What the Papers Say

Each week Homebuilding & Renovating scours the papers for all the latest self-build, renovation and property news, so you don't have to.

Hidden castle must be demolished, court rules (www.telegraph.co.uk, 3rd February 2010) A farmer who secretly built a castle hidden behind bales of straw has lost a High Court bid to save it from being demolished.

Government promises action to stop 'garden-grabbing' (news.bbc.co.uk, 19th January 2010) The government has promised to act against "garden-grabbing" by property developers, after a report showed it was a problem in many parts of England

Second award for architect (thisissouthdevon.co.uk, 6th January 2010)
Stan Bolt, the architect behind the controversial plans for a glass-fronted fish cafe at Babbacombe Downs has scooped a prestigious award.

Eco-village in Pembrokeshire hills wins £350k hub grant (bbc.co.uk, 21st December 2009)
An eco-village has won £350,000 for a centre for research, education and promotion of low-impact development.

NHF: Pre-Budget Report is missed opportunity to 'green' existing homes (24dash.com, 9th December 2009)
The National Housing Federation said today that the Chancellor had missed a key opportunity to slash the UK’s carbon emissions and reduce energy bills by failing to back a major programme of ‘greening’ more than 250,000 social homes in the Pre-Budget Report (PBR).

Listed building breaches lands man in court (www.planningportal.gov.uk, 4th December 2009)
A Twickenham man is £30,000 worse off after he admitted breaching listed building consent laws at Richmond Magistrates’ Court.

Welcome to the Self-building Boom (independent.co.uk, 2nd December 2009)
It’s so stressful it can lead to divorce – but do-it-yourself housing is more popular than ever, as an army of cost-conscious amateur builders construct their way out of recession.

Housing minister announces zero carbon standard (building.co.uk, 25th November 2009)
John Healey uses speech at UKGBC/Building sustainability conference to set minimum standard for zero carbon homes

Prime minister praises industry at RIBA anniversary bash (building.co.uk, 13th November 2009)
Gordon Brown applauded architects last night at a Downing Street reception

Cheryl Cole's underground swimming pool plans turned down (telegraph.co.uk, 22th October 2009)
Singer Cheryl Cole and her footballer husband Ashley Cole have had a plan for an underground swimming pool at their Surrey mansion rejected by the council.

Self-build awards: 15 houses are shortlisted (telegraph.co.uk, 15th October 2009)
Take a look at some of the houses shortlisted for this year's Daily Telegraph Homebuilding & Renovating Awards.

Conservatives promise a "nation of home builders" (houses-builder.co.uk, 6th October 2009)
Shadow housing minister Grant Shapps today told the Conservative conference in Manchester that the party would create a "nation of homebuilders" if they won the next election.

People in blue houses most successful (telegraph.co.uk, 1st October 2009)
People living in blue houses are more successful than those living in homes painted any other colour, according to a new survey.

Planning permission extension arrangements clarified (planningportal.gov.uk, 24th September 2009)
The Government has announced that the power to extend the time limits for existing full planning permissions will apply to all eligible consents and not just those for major development.

Mortgages fall 13% in August (building.co.uk, 21st September 2009)
Figures from Council of Mortgage Lenders show a decline on lending in July but underlying lending has 'stabilised'

How to find value in novelty (The Times, 12th September 2009)
An update on the new rules for new-build

House prices rise for first time in two years, says Hometrack (building.co.uk, 1st September)
Survey reveals 0.1% increase in August despite 6.7% year-on-year fall

Pensioner's £67,000 power bill (bbc.co.uk, 27th August 2009)
A County Londonderry pensioner who has lived without electricity for 27 years has been told NIE will charge him £67,000 to link his home to the grid.

Architects more optimistic, says RIBA (building.co.uk, 24th August 2009)
July survey revealed fewer firms expected a decrease in workload than in the previous month, and 11% of practices expected staff levels to rise in next three months

Till self-building us do part (The Sunday Times 16th August 2009)
The stress of creating a grand design can be enough to ruin a relationship or kill your passion for the house

New homes are too small for everyday life, say residents (cabe.org.uk, 11th August 2009)
New homes do not provide enough space for everyday activities such as preparing food easily, having friends round for dinner, or even recycling

Housebuilders could be spared zero-carbon costs (building.co.uk, 7th August 2009)
UK-GBC proposal would see government-funded improvements repaid monthly by homeowners

Eco homes: large houses with small bills (The Daily Telegraph, 3rd August 2009)
How can a rambling pile keep its costs down?

