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- IHBC issues formal notice to all IHBC Members for 2026 AGM, online on 7 January 2026, from 5.30pm (with special presentation!) for 6pm start 13/12/2025
- IHBC welcomes Vice President Torsten Haak as Guest Judge for 2025 Student Award: Selecting next ‘Gus Astley’ winner, to receive £500 + Newcastle School place, 18-20 June 2026 13/12/2025
- IHBC Toolbox’s latest Guidance Note update now out: ‘Local Planning Authorities in England on Consulting the National Amenity Societies’ 13/12/2025
- IHBC Signpost: DB the Construction Wiki Temporary Structures 13/12/2025
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: AI-powered nimbyism could grind UK planning system to a halt 13/12/2025
- Government launches call for submissions to UK’s first national inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) – ‘living Heritage – open to 27/03 13/12/2025
- UK Heritage Pulse: Spotlight on Heritage Crime 13/12/2025
- UK State of the Trades: a Report on the current UK Trade Landscape 13/12/2025
- RIBA Business Benchmarking Report 2025 issued 13/12/2025
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the global doorstep 2: ‘Europa?Nostra on new Culture Compass for Europe – ‘When Culture wins, Europe wins’ 13/12/2025
- IHBC’s Context 185 under the spotlight: Accessible CPD for Conservation Professionals, featuring Morwenna Slade IHBC on ‘Successful solar generation in the historic environment’ 09/12/2025
- IHBC Supporter Surgery for aspiring Affiliates: Have you registered yet? 11 December, 1pm (IHBC CPD too!) 09/12/2025
- Career conscious & in conservation? IHBC’s ‘Jobs etc.’ services spans disciplines, levels & sectors, linked by interdisciplinary conservation practice standards delivering public benefit 09/12/2025
- IHBC’s 2025 Parliamentary Briefing launches research-led ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’… From Crafts in Crisis to Rubbish in Retrofit 09/12/2025
- IHBC HESPR’s ‘News from the Sector’: DB on IHBC’s ‘… From Crafts in crisis to rubbish in retrofit’… ‘5 commitments to help heritage skills in conservation’ 09/12/2025
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Three reasons not to demolish Edinburgh’s Argyle House – by architect Malcolm Fraser 09/12/2025
- Welsh Government Flexible Skills Programme (FSP) 09/12/2025
- First Session of the World Heritage APPG held on November 5 2025 09/12/2025
- RIBA responds to Autumn Budget 2025 09/12/2025
- Consultation: England’s Building Control charges, notices and certificates, to 25/01 09/12/2025
- RIBA & partners call for raise the age of eligibility for Level 7 apprenticeship funding 09/12/2025
- BEFS Planning Forward Event Outcomes Report published 09/12/2025
- IHBC features ‘Heritage from the global doorstep’ (Compass 1): ‘A Culture Compass for Europe’ 09/12/2025
- IHBC updates on ‘5 Commitments to Help Heritage Skills in Conservation’: Check out our web hub, with video & feedback, and help reduce damage to both health and heritage 05/12/2025
- IHBC Supporter Surgery for aspiring Affiliates: Have you registered yet? 11 December, 1pm (IHBC CPD too!) 05/12/2025
Tag Archives: housing
CIC Responds to the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget
The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has issued its response to the 2026 Budget.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged budget, building, construction, ecosystem, government, housing, investment, productivity, skills
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IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: ‘Failings at every level’ resulted in botched insulation scheme, MPs told
image for illustration: IHBC A botched net zero scheme which has caused damp issues in thousands of homes was the result of ‘serious failings at every level’, a UK government official has said.
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged building, environment, expertise, government, housing, insulation, planning, skills
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Parliamentary Committee: Nature not a ‘blocker’ to housing; needed for ‘resilient towns & neighbourhoods’, and calls for housebuilding target changes and reduced VAT (for retrofitting)
Nature is not a ‘blocker’ to delivering new housing, but rather a necessity for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods, MPs argue in a House of Commons committee report on ‘Environmental sustainability and housing growth’, with responses from government due in … Continue reading
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, cross-party, environment, expertise, government, housing, planning
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IHBC features ‘Heritage from the Global doorstep’: A town wants to give away its 100-year-old convent: is it a housing solution?
image for illustration: Convent of Jesus and Mary, Gravelbourg by Archyfb, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons Gravelbourg, Sask., looks for a visionary to give historic building a new life, reports CBC.
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged building, conservation, environment, expertise, heritage, housing, planning
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Government’s Pride in Place: Strategy update
The Pride in Place Strategy will help build stronger communities, create thriving places and empower local people, argues Government UK.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged community, expertise, funding, government, health, housing, placemaking, strategy
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Parliamentary Committee: Nature not a ‘blocker’ to housing; needed for ‘resilient towns & neighbourhoods’, and calls for housebuilding target changes and reduced VAT (for retrofitting)
Nature is not a ‘blocker’ to delivering new housing, but rather a necessity for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods, MPs argue in a House of Commons committee report on ‘Environmental sustainability and housing growth’, with responses from government due in … Continue reading
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, climate change, construction, economics, environment, expertise, government, housing, nature, planning, retrofit
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Housebuilding around train stations will be given default ‘yes’, including in Green Belt, as: ‘Builders Speechless’
Government says that housebuilding near well-connected train stations will receive a default ‘yes’ in future if they meet certain rules, ensuring more homes are built.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, climate change, commuting, construction, consultation, environment, government, housing, insfrastructure, nature, planning
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TCPA Blog: Review of Homes England’s Healthy Homes Standard: Our homes are not islands
New Government design requirements and guidance for the Healthy Homes Standard (HHS), to be used by Homes England etc. on under the Affordable Housing Programme, is the subject of a Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) blog.
