NATIONAL: CONSULTATION LAUNCHED ON PART L REGULATIONS

The Government has launched a consultation on Part L of the Building Regulations.

The consultation, which was due to be passed before Christmas, deals with possible changes to several parts of the Building Regulations - as well as proposed changes to the Building Control system.

The Part L changes include proposals for tighter carbon dioxide emission standards for new homes and requirements for additional energy efficiency improvement to existing homes when extensions are built.

There are also proposed changes to Part P, on electrical safety in dwellings, and Parts A, B, C. K, M and N. The draft Building Control changes are aimed at, among other areas, improving the private sector Approved Inspector arrangements and strengthening enforcement. The Part L consultation ends on March 27, one month earlier than the other consultations which run to April 27.

Mike Leonard, Director of the Modern Masonry Alliance, said: "We note the tight deadline with surprise, given the long delay in launching this consultation.

"We also note yet another attempt to introduce consequential improvements. This will penalise those who invest in extending their properties and could prove a catalyst to the prevention of much needed home improvements which would create demand for construction materials and jobs for builders.

"We would urge respondents to reject this as a stealth tax on home improvement at a time when the Government must provide incentives such as a cut in VAT to stimulate demand."

For the original story, click here.

 

Want to know more about Building Regulations? Keep an eye on our sister academy, Trades e-Academy , who are set to launch a new online course about building regulations later this year.

Housing e-Academy and CIH partnership launch event

The official launch of the Housing e-Academy’s partnership with the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) took place in the CIH offices in London yesterday (31st January 2012).

The partnership, which formed in December 2011, will be used to promote the Housing e-Academy’s Professional Individual Membership (PIM) to CIH members. The PIM allows individuals to choose 3 CPD accredited courses from a number of options, making it the perfect solution for those who require further training for their CIH CPD record.

The event was a great success with Red Kite Community Housing, North Hertfordshire Homes, Poplar HARCA and Habinteg Housing among the attendees.

The day began with a presentation from our CEO, Rod Knox, who gave an overview of our parent company, Virtual College, and the benefits of e-learning. Elizabeth Botterill, Organisational Development Manager for ABCL, then went on to discuss how East North East Homes introduced e-learning to their staff. Learning and Development Consultant for Sovereign Housing Association, Steph Akerman, continued with a presentation on the cost benefits of a membership with the Housing e-Academy, before Naomi Hepworth, Housing e-Academy Account Manager, closed the morning with ideas for creating a blended learning training approach.

Following the presentations, attendees of the event were given the opportunity to try their hand at e-learning themselves. Access cards were given enabling individuals to access 3 popular courses; Asbestos Awareness, Safeguarding Adults (POVA) and Equality and Diversity.

Feedback at the event was extremely positive and the Housing e-Academy would like to thank everyone involved.

Please note: During the lead up to the launch event, CIH members were given the opportunity to access free Asbestos Awareness training. We were delighted by the number of people who took advantage of this offer and hope you enjoyed e-learning. This offer has now expired.

The government lost its appeal on Wednesday against a judge's ruling that its cuts to solar power subsidies were illegal, suggesting thousands of homes and businesses will now be able to claim the higher payments.

Three court of appeal judges unanimously rejected the government's appeal. The government could still appeal for a second time, directly to the supreme court.

Announcing cuts to the solar feed-in tariff payments in October, ministers said the cost of the panels had dropped and unless the subsidy was also cut, the available funding for a range of low-carbon energy technologies would be rapidly exhausted. But in December, a high court judge ruled that the government's handling of the cuts was "legally flawed", following a challenge by two solar companies, SolarCentury and HomeSun, plus Friends of the Earth.

On 19 January, the government said that if it lost the legal case, they would fund the higher rate payments for any panels installed by 3 March. The Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) expected this to affect about 3,700 homes and businesses.

Daniel Green, chief executive of HomeSun, said: "Almost everybody except Decc have appreciated the potential and importance of the solar industry – from the National Trust, the Church of England through to the CBI as well as the British people. Surely this must be the point at which Chris Huhne stops taking the side of the big six energy companies and realise that solar is part of our future."

Friends of the Earth had called the government's action at the court of appeal a waste of public money. The group's head of campaigns, Andrew Pendleton, said on 4 January: "Trying to appeal the high court's ruling is an expensive waste of taxpayers' money. The government must expand the scheme – with all the tax revenue the scheme generates, this can be done at no extra cost to bill payers. Ministers should end business uncertainty and protect jobs with a clear plan to reduce payments from February – in line with falling installation costs."

