The cooler we need it, the hotter it gets

On a regular day, New York City demands around 10,000MW every second; during a heatwave, that figure can exceed 13,000MW. “Do the math, whatever that gap is, is the AC,” explains Michael Clendenin, a spokesman for Con Edison, the company that supplies more than 10 million people in the New York area with electricity. The combination of high demand and extreme temperature can cause parts of the system to overheat and fail, leading to blackouts. In 2006, equipment failure left 175,000 people in Queens without power for a week, during a heatwave that killed 40 people.

This year, by the evening of Sunday 21 July, with temperatures above 36C (97F) and demand at more than 12,000MW every second, Con Edison cut power to 50,000 customers in Brooklyn and Queens for 24 hours, afraid that parts of the nearby grid were close to collapse, which could have left hundreds of thousands of people without power for days. The state had to send in police to help residents, and Con Edison crews dispensed dry ice for people to cool their homes.

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As the world gets hotter, scenes like these will become increasingly common. Buying an air conditioner is perhaps the most popular individual response to climate change, and air conditioners are almost uniquely power-hungry appliances: a small unit cooling a single room, on average, consumes more power than running four fridges, while a central unit cooling an average house uses more power than 15. “Last year in Beijing, during a heatwave, 50% of the power capacity was going to air conditioning,” says John Dulac, an analyst at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “These are ‘oh shit’ moments.”

There are just over 1bn single-room air conditioning units in the world right now – about one for every seven people on earth. Numerous reports have projected that by 2050 there are likely to be more than 4.5bn, making them as ubiquitous as the mobile phone is today. The US already uses as much electricity for air conditioning each year as the UK uses in total. The IEA projects that as the rest of the world reaches similar levels, air conditioning will use about 13% of all electricity worldwide, and produce 2bn tonnes of CO2 a year – about the same amount as India, the world’s third-largest emitter, produces today.

All of these reports note the awful irony of this feedback loop: warmer temperatures lead to more air conditioning; more air conditioning leads to warmer temperatures. The problem posed by air conditioning resembles, in miniature, the problem we face in tackling the climate crisis. The solutions that we reach for most easily only bind us closer to the original problem.

Source: The Guardian – read in full

This presents a very real challenge to the construction industry, a challenge that can no longer be viewed as something for the future, climate change is indicating that the challenge must be met now. However the past may hold clues to the way we approach future construction. Many of the ancient civilizations thrived in lands that experienced very high daily temperatures, without electricity they found ways to utilize the natural resources to keep the heat at bay. Looking at these methods and marrying them to our technological advances may be the first steps to keeping us cool, and stepping away from the spiral of cooler means hotter.

Marthan Henriques writing for ‘BBC Future’ has looked in depth at these and other alternative cooling methods from modern day roof gardens to evaporative cooling, practiced by Spanish farm labourers. It also examines ground source cooling and windcatchers. The full article can be read by following this link: Read Marthan’s article here

 

 

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Is ‘Ocean Cleanup’ a waste of Energy?

We read this article on Dezeen, it seems to have split the environmentalists in terms of for and against, whilst the general tone of the article seems to focus on negative aspects, some of their reader responses were more positive. We wondered what Buildingspecifier readers viewpoint was on the subject.

Dutch non-profit The Ocean Cleanup plans to burn some of the plastic it collects from the Pacific Ocean, Dezeen has learned. Designers and environmentalists say the move “makes no sense”.

The organisation told Dezeen that most of the plastic it harvests with its floating rigs will be recycled, with the remainder burned in waste-to-power plants.

“Not all plastics collected will be recyclable to new products, but the majority will,” said a spokesperson for The Ocean Cleanup.

“The particles collected that are not fit to be turned into new products will be thermally recycled into energy,” the spokesperson said. “We aim to send nothing to landfill.”

The spokesperson did not give any other details of where or how the ocean plastic it collects would be recycled or burned.

Thermal recycling involves burning waste in special facilities, similar to the Bjarke Ingels-designed Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen, to generate electricity.