IHBC’s ‘Professional’ Parliamentary Signpost: Lords completes examination of Planning and Infrastructure Bill
The Planning and Infrastructure Bill had its third reading, ‘a chance for members to make sure the eventual law is effective, workable and without loopholes’, on Monday 10 November.
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged building, climate change, environment, expertise, government, housing, infrastructure, nature, planning, skills
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Home Builders Federation – ‘State of Play: Challenges and opportunities facing SME home builders’: 89% highlight LA capacity constraints
The ‘SME State of Play’ report details the findings of one of the most comprehensive surveys of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) housebuilders, conducted by the Home Builders Federation (HBF), Close Brothers Property Finance and Travis Perkins.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged builders, building, construction, expertise, housing, report, skills
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IHBC’s Practice Signpost: TCPA update blog on ‘The battle for Healthy Homes continues….’, as it notes ‘Planning is not the problem’
A new Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) blog looks at the state of play as the Lords report stage of the Planning and Infrastructure Bill process has closed and the Bill returns to the House of Commons before receiving … Continue reading
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged building, construction, environment, government, health, housing, planning
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Parliament on PAC on ‘Housing developer levy funds’ failure ‘due to systemic problems’: Councils hampered by ‘asymmetry of skills’ with developers
The system designed to create new affordable housing and infrastructure through developer contributions is not working properly, reports the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), as asymmetry of skills also means that councils often find it hard to challenge developers’ claims.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, environment, expertise, government, housing, local government, planning, skills
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Government’s ‘Pro-growth package unshackling Britain to get building’
Pro-growth changes to the government’s landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill to get Britain building faster have been announced by Government UK.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, climate change, economics, emplyment, expertise, government, housing, localauthority, planning, skills, water
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IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Sean Bean says houses plan for land where he played as a child is a ‘tragedy’
Hollywood star Sean Bean has backed a campaign to save green belt land where he played as child, saying proposed housing developments would be a ‘tragedy’, reports The Times and Star.
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged conservation, construction, environment, heritage, housing, planning
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IHBC’s ‘Practice’ Signpost: Traditional and historic buildings – a new Retrofit British Standard, an update from IHBC’s John Edwards, with joint CPD webinar 14/11
‘BS 40104: 2025: Retrofit Assessment for Domestic Dwellings – Code of Practice’, was officially published at the end of September and here Prof. John Edwards, IHBC’s Technical Panel Secretary and lead on the heritage/traditional buildings workstream, updates NewsBlog readers on … Continue reading
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged BSI, building, climate change, conservation, environment, expertise, heritage, housing, IHBC, planning, retrofit, skills, STBA
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Interim Chief Construction Adviser appointed, to ‘… provide expert, independent advice to… government on building safety and regulatory reform’
A new interim Chief Construction Adviser has been appointed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged architect, building, communities, construction, expertise, government, housing, local government, safety
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Expert Taskforce recommends locations for new towns
The New Towns Taskforce has recommended locations for the next generation of new towns.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, climate change, community, construction, environment, expertise, government, housing, nature, planning, towns
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New LGA analysis shows nearly 28,000 affordable homes lost due to permitted development rights
New Local Government Association (LGA) analysis has spurred campaigners to sign an open letter calling on Government to scrap permitted development rights (PDR) that have cost thousands of affordable homes.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, environment, expertise, housing, local government, planning
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40,000 people to get skills in new Technical Excellence Colleges, using ‘hub and spoke’ model
Tens of thousands of future construction workers to be trained up in high-demand construction skills by 2029, delivering growth and helping build new homes, Government UK has announced, operating on a ‘hub and spoke’ model.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, construction, expertise, government, housing, skills, work
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IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Historic Park Hill Housing development model photos found in attic
A remarkable collection of historic photographs documenting the planning and development of Sheffield’s famous Park Hill housing estate has been discovered in an attic, revealing intimate details about one of Britain’s most significant post-war architectural projects, reports SayArt.
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged architecture, building, conservation, heritage, housing, photgraphs
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IHBC’s ‘Research’ Signpost: ‘Empty Spaces to Homes’…
image for illustration: Joanna Theobald ‘Repurposing Empty Spaces: Research to Address the Housing Crisis’, is a new piece of research, exploring the current opportunities available in reutilising socially owned vacant buildings and spaces, for use as?accommodation?for those at risk of?homelessness??across … Continue reading
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged accommodation, building, government, homelessness, housing, local government, planning
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Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment asks: ‘How can we build 1.5Mn quality homes… this Parliament?’
The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Excellence in the Built Environment (APPGEBE) has been reformed and has announced a new inquiry into ‘How can we build 1.5 million quality homes in this Parliament?’.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, construction, design, environment, expertise, housing, placemaking, planning
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SPAB ‘Old House Project’ completes, and now for sale ‘to become a home’
image for illustration: SPAB The SPAB team is delighted that the seven-year Old House Project is now completed as the house, St Andrew’s Chapel is for sale, ready to become a home again.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged conservation, expertise, heritage, housing, renovation, research, skills
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IHBC features ‘Heritage from the doorstep’: Housebuilders to pay £100m to avoid legal decision on breaking competition law
Britain’s biggest housebuilders have agreed to pay £100m towards affordable homes to avoid a regulator’s decision on whether they broke competition law, reports BBC News.
Posted in IHBC NewsBlog
Tagged building, housing, law
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University of Cambridge on ‘The Business Case for Integrated Retrofit: How banks, insurers, and the government can support healthy, efficient, and resilient homes’
A joint research between Banking Environment Initiative and ClimateWise examines the socioeconomic and resilience benefits of building retrofit, and proposes business case for banks, insurance companies, and the government.
Posted in Sector NewsBlog
Tagged building, climate change, environment, expertise, housing, retrofit, skills
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