Two cheers for the housebuilders

With a major housebuilder making record-breaking profits of over £1bn last year, inviting the secretary of state to speak at its annual conference in March might not have been the Home Builders Federation’s smartest move.

James Brokenshire didn’t hold back. “For most people, buying a home is one of the biggest financial and emotional investments of their lives. And for that to go from being a cherished dream to becoming a nightmare of snagging problems months after moving in and punitive costs is simply unacceptable.”

事实上，这家建筑商也从“购买帮助”中获利最多，而且在建筑质量方面一直名列最差之列。Brokenshire went on to warn that he would be, “…considering carefully how the developers who work with us meet the standards and quality that customers expect and deserve.”

This came after widespread concern about the growing practice of new homes being sold under leasehold, rather than freehold, and charging ground rents that double year on year. It is seen as particularly unfair that this involves houses as well as flats.

这是YouGov受屋主联盟、BLP和Resi.co.委托进行的一系列调查的最新结果。对英国住房存量质量和我们过时的租赁制度的担忧正以五年来最快的速度上升。相关研究发现，现在63%的成年人认为英国的家庭质量是一个严重的问题。租赁问题的比例也不低，为60%，负资产也令人担忧。

These stats relate to all householders, not just those in new housing. But given that most adults would prefer an old home to a new one, the HBF’s claim that over 90% of the new homebuyers it surveyed in March 2018 said they would buy a new home again, seems surprising.

For years, the main argument has been that if people didn’t like new homes, they wouldn’t buy them. Disingenuous given the acute shortage and the fact that almost all the incentives, including Help to Buy and the New Homes Bonus, only apply to new homes.

So far, Brokenshire’s bark seems worse than his bite. He has confirmed that Help to Buy will be extended beyond 2021, though admittedly restricted to first-time buyers from that point on – a condition that should have been obvious from the start. It would have been smarter to incentivise young buyers to invest in existing homes and encourage churn, given how little of our existing stock is suitable for older people.

The problem with the other well-worn rebuttal that, “people would be complaining if they were unhappy with their homes”,一直都是你可以向谁抱怨。社交媒体正在改变这一点。博维斯在前年也遭遇了#MeToo(我也是)运动，当时有1000多名新房主加入了Facebook的活动。当媒体大量报道缺陷和低劣工艺的负面报道时，它很快变得太大而无法忽视。

It has made a difference. Bovis has since spent £7m on repairs and has risen to four stars (HBF stars, that is) compared with two stars the year before. And Persimmon – whose chief executive resigned under pressure having received a massive pay cheque due to its record profits – is now working to improve its reputation. Announcing recently that it will be the first housebuilder to offer buyers a “snagging retention” (allow 1.5% of the total home value to be withheld by the buyer’s solicitor), it is now promising an independent review of its build quality and customer service.

You could be forgiven for worrying that the offer seems to be to rectify only, “any faults identified at the point of key release”, and that the average retention of £3,600 (equivalent to 6% of build fabric costs) might just be added to the purchase price. And you may question how Stephanie Barwise QC will manage this commission alongside her current role representing survivors and victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, and whether her report will be made public. But it’s a start and the chances are that others will follow suit.

Taylor Wimpey also deserves some credit. Having sponsored a recent survey by Foundations Independent Living Trust – the government-funded national body for home improvement agencies, which found that a third of older people (over-65s in this case) are put off moving by the stress involved and that 11% would move if support was available – it is trialling ways to support those contemplating a move.

这位所谓的“高级搬家经理”显然已经改变了美国人对裁员的印象。需要一些文化调整的不仅仅是职位名称。对许多美国人来说，裁员意味着搬到一个庞大的退休社区。最大的村庄之一(具有讽刺意味的是被称为“村庄”)有56000个“居民”，分布在三个县。

No doubt everyone understands that option is unlikely to have much appeal here. I suspect that one of the solutions is something much simpler but rarely seen: a flexible, contemporary, light, spacious, two-bedroomed, wheelchair-adaptable house, with a level access shower, plenty of storage, a small, paved garden and easy access to a green space and a bus-stop.

如果它不是真的，那将是一种廉价的做法:当涉及到住房问题时，我们有一种诀窍，既忽略了显而易见的问题，也忽略了困难的问题。虽然公平地说，如果整个行业都采取这三家公司采取的措施，情况会有所不同，但很明显，我们需要一种更激进的方法来设计和布局郊区住宅。

It should be obvious to everyone that detached housing is unsustainable. It makes no sense for the combined surface area of the external walls of a new home to be greater than its total floor space, particularly when the two largest walls are only a couple of metres apart and lose heat without bringing in any light. It is pointless to have a roof space you can’t use; ironic to have space to park two cars outside your front door but nowhere to store a bike. And ridiculous that we seem to need at least two wheelie bins and a lawnmower each, and that a postman brings junk mail to our door six days a week – often in a van that stops and starts every 100m.

As a self-proclaimed not-for-profit organisation, perhaps the HBF could divert more of its considerable revenue towards research into forward-looking ways to live and make that the theme of next year’s conference?