However there are concerns over the emissions from such facilities, which can potentially release toxins into the atmosphere as well as carbon dioxide.

A report on plastic pollution by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) published earlier this year said that incinerating plastic waste “releases toxic substances including heavy metals such as lead and mercury, acid gases and particulate matter.”

“Managing plastic waste, mostly via incineration, contributed about 16 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2015,” the report said.

Designers and recycling experts expressed concern at The Ocean Cleanup’s plans to burn waste.

Dutch designer Dave Hakkens, founder of recycling network Precious Plastic, said he admired The Ocean Cleanup but was “not a big fan of burning plastic for energy”.

“This seems like such a waste of material to me,” said Hakkens. “It took so much effort to turn that old fossil oil into plastic. We can always burn, but we can do more before we hit that last resort.”

“It is just a strategy that displaces trash with smaller molecules that float around in the air,” said architect Arthur Huang.

“We’re not a fan of burning,” said Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans. “Is it not what at this point we feel is recommended.” Cristina Gabetti described the project as “a dream that seduced many”

Italian environmental journalist Cristina Gabetti said The Ocean Cleanup’s claim that the majority of the plastic would be recycled sounded “very optimistic”.

“Where will they bring the collected plastic waste to?” she asked. “Do they have agreements with recycling plants? Have they done an assessment of the environmental impact of transport and treatment of the plastic?”

She added: “Waste-to-energy is a common practice in some states, but again the type of facility makes the difference.”

“Burning plastic collected from the ocean helps as it removes material that could break down into micro plastics, but if the goal is [reducing] carbon emissions then burning it makes no sense,” added architect Arthur Mamou-Mani, who is exploring the use of compostable bioplastics to replace fossil-fuel plastics.

“Burning plastic for energy is not dissimilar to burning oil, but creates additional carbon emissions to the ones generated by creating the plastics in the first place,” he continued.

Founded in 2013 by Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat at the very young age of 20, the Ocean Cleanup says it plans to remove 90 per cent of plastic waste from the world’s oceans using fleets of 600-metre-long floating rigs.

The unmanned devices are designed to scoop up plastic as they float around the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch, where billions of plastic particles have accumulated. Ships will arrive periodically to take the waste ashore.

However there are doubts over the feasibility of the operation, since much of the plastic in the garbage patch has broken down to the size of confetti, with most of it found below the surface and in low concentrations.

As well as being difficult to collect, this plastic is difficult and expensive to recycle. In an interview with Dezeen published earlier this month, Parley for the Oceans’ Gutsch said that recycled plastic from the ocean can cost eight to ten times more than virgin plastic, and was often contaminated.

“It works like a sponge and it absorbs a lot of other chemicals,” Gutsch said. “So in a treatment process, you want to be very careful. You can compact them into building blocks or something like that, but that’s actually downcycling.”

In the interview Gutsch, whose organisation turns marine plastic waste into desirable goods under the Ocean Plastic brand, said he did not think it was possible to rid the oceans of plastic. Instead, he called for the development of new materials to replace plastic.

“What can this plastic be recycled into?” said Arthur Huang. “I think they have no clue. Of course it can be recycled into products and building materials, but first you have to identify the materials, mix them and sort them.”

Many experts are sceptical of The Ocean Cleanup’s approach. Speaking to Dezeen earlier this year Huang said The Ocean Cleanup “cannot be a plausible solution” to cleaning up the oceans while Gabetti described it as  “a dream that seduced many people”.

The Ocean Cleanup’s first sea-trial was abandoned late last year after the U-shaped plastic tube fractured.

Engineers later discovered that the rig was moving more slowly than the plastic it was trying to collect, causing waste it had collected to float back into the sea.

The mission was restarted in June following modifications to the rig. In a blog post published on 16 August, Boyan Slat announced that the organisation had solved the speed problem by rotating the rig 180 degrees and slowing it down with a parachute, so that plastic is pushed into the system by wind and waves.

