Speaking at the CIH Housing 2020 Conference yesterday, Government Housing Minister Christopher Pincher spent time ‘myth busting’ the criticisms of his planning reforms. Praise for Key Workers At 1.30pm on Monday, virtual delegates eagerly awaited the live keynote session from Mr. Pincher, keen to learn what news and additional insights the Government were prepared to share on the Housing sector. Before addressing the merits of the Government’s “Planning for the Future” white paper, the Minister took time to praise the people that “have shown resilience in face of the coronavirus emergency,” applauding doctors, nurses, teachers, and key workers of all descriptions. There was praise too for social landlords and housing associations, and the housing and construction sectors who Mr. Pincher said had “stepped up” to embrace change to ensure the needs of the community were met. Overhauling the current Planning System “We are overhauling our antiquated planning system” said the Housing Minister of the “Planning for the Future” white paper published on 6th August 2020. He outlined that the far-reaching reforms proposed in the 84-page document will make it “quicker, easier, and more affordable” than ever before to build homes by reducing burdens on house builders and developers. The emphasis of the reforms will be centred around reducing “risks, delays, and costs”, and accelerating the planning process through digitisation of the process. Read the Planning for the Future white paper on the Government website. Busting the “3 myths” As to be expected with any significant restructure to established legislation, there have been criticisms of the proposed reforms since publication. The housing minister was keen to set the record straight in response to those criticisms, describing them as “baseless myths,” whilst he addressed each in turn. 1.      The changes will diminish local government decision making New proposals set out by the white paper propose a zonal planning system that places land into 3 categories protected, renewal and growth. Plans also remove current methods of developer contributions for affordable housing by replacing Section 106 and Community Infrastructure Levy payments with a new system that is based on a nationally fixed levy based on predicted market value once the project is completed. Chrisopher Pincher dismissed the view that the changes would diminish local Government decision-making, arguing that they would actually “ensure real consultation with local communities from the very beginning of the planning process”. He also stressed the importance of involving local communities in planning, making the process more strategic and proactive, rather than the costly reactionary behaviour of the past. 2.      The reforms sweep away environmental protection and undermine green belt “We categorically are not weakening environmental protections,” Mr. Pincher affirmed to the watching virtual audience. As part of this, local developers will be asked to commit to ‘green’ infrastructure in their projects. He cited such as examples as community orchards, green roofs, and tree lined streets as methods of integrating nature into urban design, replicating World leading examples such as the tree lined streets of Paris. 3.      Too much focus on the South of England, not enough on the North The third and final myth identified by Mr Pincher was that changes to the way local housing need is assessed would benefit the South of England far more than the North, contrary to the government’s “levelling-up” agenda outlined in the Conservative election campaign back in 2019. This levelling up agenda attempts to address the apparent inequality between areas of the North when compared to the South of England, underperforming and left-behind parts of the UK are provided with the means to reach parity. An “increase in the number of homes being built across the whole country” will be realised in the longer term, said Mr. Pincher. There will also be a sharp focus on “delivering more homes in the least affordable areas.” Housing 2020 Christopher Pincher’s keynote speech was just one of the highlights of the Housing 2020 conference taking place between 7th – 11th September. Be sure to register for the event and check out some of the great speaker sessions that the event has to offer.    

The annual Housing 2020 Conference is the must-attend event for anyone connected with the Housing sector. For the first year ever, the conference moves online in a virtual experience like no other. What is Housing 2020? Operated annually by the Chartered Institute of Housing, its Housing Conference is Europe's largest. Due to the coronavirus outbreak, 2020 sees the conference become a virtual for one year only.  This online festival encompasses all the best components of the annual Housing conference from your own choice of venue – problem-solving, best practice, and the opportunity to network with peers in the sector. Speakers include government ministers such as the secretary of state for housing, the housing minister, welfare reform minister, alongside some of the leading and most influential names in housing today. Plus, 200 national and international speakers, thousands of delegates, and 5 days of innovation and solutions. Here are our top picks of the speaker sessions at Housing 2020.  When is it? The conference takes place between Monday 7th of September and concludes on Friday 11th, starting each day at 8 am and concluding (officially) at 5 pm. There are plenty of social engagement opportunities both in the morning and evenings, however, including breakfast briefings, housing quizzes, karaoke, and morning yoga classes. Will Novus be there? Yes, Novus are one of the main sponsors of the even and have a stand located at the conference, which you can view by following this link (if you have already signed up) This year, Novus will be donating £2 (up to a maximum of £1000) for every passport stamped when visiting the Novus stand to Crisis, the homeless charity. We're also really excited to be part of a speaking event at the conference, where our own Sophie Seddon and John Palfreyman will take centre stage to discuss the benefits of agile working for housing associations. If you're interested, just sign up and join them at the Fringe virtual theatre on Tuesday 8th September at 11.45am. How do I sign up for Housing 2020? Signing up is easy and free (for visitors). Just follow this registration link and follow the instructions! We hope to see you there.