In October, the cuts to the solar scheme – from 43.3p per kWh of energy generated to 21p – were leaked online. The climate minister, Greg Barker, defended the cuts as necessary to protect the scheme in the long term. "The plummeting costs of solar mean we've got no option but to act so that we stay within budget, and not threaten the whole viability of the Fits [feed-in tariff] scheme."

The cuts prompted a furious backlash from the solar industry and green groups, with the chief complaint being the speed of the changes, which were to come into effect just six weeks later, on 12 December. Critics also drew attention to the fact that the consultation did not end until 23 December – over a week after the changes were proposed to take place.

In December, a cross-party group of MPs said in a strongly worded report that said the reductions were "clumsily handled", had threatened jobs and could have dealt a fatal blow to the scheme, because the changes required homes to meet the C-rated energy efficiency standard before becoming eligible for the solar feed-in tariff.

Read the original story here. 

NATIONAL: LOW INCOME HOMES NOT GETTING FAIR SHARE OF SOLAR SUBSIDY

David Orr

Low-income households are not getting a fair share of the solar panel subsidy and look set to lose out even more under current government proposals, new research shows.

Research by environmental consultancy, Camco, commissioned by the National Housing Federation, estimates that social housing tenants in England have not yet received their fair share of the solar photovoltaic (PV) feed-in tariff (FIT) subsidy even though they have to pay a surcharge on their energy bills for it.

The research reveals that English social housing has received about 10% of the domestic PV allocation against the 16% which would be its fair share, based on its proportion of UK housing stock.

In 2009, the last date for which data is available, 762,000 social households were estimated to be living in fuel poverty (21% of social homes), a higher proportion than in any other tenure. That number is believed to have risen sharply as a result of increased energy prices, and will continue to do so if social landlords cannot counter it through energy efficiency improvements subsidised by mechanisms like FIT and the ECO fund.

David Orr, chief executive of the Federation, said: "Unless the Government introduces a community tariff of about 30p, double what it currently proposes, there is little prospect in future that social tenants will be able to secure the potential £150 annual reduction in fuel bills such schemes offer. Yet the Government proposes slashing the FIT by more than half from 43.3p to 16.8p per kilowatt-hour (kWh) for social housing schemes."

Camco's research indicates that in order for tenants to receive the free electricity that may help them out of fuel poverty, the tariff would need to be at least 32.4p/kWh - even then the returns for housing associations would be unlikely to cover the full costs of debt financing.

Mr Orr continued: "We need action now to deliver on Ministers' commitments to tackle the increase in fuel poverty which is resulting from spiralling energy bills. They need to look again at their proposals on solar PV to ensure a good future pipeline of schemes by social landlords which will deliver benefits to those on low incomes.

"Our research spells out clearly the economic fact that without doubling the tariff they propose for social landlord schemes, it is most unlikely there is any future for solar PV in social housing. The effects will be devastating for low income and vulnerable neighbourhoods as, due to the up-front costs of installation, social landlords were the only organisations likely to deliver these savings to these communities."

For the full story, visit www.housing.org.uk

Extend right-to-buy scheme to social tenants, MPs urge

Conservative David Davis and Labour’s Frank Field have joined forces to launch a report by the IPPR think tank to extend the right-to-buy scheme to social tenants.

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said the government would consider the idea as part of its review of the housing policy.

The IPPR’s report said extending right-to-buy could generate billions of pounds which could then be reinvested in building new homes to ease waiting lists.

Under current rules, council tenants and housing association tenants who were in their home when it was transferred from council landlords have the right to buy their properties at a discount, after five years as a tenant.

Read the full story here.

A total of £47m funding will be allocated to 71 projects around the country, and will support the provision of new traveller sites and new pitches on existing sites, as well as the improvement of existing pitches.

A further £13m remains available from the Traveller Pitch Funding Programme for additional allocations where schemes are progressed and are able to deliver, and provide good value for money.

These will be operated on a rolling basis under which offers will be considered for their value for money, deliverability and meeting local need, as they are developed. Interested providers should contact their local HCA area office to discuss their proposals.