However the rig requires further modifications to ensure that all floating plastic is captured. “This is all good news and a key step in the right direction; however, we are not at proven technology status just yet,” Slat wrote.

CIEL’s report, Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet, was published in May this year. It found that producing and incinerating plastic “will add more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere – equal to the emissions from 189 five-hundred-megawatt coal power plants” in 2019.

Pollution from burning plastic at waste-to-energy plants “can enter air, water, and soil causing both direct and indirect health risks for workers and nearby communities,” the report found.

An estimated 4.8 to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans each year. Circular-economy charity the Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans.

 

Source: Dezeen

 

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Flood Risks – Only 3% of Britains Rivers Free of Artificial Barriers

Existing river barrier databases considerably underestimate the number of barriers – including dams – that could be causing issues in areas of the UK, expert Sergio Vallesi from Durham University Business School warns in the wake of events like Whaley Bridge, where a nearby dam at risk of collapse led to mass evacuation.

Vallesi is researching how barriers like dams have disrupted the water’s natural flow and are risking the peaceful lives of neighbouring communities.

“Most people don’t realise only 3% of rivers in the UK are free-flowing,” says Vallesi.

“In fact, the majority of rivers and streams in Europe are fragmented – only a small portion are free of artificial barriers – and while the environmental and socio-economic impacts of large dams on European rivers has been widely researched, what is less studied is the collective impact of the thousands of artificial barriers, including large and small dams, weirs, fords, sluices and culverts, resulting in systematic river fragmentation and loss of connectivity.”

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This extensive fragmentation of rivers through artificial barriers has a considerable impact on the local area, mainly negative for the communities that live in flood plains.

Vallesi and fellow researchers are now developing methods and tools to access cost and benefits of river infrastructures, to determine the potential successes and drawbacks from restoring connectivity in European rivers and streams.

Their approach would also allow communities to screen if a barrier is having an impact – or going to have an impact – in that area.

If successful, it will help decision makers to develop barrier adaptation strategies, implement migration measures, and monitor the success of river restoration projects that remove artificial barriers.

Further results will be published from the researchers at Durham University Business School in a report from AMBER (Adaptive Management of Barriers in European Rivers), an EU funded £6.2 million project.

 

 

For more information or to speak to Sergio Vallesi, contact Stephanie Mullins at BlueSky PR on smullins@bluesky-pr.com or call +44 (0)1582 790 706.

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Fracking – The Fears and Hopefully the Facts

People living in Formby are worried about the ‘health of the community’ as plans for fracking just a mile away moved another step forward.

Energy company Aurora have submitted plans to frack for shale gas at Great Altcar, a mile from Formby and a few miles from Ainsdale, Hightown and Lydiate.

Fracking, also known as hydraulic fracturing, has been the focus of considerable controversy in the past 12 months, after a number of earthquakes around the UK’s only active site, near Blackpool.

If approved, fracking will go ahead just outside of Formby

Many people claim as well as the tremor risks, the technique can cause air, noise and groundwater pollution.

Aurora is currently seeking permission to construct a fracking site in West Lancashire – just 900 metres from the historic Formby Oilfield.

 

THE GOVERNMENT INFORMATION

 

The Royal Society review of hydraulic fracturing

Public Health England has assessed the risk to human health of extracting shale gas. They evaluated available evidence on issues including air quality, radon gas, naturally occurring radioactive materials, water contamination and waste water. They concluded that “the risks to public health from exposure to emissions from shale gas extraction are low if operations are properly run and regulated.”

 

Public Health England report

In September 2013 Professor David MacKay (the then Department of Energy and Climate Change’s Chief Scientist) and Dr Timothy Stone wrote a report on potential greenhouse gas emissions from UK produced shale gas. They concluded that the overall effect of UK shale gas production on national emissions is likely, with the right safeguards, to be relatively small. Indeed emissions from the production and transport of UK shale gas would be comparable to imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), and much lower than coal, when both are used to generate electricity.