After a recent bereavement, Novus colleague Jason became concerned about the well-being of a local man living with cerebral palsy. A blossoming friendship Jason lives within the same community as the local man, and due to personal reasons, he understands exactly what it’s like for someone to live with a disability. After the local man's house-share resident recently passed away, he now lives alone. His parents do not live nearby and therefore he relies on the support and company of carers on a daily basis. Realising this, Jason took it upon himself to ensure that he was not alone by striking up a friendship. Working in the local community Novus Birmingham office are currently in the second year of a three year contract with housing association Bromford, working on a Passive Fire Safety Works contract. To date, Novus have completed fire door set replacements, maintenance to fire doors and fire compartmentation improvements to hundreds of residents' homes nationwide. When works started at the local man's house before the pandemic outbreak, Jason got to know the resident and his current situation. Their relationship has blossomed ever since. They communicate often via text message and during the pandemic, Jason delivered shopping and supported him throughout. Free Time When Jason has any free time, he visits. Offering a helping hand with anything that might need an extra pair of hands. This varies from a simple cup of tea and a chat, to a spot of gardening. We feel that Jason embodies the socially responsible and ethical conduct of the 'Novus Way'.  For more on how Novus are working within local communities and social value projects, visit the CSR section of the website.

Every year, the Government publish figures on the promptness of businesses in paying their suppliers. Having submitted numbers for 2019/2020, Novus ranks amongst the quickest to pay supplier invoices in the industry. Average time taken to pay invoices This is the average elapsed time taken for a business in receipt of goods or services to pay the supplier. Published on 29th July 2020, Novus achieved an average payment time of 33 days against all of its invoices; a number that places the building contractor inside the top 3 organisations of all its major competitors (total 11 compared). In addition, this eclipses the “43 day average” for contractors to pay their suppliers Construction News reported in 2019. The article also indicated the average proportion of invoices not paid to the terms originally set out is 28 per cent, compared to 9% this year for Novus. The importance of quick payments As a company, Novus strives to build strong and trustworthy partnerships with their suppliers, maintaining an open dialogue with its supply chain, and of the belief that quick payments are reflective of mutual respect. The importance of quick payments goes almost without saying in the current climate. The backdrop of Covid-19 Late payment of invoices is a problem for most suppliers of goods and services in any industry, and in a challenging economy, the issue is only heightened. Subsequently, it will probably come as no surprise that late payments and bad debts are the main causes of insolvency in construction companies, contributing almost a quarter of all insolvencies. Publicly available information For further information about average payment times, visit the Government website, specifically the “Check when large businesses pay their suppliers” page. From here you can check the average time it takes for a large business to pay its suppliers and the proportion of payments that it doesn’t pay on time. Specific information about Novus can be found here.

