Forbes Solicitors
Housing Property eNews

May 2021

Promotion of 'Modern Methods of Construction' grows as the Government pledges its financial support

In March the UK Budget was announced for the financial year 2021/2022. Included in this was the announcement that the Government intended to launch a Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) taskforce, backed by £10 million of seed funding. This announcement not only highlights the Government's commitment to the creation of MMC homes, but also the accelerated delivery of homes across the sector. We anticipate that this news will cause many in the social housing sector to consider their approach to MMC homes and what benefits this may bring.

Why is there such a focus on MMC and what benefit is it intended to carry?

MMC has risen in popularity as a means of responding to the ever-increasing risk presented to the construction industry, such as the struggle to obtain and maintain talent and the impact of Brexit on the security of labour. As a result, more businesses and some Registered Providers are beginning to consider, and in some cases implement, MMC. We are certainly seeing an increase across the sector.

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Choosing and Implementing Building Warranties/Insurance

Building insurance / warranties are an essential consideration for any development. There are a variety of providers available, all with their own products and add-ons which should be considered to ensure you choose a policy which suits your development's needs. It is important to have discussions with your Developer / Contractor at the early stages of the development to consider these needs and agree the process and responsibilities going forward. Most importantly, we would suggest that you discuss what products you need in place with your legal and insurance teams from the outset of the matter, and make practical, legal arrangements which will ensure the products are established in the most streamline and efficient manner.

 

 

 

The Wild Side of Development

The Metropolitan Police announced in December 2020 that Bellway Homes had admitted damaging or destroying a breeding site or resting place for bats at a construction site in Greenwich, London. Bellway were fined £600,000, which is a record fine and the largest fine ever issued by a court in relation to a wildlife crime, plus they are to pay further costs of over £30,000. Bellway Homes also agreed to make a voluntary donation of £20,000 to the Bat Conservation Trust.

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Supporting the NHS and local community during the COVID pandemic

Aisha Bhailok, a paralegal in the Housing and Regeneration – Property team, and her family have gone above and beyond to support the NHS and local community during the COVID pandemic.

In March 2020 Aisha and her family started an urgent and critical appeal to raise money for their local NHS to provide support and assistance during the pandemic and in 8 weeks they had raised and donated over £121,000. In addition to this her family purchased over 5,000 coronavirus antibody tests and donated these to Lancashire Teaching Hospitals to assist with staff testing as during the early stages of the pandemic testing was extremely limited. They also managed to have PPE items made in Turkey and shipped over to once again donate to the NHS.

They have also offered comfort to members of the muslim community in their final stages in hospital by donating Quran cubes (speakers that play the Quran) along with holy water from Saudi Arabia to hospitals across the country.

More recently Aisha and her family obtained around 5,000 oximeters to donate to families in Preston. These allow patients to monitor their oxygen levels at home and seek further assistance if they drop to a certain level.

Aisha herself added, “There were a lot of doubts and rumours as to vaccines, particularly in the Asian community of Preston. As such, we have had doctors give talks at each of the mosques in Preston and on the mosques radio system to try and dismiss these rumours and ensure everyone has the correct information to keep safe. My family and I have always thought the NHS is one of the greatest things about our country and we want to support it in any way we can.”


Bidding opens for Homes England's Strategic Partnerships - deadline 18 May 2021

Bidding opened this month for housing providers to become strategic partners and gain access to the new Affordable Homes Programme 2021-2026 and the deadline for applications will close at noon on 18 May 2021.

First launched in 2018, Homes England's Strategic Partnership model has enabled housing providers an alternative way to access grant funding by allowing partners to enter into a multi-year grant agreement to deliver affordable housing. Since then, Homes England have signed 23 partnerships with 27 housing associations, providing certainty of grant funding for the duration of the agreement rather than on a scheme-by-scheme basis. Through this scheme Homes England have helped in providing over 40,000 additional affordable homes and the partners have been able to do things they wouldn't otherwise have been able to do.

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Leasehold shake-up

In 2017, the government announced plans to tackle leasehold exploitation following an investigation by The Guardian in 2016, which found that some developers were using contracts on leasehold houses to double ground rents every 10 years, thus making it difficult for leaseholders to sell their homes on. However, following the publication of reports into leasehold enfranchisement last year by the Law Commission, in England, leaseholders are to be given the right to extend their leases by a maximum term of 990 years at zero ground rent, in a move the government claims will form part of the biggest reform in English property law for 40 years and which is likely to save households thousands, to tens of thousands of pounds.

 

Extra £3.5billion to fix unsafe cladding

The government has revealed that it is investing an extra £3.5billion in addition to the £1.6billion already pledged towards the removal of unsafe cladding in high-rise buildings which are taller than 18 metres. This will mean that leaseholders in such buildings will not be charged "for cladding remediation works".

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Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme is changing

The existing Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme is set to be replaced with a new Help to Buy Equity Loan (2021 - 2023) on 1 April 2021. The new scheme will be extended to first-time buyers only along with the introduction of regional price limits. First-time buyers who apply for the loan must use it towards buying a new-build home.

The existing scheme allows both first-time buyers as well as existing homeowners to use the Government backed Help to Buy Equity Loan to buy a new-build home.

 

The Launch of the New Homes Quality Board

New build properties often get bad press with stories of poor quality making the headlines, highlighted in the recently published story of the Developer who was forced to rebuild all four external walls of a property. 

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As of 1 March we will centralising our post systems

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Please only use these numbers going forward.


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The content of this e-alert is merely informative and should not be relied upon as a substitute for legal advice