13 Jan 2012
1 comment

Red tape challenged

Let’s provide regulations that help the consumer says Shelagh Grant, chief executive of the Housing Forum.

The much anticipated housing and construction theme of the Government’s Red Tape Challenge is here www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk

From 12^th January 2012 to 16th February- we all have the opportunity to air our views on the perceived barriers to an efficient and affordable housing supply resulting from regulation. There is already a lively and important on – line debate on simplifying, reducing, enforcing, even scrapping the existing 200 regulations. If only it were so simple!

Setting aside our major concerns on the growing shortfall of affordable homes, the response of The Housing Forum is that we should put the consumer at the heart of the review and take this opportunity and the analysis that will follow to improve information, descriptions and “labels” so that the understanding of the performance of a house is accessible not just to industry specialists but becomes as well known as energy and appliance labelling.

The cross industry Housing Forum set up a working group on Innovation in Regulation and Construction chaired by Andy von Bradsky, PRP Architects last year . Firstly ,to understand the link between costs and standards in housing construction – does higher cost always equal higher standards ?Secondly, to burrow down behind the received wisdom that housing for the public sector must always be different in standards to housing built for market sale. Anticipating the “Red Tape Challenge “was part of our ambition and over the next few weeks, we will review and submit our views along with you all.

What are we likely to say?

It’s not just a case of “good regulation-bad regulation” but nor should the challenge be just about barriers and burdens, it’s really about better quality information for the customer- both end user and landlord.

Driving out waste and inefficiency is right up there on the wish list. There is complexity, duplication and waste to be tackled but also, the cost of compliance and tendering in pursuit of an open process.

Our call as The Housing Forum in responding to this important review is:

Make a specific link between regulation and innovation. The proposition that regulation discourages innovation is not fully true. Standards can encourage improvement and better performance. There is even an argument for better regulation in some cases – to address noise problems in flats, for example.
Tackling regulation as a barrier to housing delivery needs to be seen as part of a wider picture including land, finance and planning constraints
Restructure the organisation of regulations into a limited number of regulatory frameworks which allow for local standards to be applied but make these subject to viability testing at local level.
Understand the timing and pace of change and introduce innovation in regulation and this to match development cycles. This approach offers far better prospects for increasing the proportion of cost efficient manufactured products and technologies in the housing construction industry.
Customer information systems are central to this approach – labelling for quality could be start.

Comments

New housing requires a set minimum standards of room sizes to start with, followed by minimum acceptable standards of quality. Sustainable low carbon designs to code level 6 are currently far too expensive to build using partly traditional construction methods which results in unrealistic sales prices. We need a new construction methods that can achieve new sustainability standards that can also contribute to providing mass housing with multi-variable design formats. We do not want to replicate past horrors of large faceless housing estates.

1st Feb 2012, at 10:23 PM
Robert Fisher