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Report on potential greenhouse gas emissions from UK produced shale gas

BEIS factsheet 2: Shale gas and climate change

BEIS currently grant-funds a research consortium led by the British Geological Survey to deliver a baseline environmental monitoring programme in and around sites in the Fylde (Lancashire) and Kirby Misperton (North Yorkshire), where 2 exploration shale sites are based. The researchers are gathering data on features including water and air quality, seismicity and ground motion. Data gathering began in the Fylde in January 2015 and in Kirby Misperton in August 2015.

This monitoring will gather data for the environmental baseline in the areas prior to any hydraulic fracturing processes. Future shale gas projects’ data can be checked against these baseline data. This allows any significant changes to be flagged for further scrutiny. The investigations are independent of any monitoring carried out by the industry or the regulators, and information collected is freely available to the public.

 

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From Glass to Concrete – and no waste

Thanks to scientists based in South Yorkshire and 27 European partners working together on a £9million project, glass is helping to build a new highway to sustainability.

Researchers at Glass Technology Services, and its sister company British Glass which represents the UK’s £1.6bn glass manufacturing sector, are leading on the glass element of a project which aims to work out ways to completely recycle – or close the loop – on all types of waste from the construction industry including glass, wood, ceramics, plastic and rubber.

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Together with the construction company Acciona and other industry and research partners in Spain (Tecnalia), Turkey (TCMA) and Sweden (RISE CBI), they have shown that glass construction waste can be transformed into valuable reusable raw materials. One application blends finely ground waste glass – which cannot be reused in a glass furnace – with other industrial waste to produce an ‘eco cement’.

Eco cement has been used to build roads and made into pre-cast concrete blocks and other shapes for building homes and roads.

Using waste materials such as the finely ground glass has multiple benefits, improving the performance of the cement, reducing the energy requirements of cement manufacturing, and preventing waste materials from ending up in landfill. Currently the EU produces 1.5million tonnes of architectural glass waste annually. Less than a third is recycled: the rest either goes to landfill or is used as backfill on construction sites.

Chris Holcroft, senior technologist and technology development lead for Glass Technology Services, said: “This is an exciting project with a huge amount of potential for sustainable building. The more glass we can save from landfill the better it is for the environment.”

In this project Glass Technology Services specialised in early work looking at the available materials, while the partner teams then successfully demonstrated the new cement production in a laboratory, in a pilot study, and on an industrial scale. The finished products are now being tested at a number of case study sites.

This activity is part of the FISSAC project funded by the EU’s H2020 programme. FISSAC stands for  ‘Fostering Industrial Symbiosis For a Sustainable Resource Intensive Industry Across the Extended Construction Value Chain’.

FISSAC, a group of stakeholders at all levels of the construction and demolition value chain, is developing a pioneering approach to bringing industries to work together to avoid waste – known as industrial symbiosis. Glass Technology Services and British Glass are key members of FISSAC.

FISSAC is currently building a software tool which shows where waste construction material is available, what type, and the environmental impact of possible ways of reusing it. The database will help cut costs for manufacturers, support them in complying with environmental regulations, encourage cross-sector resource efficiency, and help the industry with cleaner production strategies.

 

Glass Technology Services Website

British Glass Website

 

 

 

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The Immigration wrangle – is Boris clouding the skills shortage issue

The topic of immigration has dominated the Brexit discussion so far and, as an industry which relies so heavily on EU labour, the construction sector is feeling the pressure

The UK is still locked into negotiations with the EU and the arrival of a new prime minister has magnified the concerns of those in the sector. Keen to establish himself and his policies as he takes up his new position, Boris Johnson has backtracked on some of Theresa May’s more strict post-Brexit immigration plans.

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The UK is on the brink of a brave new world when it comes to immigration, and whilst Johnson has scrapped May’s pledge to slash immigration numbers to tens of thousands and instead looks to introduce a points-based system, his approach is casting doubts over the government’s existing immigration bill.

