By Jessica Beckett A hundred years ago housing was made a national responsibility with the introduction of the Housing Act. A watershed moment in social housing, the legislation provided subsidies for local authorities to help finance the construction of houses for the “working classes” in post-World War One Britain. But a century on, and with…
Category: Housebuilding
Newgate in Housebuilder magazine: The Race to 300,000 Homes
The article below, taken from this month’s Housebuilder magazine, is written by Newgate’s David Scane. David Scane, associate partner at Newgate Communications, argues that annual housing targets should reflect the number of new homes in the “planning pipelines”. This could benefit local authorities and developers alike. Last month in an interview with the Times Housing…
Why modular should be the model
By Rosie Abrahamson The last time modular housing was in vogue, an embattled Conservative government was haggling over our relationship with Europe while chasing an ambitious set of house building targets. The early 1960s was the pre-fab era; when Henry Ford’s infamous vehicle manufacturing strategy was applied to housing. The result, a series of bland, anonymous…
The Letwin Review: No Yeezy Answers
Written by David Scane, Associate Partner Newgate Communications Most people, when asked, will tell you that there are strikingly few comparisons to be made between Kanye West and Sir Oliver Letwin. However, it turns out that the two men share one vital thing in common- a love of releasing highly anticipated work with very little…
Newgate in Housebuilder magazine: Innovation in Bristol Housing
The article below featured in the September edition of Housebuilder magazine. Drew Aspinwall, account director at Newgate Communications in Bristol, says that the city has a reputation for dong things differently, with its multi-initiative approach to affordable housing proving to be successful. Bristol is squaring up to its affordable housing crisis with a range of…
Newgate in Housebuilder magazine: Do we need to change the conversation around housing?
The article below originally appeared in the July edition of Housebuilder magazine. We all know there is a housing crisis. Historically we’ve not built enough homes and this has had a knock-on effect on home ownership levels and affordability. Yet despite the pent-up demand (and the rapidly decreasing numbers of people under 35 that own…
Newgate in Housebuilder magazine: The state of Labour after the local elections
The article below is taken from the June edition of Housebuilder magazine. The Labour Party’s momentum seemed to fizzle out on 3 May. It didn’t hit a wall, it seemed to just slowly run out of steam. In fact, it was a draw as far as both the two main parties are concerned. That however is…
New research reveals local councillors think housing crisis is getting worse
61% believe housing crisis is getting worse 51% blame slow build out rate by developers Providing affordable homes the top priority 60% believe viability assessments being used by developers to avoid planning obligations 43% agree that Green Belt should be reviewed Newgate Communications’ Planning Committee Barometer reveals local councillors’ views on planning issues with housing…
What Labour’s Housing Green Paper could mean for housebuilders and developers
The Context Yesterday saw the release of Labour’s Housing green paper, ‘Housing for the Many’, exactly a fortnight from the local elections due to take place in May. It’s tempting to see this as a reprise of Labour’s strategy in last year’s General Election of drip-feeding big headline policy announcements in the run-up to the…
Newgate in Housebuilder magazine: Stepping up to the council plate
The article below featured in the April edition of Housebuilder magazine. Newgate partner, Zoe Ensor, head of Newgate North, thinks it is time that industry experts stepped forward to become councillors to shift the balance in council chambers. The media spotlight landed on a new phrase recently with the public being introduced to the term…