Housing Focus – Page 11
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Features
Housing stats: Residential, projects and approvals
Wales limps on while Taylor Wimpey pips ING Real Estate to the top spot
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FeaturesHousing stats: New build sales and completions in October
This month’s data reveals that the South-east has the highest number of completions
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Features
Will raising social housing rent work?
Every extra pound housing associations are allowed to charge in weekly rent generates up to £4.4bn for their development budget, and the chancellor is counting on that money to fund social housing in the future. The question is: will it?
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FeaturesEco co-housing schemes: Give it a spin
The UK has begun experimenting with co-housing schemes that aim to slash emissions while encouraging a more sustainable lifestyle - as you can imagine, communal washing machines that run on harvested rainwater are de rigueur
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FeaturesThe future looks rosy: Sheffield's Park Hill estate
Urban Splash’s refurb of a listed sixties council estate is turning one of the republic of South Yorkshire’s biggest problems into an aspirational address
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FeaturesHousing targets: Who’s afraid of the locals?
Most housebuilders are running like hell from the government’s plan to make them build local homes for local people. But others believe the upcoming reforms will be to their - and the locals’ - advantage
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FeaturesHousing Design Awards: Living proof
It takes more than a numbing recession, constrained sites and nimbyism to stifle creativity in housing design. Martin Spring reviews the winners of this year’s Housing Design Awards
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Features2012 countdown: Jonathan Edwards and the Olympic village
Don’t worry. Jonathan Edwards hasn’t fallen on hard times since winning gold at Sydney in 2000. Rather, Locog is using his expert knowledge to help with the delivery of the £1bn Olympic village, right down to the fixtures and fittings
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FeaturesMainstream green: Brighton belle
One Brighton is the brainchild of the team behind super-green development BedZed. But although sustainability is at the heart of the scheme, it’s going to do it its own sweet way
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FeaturesThe big brother houses: monitoring residents' energy use
Housebuilders can specify all the green technology they want, but what happens when human beings get left in charge of the thermostat? Buro Happold installed sensors to find out, then told Thomas Lane what they discovered
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FeaturesBankside: Have you met the Tate’s new neighbours?
Once snubbed as the poor relation of the trendy South Bank, Bankside has been transformed over the past decade by ambitious design. Now, finally, the residential sector is moving in
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FeaturesRunning Countryside: Another bite of the Cherry
Two days after Countryside chairman Alan Cherry died, his sons were back at work. Graham, the housebuilder’s chief executive, talks to Joey Gardiner about the values his father instilled in him – and whether the company will be able to hang on to its vision in less certain times
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FeaturesStrata tower: Southwark’s sore thumb
The Strata tower sticks out 150m above south London’s downtrodden Elephant and Castle. But, rather than being a symbol of aspiration, the building is turning away from the very area it’s meant to be giving a lift
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Features
What it costs: Flooring
Level access showers can improve quality of life for disabled users. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance looks at the design options and lifecycle costs for retrofitting them into existing floors
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FeaturesCost model update: Small projects
In this latest update, Simon Rawlinson of Davis Langdon reviews the capital costs of primary schools, social housing and small industrial buildings
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FeaturesActon up: £560m South Acton estate
Countryside Properties and L&Q have been selected to help regenerate the £560m South Acton estate
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FeaturesGrant Shapps: A young man in a hurry
Come the summer, Grant Shapps is probably going to be in charge of housing policy. And he’s got an awful lot of policy to get through, from a root-and-branch rethink of planning to a radical overhaul of the HCA. Joey Gardiner asked the questions, Tim Foster took the photos
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FeaturesFinally, they’ve noticed... : Assessing Pay As You Save
Having for so long ignored the energy efficiency of existing homes, politicians have suddenly come up with a raft of schemes. The first of a three-part series looks at Pay As You Save
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FeaturesOpen-plan flats: Opening up
There’s pent-up demand for open-plan flats, but fire safety rules make it difficult for them to get approval. Giving designers a set of templates to follow that include sprinklers and enhanced detection systems could be the answer
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FeaturesBraving the cold: Mike Farley on coaxing Persimmon back to health
Mike Farley had barely got his feet under the desk as Persimmon chief executive when the recession struck, leaving the company with a plummeting share price and soaring debts. Here he tells Tom Bill about his plans to reverse those processes