Immigration restrictions post-Brexit

Whilst on the face of it, Johnson’s plans are more liberal than May’s, the devil really is in the detail when it comes to weighing up the UKs post-2021 options. What is clear, however, is that the new prime minister plans to impose some new immigration restrictions post-Brexit, which could have potentially devastating consequences for the UK, particularly London, as its economy is so reliant on free movement. So, until the full scope of the plans are unveiled, the construction industry will be unable to effectively plan for its future.

Whilst a number of sectors could be hit hard by new restrictions on EU migrant labour, the construction industry, which is already in the midst of an extended skills shortage, needs to prepare for impact. With high living costs (in London, in particular) and a falling pound, the pull to the UK is not as strong as it once was for EU workers. Putting hurdles in place to reduce free movement to the UK is only going to turn the skills shortage into potential skills gulf within the industry.

For a country with many ambitious construction projects underway, a lack of available workers could prove highly detrimental to the UK’s development plans. The Construction Industry Training Board estimates that the sector will need to recruit and train 31,600 workers every year for the next three years to keep up with demand. But the number of apprentices entering into construction falls very significantly short of this, meaning urgent action needs to be taken. However, it appears that the industry is trailing behind.

Worker retention in construction

To ensure that talent is preserved, a dialogue needs to begin around the urgency of worker retention. As it stands, Boris Johnson appears to be supporting an amnesty for the approximate 500,000 existing migrants without documentation in the UK. In addition to this, the Migration Advisory Committee is currently reviewing (in a 12-month-long process) the £30,000 salary threshold required to qualify as a ‘skilled worker’, the current suggestion being to lower it to £21,000. Further proposals include offering a fast-track system of providing visas to people with the skills needed to bridge the UK skills gap.

Whilst these policies seem more liberal on the surface, there has been talk that the Prime Minister is keen to adopt an Australian-style points-based system, selecting only the most skilled migrant workers.  Such a system would undoubtedly contribute towards UK employment issues, with many businesses, particularly those operating in the construction sector, struggling to recruit and retain their core workforce.

Recent industry reports have suggested that 21% of construction companies have laid off staff since the previous quarter, becoming increasingly reliant on subcontractors to carry out work. If this continues, there are worries that build quality across the UK could suffer as a result of this. To help mitigate this, construction companies must ensure that they undertake the appropriate due diligence in respect of their subcontract supply chain and look to establish good working relationships with reputable subcontractors, to avoid issues with quality control.

The Federation of Master Builders has also recently warned that a no-deal Brexit ‘could lead to reputation-damaging mistakes’, also stating that ‘the construction industry has always used a significant proportion of subbies [sic] but the fact that direct employment is decreasing, points to Brexit nerves among construction bosses.’

Brexit and the housing crisis

The wider impact on the construction industry is likely to worsen the current housing crisis. For example, the Government’s target to build 300,000 homes a year would become even more difficult with a reduced workforce.

Such ambitious targets would prove nigh on impossible to achieve without the development of innovative industry methods and technology, for example, investing in modern methods of construction. This would mean less pressure on construction companies to hire so many staff and whilst the UK is still figuring out how the new immigration regime will function, this could go some way to help in mitigating the impact of the skills shortage – at least in the context of residential development. As well as people, a restriction on free movement of goods post-Brexit could also put pressure on construction companies.

Preparing for a post-Brexit world

If they haven’t already done so, taking stock now and reviewing goods procurement strategies is key for construction companies. By assessing how reliant the business is on materials from the EU, they can then begin to forecast and where prudent to do so, take measures to stockpile, avoiding disruption to projects from limits on supply. Some larger companies have already started buying up their own plant-making facilities in view of Brexit and the subsequent changes to movement of goods and services that will follow. Regardless of business size, forecasting is key, as well as ensuring that necessary funds are in place to facilitate stockpiling.

Businesses which have not taken steps to prepare for the post-Brexit world should take advantage of the extension and start planning – and acting – now. It is vital for employers in the construction sector to be aware of the options available to them for sourcing and protecting talent, as well as materials.