Deputy Chief Executive of the HCA, Richard Hill, said: "One of our key aims is to provide homes where people want to live, and the travelling community is a part of that. We are pleased therefore to be able to confirm the funding allocations for this spending period and we will be continuing to work closely with our local partners to deliver the best solutions for this community where they are most needed."

 

The Housing e-Academy are delighted to hear some good news for the Traveller community! Our course, 'Understanding Gypsy & Irish Traveller identity in society' provides some really useful information about this community and is ideal for anyone who is likely to work with Gypsies and Travellers, or those simply interested in finding out more.

Discounts offered to council tenants to buy their own homes will be increased to a maximum of £50,000 across England under plans to revitalise the Right to Buy scheme, the Government has said.

The proposals would mean discounts are effectively trebled in some parts of the country and form part of a bid to ease the process for some of the two million social tenants in England to buy the property they are living in.

The scheme was widely associated with the Margaret Thatcher administration of the 1980s and the Government hopes that the revamp, unveiled in the Chancellor's Autumn Statement, will increase social mobility 30 years on. Ministers have promised that any home bought under the scheme will be replaced by a new affordable home for rent.

Housing minister Grant Shapps said: "The previous miserly restrictions on discounts meant Right to Buy became, for many tenants, nothing more than an empty promise - a social mobility scheme run by Ebenezer Scrooge. That's why I am publishing proposals that will dramatically increase the discounts under Right to Buy, ensuring it once again becomes a meaningful tool to support social tenants who want to buy the home they live in.

"But we are also determined to maintain the number of affordable homes for rent - so, for the first time, every additional home that is sold will be replaced by a new affordable home on a one-for-one basis. The new homes for affordable rent will help get the nation building again, and help councils meet housing need."

Mr Shapps said the restrictions on discounts over the past few years had made Right to Buy meaningless in some areas, with fewer than 3,700 sales last year compared with a peak of 84,000 less than 10 years ago.

The Government said the Right to Buy plans would "untie the hands of councils so they can manage their social housing more effectively". The maximum discount currently ranges from £16,000 in most of London to £38,000 in the South East.

Mr Shapps also outlined details of a £420 million fund to unlock stalled sites and "get Britain building" again in 2012. The Get Britain Building Fund aims to get builders back on housing sites with planning permission that have been shut down because of difficulties in accessing development finance.

Over the next two years, the fund could unlock up to 16,000 homes on sites that have stalled, and help create up to 30,000 jobs in construction and related industries, according to the Government. Developers can apply for a share of the funding, as a loan at commercial rates or as an equity investment - where the Government invests alongside the developer.

Shadow housing minister Jack Dromey said: "With millions in need of a decent home at a price they can afford, the country is gripped by a growing housing crisis. The Government's housing policies are failing and George Osborne's mismanagement of the economy is making things worse, holding back house-building."

http://money.uk.msn.com/new-right-to-buy-discounts-proposed

Plans to require homes to meet a C-rated energy efficiency standard before they can receive subsidies will limit access to wealthier households and could have a "fatal impact" on the industry, the MPs warn. Eighty six per cent of homes would need to be better insulated before they could qualify for the scheme under the government's proposals – increasing up-front costs for homeowners by between £5,600 and £14,000, even before the panels are purchased, they said.

Joan Walley, chair of the environmental audit committee said: "It doesn't make economic sense to let the sun go down on the solar industry in the UK. As well as helping to cut carbon emissions, every panel that is installed brings in VAT for the government and every company that benefits from the support is keeping people in work. The government is right to encourage people to focus on saving energy before fitting solar panels, but these proposals will stop nine out of 10 installations from going ahead, which will have a devastating effect on hundreds of solar companies and small building firms installing these panels across the country."

Rising energy bills and the falling cost of solar panels made the original subsidy rates so attractive that tens of thousands of households, companies and community groups have rushed to install photo-voltaic (PV) systems since the scheme was introduced last year. The government had evidence that solar panel prices were falling significantly as early as March 2011, but ministers did not act to stem rocketing levels of small scale solar installations until the end of October.

To read the full story, click here.

Environmental Technologies 

This renewable energy foundation course has been developed by our sister compnay, the Trades e-Academy. Upon completion of this course, you will have a broad knowledge of environmental technologies and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each. This course is suitable for anyone who is interested in green technologies, regardless of prior knowledge. Click here to go to the course page.