New plant will make roof tiles from nappies (building.co.uk, 30th July 2009)
Birmingham recycling plant will turn plastic element of sanitary waste into building products

Top Gear star to build Lego house (bbc.co.uk, 25th July 2009)
Top Gear presenter James May is looking for volunteers to help him build a new house in Surrey - made entirely out of Lego bricks

Wales set to gain Building Regulations powers (planningportal.gov.uk, 23rd July 2009)
Welsh environment minister Jane Davidson has welcomed Parliamentary moves to transfer the power to make Building Regulations for buildings in Wales to the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG).

Mortgage lending rise to highest level in six months, says CML (The Daily Telegraph, 20th July 2009)
Mortgage lending rose to its highest level in six months, but experts remained cautious as quarterly figures were among the lowest in eight years.

Government unveils new low-carbon strategy (building.co.uk, 15th July 2009)
Growth of wind power and home insulation are among proposals aiming to meet 2020 targets on efficiency and emissions

Government to name 10 eco-town sites (building.co.uk, 14th July 2009)
First and second-wave towns to be announced on Thursday said to include sites in East Hampshire, Cornwall, Oxfordshire and Norfolk

Rusty shed must be saved for Britain's archaeological heritage (The Daily Telegraph, 10th July 2009)
A tin lifeboat station which is rusting away is an important part of Britain's archaeological heritage and must be saved, conservation chiefs have ruled.

English Heritage attacks Part L proposals (building.co.uk, 10th July 2009)
English Heritage is likely to oppose proposals to bring historic buildings up to modern energy efficiency standards when they are refurbished

Sold to the highest blogger (The Sunday Times, 5th July 2009)
The web is changing the way we sell our homes. Does this spell the end for estate agents?

English planning applications down 30 per cent (Planning Portal, 2nd July 2009)
The number of planning applications received by district planning authorities in England was some 30 per cent lower in the March quarter of 2009 than a year ago, according to latest figures compiled under the auspices of the UK Statistics Authority.

Property market: buyers regain enthusiasm for auctions (The Daily Telegraph, 2nd July 2009)
The proportion of properties successfully sold at auction soared by nearly two-thirds during the past month as buyers began to return to the property market, new figures show.

RIBA announces new chief executive (building.co.uk, 30th June 2009)
Harry Rich, former deputy chief executive of the Design Council, takes on executive leadership of Institute

Property latest: Modernism — it’s so last year (The Sunday Times, 28th June 2009)
‘Britain’s best home’ is proving hard to sell. Have cutting-edge designs have lost their appeal?

Energy efficiency in homes overseas: sun lovers get the green light (telegraph.co.uk, 22nd June 2009)
Expatriates can keep costs down by being more energy efficient.

Government reneges on home improvement proposals (building.co.uk, 19th June 2009) Plan to make energy efficiency improvements compulsory when building extensions has been dropped from consultation.

Government: new homes and buildings must be 25% greener (building.co.uk, 18th June 2009)
Healey proposes changes to building regs to improve energy efficiency after October 2010

Consumer confidence grows in housing market (The Daily Telegraph, 17th June 2009)
Consumers' confidence in the housing market is increasing, with nearly half of people expecting prices to rise during the coming year, research showed.

Why it pays to use an architect (The Sunday Times, 14th June 2009)
Before starting to build your own home, or carrying out extensive renovation work, you’ll need to turn to a design professional — someone with the right credentials and experience.

The new breed of project manangers (The Sunday Times, 14th June 2009)
Amateur renovators are finding their services in demand, giving the building professionals a run for their money.

Developers ‘grab’ gardens to build new homes (The Times, 12th June 2009)
The designation of gardens as brownfield land is splitting communities and leading to fears of overdevelopment.

Basement conversions: down under (The Daily Telegraph, 10th June 2009)
Nicole Kidman was after one, London's super-rich are digging them, and families needing more space are choosing them as an option. Basements are all the rage – but building your own comes at a price.

House prices on the rise, says government (building.co.uk, 10th June 2009) Communities department figures reveal that the average price of a house rose 1.1% during April

Buildings at risk just need some love (The Sunday Times, 7th June 2009)
The country is awash with neglected ruins and forgotten architectural gems. A little TLC can work wonders.