As the new prime minister, Boris Johnson must recognise the positive impact that immigration and freedom of movement has on the UK and establish a clear position as soon as possible. It is crucial that he takes steps to ensure that the UK can get on with business as usual, pre and post-Brexit. Confident decision making is needed to free the UK from its current political deadlock so that the construction industry can continue to thrive, now and in the future.

 

Kate Onions

 

Source: PBC Today

 

 

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England still lags behind other countries in building safety, warns experts

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The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has published its response to the government’s Building a Safer Future consultation, which proposes reforms to England’s current building safety regulations.

The RIBA called for a complete overhaul of the building regulations in the immediate aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy and welcomes many of the proposals, in particular tighter regulation of higher risk residential buildings of 18m or more in height (rather than 30m plus which was originally recommended by the Government’s 2018 Independent Review of Building Regulations on Fire Safety).

However, the institute is concerned that England still lags behind other countries, including Wales and Scotland, in putting in place base line regulatory standards to ensure that high rise and other higher risk buildings are safe for the public. The institute urges the Government to:

  • widen the scope of the new regulatory system to apply to non-residential buildings – the new building regulatory system should apply to other higher risk non-residential buildings at any height, including places where vulnerable people sleep, such as care homes, hospitals, hotels, hostels, prisons, as well as schools and places of assembly, during the design and construction phase.
  • make significant changes to the responsibilities for all dutyholders – dutyholders based on the Construction (Design and Management) regulations model are essential. However, the duties proposed are not clearly defined and are not currently workable as set out in the consultation, particularly on design and build projects.
  • designate the Architect’s Registration Board (ARB) to oversee enhanced competence requirements of architects – as regulator the ARB should be responsible for the accreditation and licensing of architectural qualifying bodies, including the RIBA, who will hold registers for competent architects to work on buildings in scope of the proposed regulatory framework.
  • ensure all technical guidance issued to industry is improved by the new Building Safety Regulator –this should include setting baseline prescriptive requirements for fire safety and reviewing all relevant British Standards guidance documents, particularly those relevant to fire safety in the design, management and use of buildings.

Jane Duncan, Chair of the RIBA Expert Advisory Group on Fire Safety, said “Although a step in the right direction, the government’s proposals do not go far enough to protect the public and more work is needed, particularly to more clearly define the statutory duties of all involved in the industry. There have been many failings in England’s building safety regulations, exposed by the Grenfell tragedy two years ago, but we hope the government will act on their commitment post-Grenfell to ensure residents are safe, and feel safe, in their homes.”

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Analysis indicates UK construction activity is moving out of the capital

The value of all construction contract awards in June 2019 was £5.2 billion based on a three-month rolling average, which is an increase of 5.5% on May. Regional analysis shows that the North West was the leading region for contract awards in June with a 36.6% value share.

Barbour ABI

The latest edition of the Economic & Construction Market Review from industry analysts Barbour ABI highlights levels of construction contract values awarded across Great Britain. The overall outlook for June contract awards increased by 5.5% on May 2019. The infrastructure sector accounted for 37.2% of total value of contract awards, due to the SPRS. Construction Programme at the Sellafield Site – valued at £1.5 billion, which boosted the North West’s project share.

Barbour ABI

London dominated in only two of the eight sectors for June 2019 – residential with a 26.2% share and commercial & retail with a 23.7% share of total contract awards. Construction activity has moved out of the capital for June, with a more even spread of contract awards across the UK. The East Midlands dominated the industrial sector, largely due to investment in warehousing and storage. The South West took the top spot for hotel, leisure & sport and Scotland took the lion’s share of projects in the medical & health and education sectors.

Commenting on the figures, Tom Hall, Chief Economist at Barbour ABI said “London has dominated project awards every month in 2019. However, for the first time this year, we see a shift in the spread of project awards across the country. Likewise, for the first time this year, we see infrastructure investment overtake the residential sector which has been the most active sector of construction for over 6 months.”

