Budget Focus

Clients and friends of Chapman Consulting might be interested to read our 2014 Budget Commentary. If you would like more information about the impact of the Chancellor's proposals on the property sector please do get in touch and we're happy to share our views in more detail. Our full report can be downloaded here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-4I2spFrao_NzVncXpNeGtIY0E/edit?usp=sharing

Another Year, Another Budget

I have to say, I’ve been distinctly underwhelmed by this year’s budget insofar as it relates to business generally and our sector in particular. Yes, it was a positive budget for the house-builders. The announcement of a £500m funding package aimed at smaller developers is good news; despite the upturn in the housing market, they are still finding it hard to access funding from the major lenders. Similarly, confirmation that the Help to Buy Scheme is to be extended out to 2020 will help maintain momentum in the market. 

Elsewhere though, help was pretty thin on the ground. £340m to repair potholes and flood defences ravaged by the winter storms amounts to little more than a sticking plaster solution. And where was the help for SMEs in this Budget? 

Clearly Osborne delivered this year’s Spring Statement with an eye to next year’s election. Older voters, not smaller business were his target on Tuesday.

Look out for our budget analysis next week. 

Garden Cities to Make a Comeback

Letchworth - The UK's First Garden City

 Tomorrow is Budget Day and, as usual, the weekend press devoted many column inches to pre-budget speculation. With only 15 months to go until the next General Election, George Osborne’s Budget strategy is, unsurprisingly, the subject of intense scrutiny. 

Two announcements really caught my eye: Osborne’s pledge to extend the equity loan element of the Help to Buy Scheme and his commitment to develop a new Garden City at Ebbsfleet in Kent.

Both initiatives are aimed squarely at the housing developers. The first part of Help to Buy, the equity loan scheme, is available only to buyers of new builds. By placing a further £6bn into that  element of the programme and extending its life out to 2020 Osborne is hoping to boost the development of 120,000 new homes 

A further investment of £200m at Ebbsfleet, located on the high speed rail line out to Ashford, is intended to provide up to 15,000 new homes. The first such initiative in almost 100 years, the scheme will redevelop existing brownfield sites and is intended to provide affordable housing for the South-East.

MIPIM in Full Swing

The twenty-fifth MIPIM is in full swing down at Cannes. We’ve had some really successful meetings, particularly on behalf of our client, Phi Lighting, who are design-led lighting specialists. It’s been very interesting to feel the pulse of the market. The mood this year has certainly seemed far more optimistic than we’ve seen in recent years.

Boris Johnson was full of his usual joie de vivre as he highlighted the positive spinoffs that overseas investment has brought to the capital. However, he was still keen to stress the need for more affordable housing. Michael Newey of RICS held the view that we need to learn how to adapt existing buildings.

As ever, the trends coming out of MIPIM are thought provoking and from our perspective, it’s invaluable to assimilate the views of the sector’s thought leaders.

Brilliant Boules

Mark and Sarah Chapman, aka The Green Berets getting into the swing of Cannes

Chapman Consulting having a break from their schedule to take part in the MIPIM Boules match. The Green Berets faced some stiff opposition, including Ashfords LLP. They may not have won this year but they'll be back in 2015 to thrash the opposition!

High & Dry

I was really struck by a piece I heard on the radio this week. Award winning architectural practice, BACA, have been given the go-ahead to develop the UK’s first amphibious house. It’s currently in construction on the banks of the Thames, one of the worst hit areas in the recent floods.

BACA are renowned for their highly innovative approach to designing flood proof and flood resistant buildings. Using the model which they’ve developed the house is built on a pontoon which rises with the water levels. The main utilities are connected via a system of flexible pipes and ducts so that they continue to function as the house floats upwards. 

Intrigued, I took a closer look at BACA and spent a fascinating half hour browsing their website. Not surprisingly, they've been in high demand over the past few weeks and were recently called to Downing St to meet with an advisory panel convened in response to the flooding crisis. 

Perhaps one of the most prescient projects was the work which BACA did 6 years ago in 2008, when they won a prestigious €20m competition to design a flood resistant housing development in the Netherlands. The project incorporated floating houses, amphibious residences, such as that currently being built on the Thames and flood resilient units.

Even more interesting, in the light of recent events, were comments made at the time by BACA partner, Robert Barker, who wrote in the Architects Journal. 

“Modern flood management is about working with and understanding natural systems rather than seeking to control them. Our planning and architecture needs to do the same if it is to co-exist with changing waterways”

Six years on, we can only hope that the UK authorities wake up and show the same foresight as the Dutch, by exploring new and possibly radical solutions to the devastation wrought by flooding.

As a final aside, I was delighted to see that the practice will be picking up the MIPIM AR Future Projects Award for Regeneration and Master-planning in Cannes next week. Given for their work on the Dutch Eiland Veur Lent project, the award is yet another example of the work which BACA have been doing in developing flood-resilient developments in challenging environments.

Sarah Chapman