Major planning authority signals move back to five-year permissions (Planning Portal, 4th June 2009)
England's largest planning authority says it could extend its time limit on planning permissions from three years to five, providing a "reasonable case" is made when the application is submitted.

The bottom in UK house prices is no bottom at all (The Daily Telegraph 3rd June 2009)
It is still too soon to call the bottom for UK house prices.

Plumbers most likely to offer green advice (building.co.uk, 2nd June 2009)
More than eight in 10 plumbers would offer advice on environmental efficiency, says new survey.

New build initiatives for first-time buyers (The Times, 31st May 2009)
Mactaggart and Mickel, Miller Homes and Stewart Milne list deals on sales websites and there's government help with Lift.

Homebuilding & Renovating Awards 2009: the Grand Designs effect (The Telegraph, 28th May 2009)
Angela Pertusini introduces this year’s quest to find Britain’s best self-build house.

A Regency home gets an eco makeover (The Guardian, 27th May 2009)
It once belonged to Graham Greene's widow, but Grove House's new owner, Polly McLean, has given it an eco renovation that retains the house's magic while cutting its carbon footprint.

A hands-on revolution (The Financial Times, 22nd May 2009) According to the UK's National Self Build Association, the phenomenon appears to be most common in European locales.

Countryside campaigners in bid to review land-use planning (planningportal.gov.uk, 14th May 2009)
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is poised to establish a commission to review land-use planning in England.

Prince Charles apologises for starting architectural feud (building.co.uk, 13th May 2009)
Prince tells RIBA audience he regrets remarks of 25 years ago but then continues his attack on modernism

New buyer enquiries hit 10-year high (building.co.uk, 12th May 2009)
RICS data shows more than four in 10 surveyors saw enquiries rise in April

Top architects urge boycott of Prince Charles speech (building.co.uk, 11th May 2009)
Stirling prize winners Alsop and Wilkinson among those urging architects not to attend RIBA speech

Eco homes: Going green plus self-build equals mortgage (The Telegraph, 7th May 2009)
Matthew Borowieki demolished his bungalow and built himself an eco home in next to no time. Sarah Lonsdale reports on how green self-builders are winning the support of both planning authorities and the money lenders.

House prices fall to 2004 levels (The Guardian, 6th May 2009)
The average house price has fallen to £154,716, the level it was at five years ago, according to the Halifax house price index.

Housing affordability is the best for six years (The Telegraph, 4th May 2009)
The house price to earnings ratio - a key affordability measure - is lower now than it has been for more than six years.

Scottish Government launches online planning service (planningportal.gov.uk, 1 May 2009)
The Scottish Government has launched its own version of the Planning Portal to streamline applications and appeals.

Self-build: dreams and hard graft (The Telegraph, 28th April 2009)
With the housing market still struggling, there has never been a better time to self-build. Graham Norwood meets three couples going it alone.

Call for tougher building codes to beat climate change (building.co.uk, 27th April 2009)
Global report into boosting buildings' energy efficiency also recommends government subsidies and price incentives.

Drop in mortgage approvals (The Telegraph, 27th April 2009)
The number of mortgages approved for people buying a home fell by seven percent during March as wary consumers failed to take advantage of increased funding.

How to sell your home in troubled times (The Guardian, 24th April 2009)
It's a buyer's market, even though asking prices are up. But sellers can still attract premium offers with the right strategy.

Housing market in the Budget 2009: Mortgages (The Telegraph, 22nd April 2009)
The major UK banks will increase the availability of mortgages by around £20bn, Alistair Darling announced in the Budget.

Buildstore calls for self-build funding boost (MortgageStrategy.co.uk, 9th April 2009)
Self-build specialist BuildStore is calling for more funding from lenders to help meet the demand for self-build, which would pull construction workers out of the dole queue.

Bleak outlook for new Home Information Packs (The Times, 6th April 2009)
Changes to HIPs have been described by estate agents as “pointless and damaging”

Home information Packs now required before a sale (The Guardian, 6th April 2009)
The requirement for sellers to have a home information pack (Hip) in place when selling their home risks disrupting the property market at a sensitive time, estate agents have warned.

House prices show slight increase in March (The Guardian, 2nd April 2009)
House prices increased by 0.9% in March, slowing the annual rate of decline to 15.7%, figures from the Nationwide building society showed today.