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Is permitted development a risk to health and wellbeing?

Councils across England are warning that homes created using permitted development rights are a potential threat to people’s health and wellbeing, with the most vulnerable people in society being more at risk.

A new report ‘Housing for a fairer society: The role of councils in ensuring stronger communities’ has found that:

  • Half of councils in England think permitted development housing could threaten people’s health and wellbeing
  • Half of councils in England think vulnerable people are disproportionately negatively affected by permitted development
  • Demand for affordable housing has remained unchanged for four consecutive years, with 59% of UK councils reporting ‘severe’ shortages
  • The findings, published in a report by APSE (Association for Public Service Excellence) and written by the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA), show that local authorities across
  • the UK are reporting ‘severe’ shortages of affordable housing for the fourth consecutive year, with only 2% claiming their need is ‘not substantial’

Further, three quarters of councils in England and Wales said they rely on developer contributions as their main source of income for delivering affordable housing, calling into question the efficacy of the government’s market-led approach to housing delivery.

Paul O’Brien, Chief Executive of APSE, said “It is ironic that as we celebrate a 100 years since the advent of council housing, and the ‘Addison Act’ standards on space and public amenities that were so innovative and important to the health and wellbeing of communities we are now witnessing a serious regression of these protections.

“Permitted developments are in danger of becoming the new slum housing of the 21st century, de facto permitting a dangerous slide into deregulated and ultimately damaging housing provision.”

Fiona Howie, Chief Executive of the TCPA added “Local authorities have a powerful role in shaping existing and new places that can enhance people’s health and wellbeing, but it is essential that they have the tools they need. This report highlights there is still much to be done to enable local authorities to deliver the affordable houses people so desperately need.”

Among the report’s recommendations is the suspension of the right to buy in England, the reinstatement of a definition of affordable housing which links affordability to income and the adoption of ‘community benefit clauses’ in planning policy to ensure that local authorities consistently maximise the wider benefits of the construction and development process.

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New Prime Minister must stimulate construction and house building

Construction leaders are calling on the new Prime Minister to intervene as construction output flatlines for the benefit of the wider economy as the latest statistics show that the sector is flatlining, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).

Commenting on the latest construction output statistics from the Office for National Statistics, which show that construction output growth in Great Britain was flat (0.0%) in the three-month on three-months to May 2019, Sarah McMonagle, Director of Communications at the FMB, said “Alarm bells will be ringing in the ears of the two candidates vying to be Prime Minister, with these latest stats showing that the construction sector is at a standstill. Whoever wins the race for PM, I want to see that person take decisive action in their first days in office by intervening to stimulate our waning sector, which is so vital to the health of the wider economy. Indeed, without it, our country’s house building aspirations will be impossible to deliver.”

“The poor performance of the construction sector over the past few months was driven partly by a drop in activity in the repair and maintenance sector. As you would expect, this part of the construction industry is particularly vulnerable to dips in consumer confidence, which the threat of a ‘no deal’ Brexit continues to perpetuate. There would be no better way to encourage homeowners to commission building projects in the second half of this year than by slashing VAT on housing repair, maintenance and improvement from 20 percent to 5 per cent. Furthermore, when we asked our members how the next PM could best prevent an economic downturn, almost 90 per cent felt this was the most effective way to achieve it.”

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), added “Boris the builder must build columns instead of writing them if he is to fix the housing crisis and restore the hope of home ownership to a generation. We will only reach the number of good quality homes we need, and at the rate we need them, if local house builders are freed up to build as many homes as the large house builders. We want to see Boris bring down the barriers facing construction SMEs, including those who repair and maintain our homes. If Boris is looking to cut taxes, then we suggest slashing VAT on home improvement works, as nine in ten builders believe this is the single best tool in Boris the builder’s toolkit to prevent an economic downturn post-Brexit. Bojo must restore the housing market’s mojo to ensure that Brexit Britain is built on strong foundations.”

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