found satisfaction living in other types of tenure.

The research even found that ‘An individual’s housing tenure and the leve...

Changes to the heritage protection regime are on the way following publication of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill sponsored by the Department of Business. Many of the proposed changes have been in discussion for some years and English Heritage has welcomed the arrival of legislation to deliver improvements to the system.

The bill seeks to fundamentally change the Heritage List for England so that the extent of a building's special interest would be legally defined in its list entry �...

If you’re looking to buy new windows and doors, then here a few hints and tips to make sure you choose the best company to install your new home improvement products.

1.0       Recommendations

As with all building work, picking a company to install your windows and doors requires you placing your trust in a company you may never have used or even heard of before. That is why it is a good idea to use a company that has been recommended to you by word of mouth. It needs to be someone recommende...