The new measures outlined in the draft bill represent the “biggest changes to building safety for nearly 40 years” and are ultimately intended to help “people feel safer in their homes.” 3 years on from Grenfell The Grenfell Tower fire that broke out in West London on 14 June 2017 claimed 72 lives; a national tragedy that represented the biggest loss of life in a residential fire since WWII. This tragic event exposed serious and systemic failings in fire safety, particularly in high-rise homes in urban areas. A subsequent independent review conducted by Dame Judith Hackitt, concluded that the whole system needed full-scale reform and that residents’ safety must always be the priority – from the initial design phase, through to construction and occupation. Building Safety Bill This week, the government published its draft Building Safety Bill, which has been formed in conjunction with residents through engagement groups, sets out how the Government will improve building and fire safety. Amongst the measures set out by the draft bill are: People living in high rise buildings will be empowered to challenge inaction from their building owner Residents will have better access to safety information about their building. A new Building Safety Regulator will be given powers to hold building owners accountable for safety A ‘building safety charge’ will give leaseholders greater transparency around costs incurred in maintaining a safe building Building inspectors responsible for signing-off buildings as fit for habitation, will have to follow new rules and must register with the Building Safety Regulator. Up to two years in prison and unlimited fines for breaches of building regulations. Building Safety Regulator The Building Safety Regulator will be in effect the building control authority for all work on high risk buildings and will operate a unified regulatory structure for all building control bodies. This addresses the complaint that local authority building control and approved inspectors were subject to different professional standards. Developers will no longer be able to appoint their own building control body, instead the Building Standards Regulator will appoint a registered building inspector to help enforce building regulations. Dame Judith Hackitt said: “I welcome this draft bill as an important milestone in delivering the fundamental reform this industry needs to make residents and buildings safer. It meets the ambitions and recommendations set out in my review,” (The Construction Index) “The industry is now on notice that the race to the bottom, the fragmentation, the passing on of responsibility to others has to stop.” “We all understand that businesses will need to work hard to survive in these challenging economic times but the safety of residents must become core to building new and maintaining existing properties.” (Building.co.uk) As this is a “draft” Building Safety Bill, all aspects are still open to debate and amendment before it is presented to the House of Commons or House of Lords and ultimately enshrined in UK law. A copy of the full document is available on the Government website or by clicking here.

Rishi Sunak has today set out plans to mitigate the impacts that coronavirus has had on the construction sector and economy at large. Here are some of the key highlights from today’s announcement. The Construction Talent Retention Scheme In a move to protect against widespread redundancies across the sector, the Government in conjunction with the Construction Leadership Council, announced a new Construction Talent Retention Scheme. Under the scheme, employers will be able to redeploy staff at risk of redundancy through an online portal and temporarily loan employees between different businesses. This scheme will also make it easier for redundant workers from other sectors to find employment in the construction sector. The Talent Retention Scheme will launch later in July and all services provided by the scheme are initially free until April 2021. Further information on the scheme is available by downloading CLC’s flyer and businesses are able to register their interest in the scheme by visiting the website. The Green Homes Grant With the UK aiming to go carbon neutral by 2050, it was also announced that from September 2020, homeowner occupiers and landlords are able to apply for vouchers to cover costs associated with making their properties more energy efficient. The vouchers will cover two-thirds of the cost to make their homes more energy efficient, up to a limit of £5,000 per home. Up to £10,000 will be provided for low income households to cover the entire cost of the upgrade. “Taken together we expect these measures to make over 650,000 homes more energy efficient, save households up to £300 a year on their bills." "And, most importantly right now, support around 140,000 green jobs.” Said the chancellor. In order to pay for the vouchers, the Government has set aside £2bn, with a further £1bn allocated to making public buildings and social housing more energy efficient. reminder that Novus are able to assist with any energy efficient works required to properties. Make an enquiry via our contact page >> Temporary cut to stamp duty From tomorrow, the Government will raise the stamp duty threshold to £500,000 in a move that will see “nearly nine out of 10 people buying their main home this year will pay no stamp duty at all.” The chancellor hopes that this will give people the confidence “to buy, sell, renovate, move and improve” properties that will in-turn “drive growth, that will create jobs.” This temporary cut is in place for England and Northern Ireland and will run until at least 31 March 2021. VAT has been slashed for hospitality sector To get the hospitality sector moving again, VAT will be slashed by the chancellor. Beginning 1 week from today (8th July) until 12th January, VAT has been cut from 20% to 5% on food from restaurants, cafes and pubs, accommodation in hotels, B&Bs, campsites and caravan sites, and attractions such as cinemas, theme parks and zoos. Mr. Sunak also introduced a surprise pioneering scheme to provide everyone in the UK "Eat Out to Help Out" discount during August. "Meals eaten at any participating business, Monday to Wednesday, will be 50% off, up to a maximum discount of £10 per head for everyone, including children," he said. Further job retention schemes Further measures to ensure job retention were also given the green light today. “If you stand by your workers, we will stand by you.” That was the clear message to struggling businesses faced with making their staff redundant due to the coronavirus pandemic. "If you're an employer and you bring back someone who was furloughed - and continuously employ them through to January - we'll pay you a £1,000 bonus per employee.” So for businesses to get the bonus, the employee must be paid at least £520 on average, in each month from November to the end of January - the equivalent of the lower earnings limit in national insurance."