V10 is pleased to report on the submission of a reserved matters application at the Tunkers Lane, Bury site we successfully delivered for Stonewater as key package deal procurers within our client RP’s operational patch.

Meeting housing need

The application is seeking permission to provide a wholly affordable mixed tenure residential development for 87 new units. The mix of properties will consist of one, two, three and four bedroom homes that are shared ownership, social rent, affordable rent and rent to buy to support local housing needs.

Street scenes with interest

The proposed sustainable community has been designed in such a manner that facades are to be afforded with a contemporary appearance which sit comfortably in a rural setting. This will be achieved using a carefully selected palette of multi-textured red and buff bricks whilst using black and dark grey feature bricks to create subtle patterning to elevations providing a sense eye pleasing interest within the development’s street scenes.

Coupled with the above the scheme will contain feature house types in key locations which have decorative frontages and enhanced glazing to gables, providing kerb appeal throughout.

Amenity and infrastructure improvements

The development will provide new pedestrian connectivity and on-site open space giving due regard to the retention of existing mature trees. The scheme contains a newly created central green space which properties overlook with the main spine road being lined with mature tress to create a boulevard effect. The unmade part of Tunkers Lane is to be reformed under a section 278 agreement and widened along the site frontage providing an overall improvement to the infrastructure for local residents to benefit from.

Sustainability initiatives

Alongside the open space and trees to be preserved there are number of additional sustainable initiatives that align with V10’s values. In this regard new enhanced planting will take place throughout the scheme (and off-site) to bolster net gain bio diversity and ecology.

In order to contain and attenuate ground water permeable paving and a SUDS pond feature will be incorporated into the scheme providing sustainable drainage measures. All properties are to be provided with cycle sheds to encourage active travel by bicycle and air source heat pumps are to be provided throughout as a form of non-fossil fuel heating.

Modern Methods Of Construction

In delivering the scheme to Stonewater, modern methods of construction are to be adopted which aligns with V10’s core sustainability value. Here building components are to be built off site in a controlled factory environment and installed on site. The benefit of this approach minimises the time and energy spent on site whilst reducing pollution and disruption at site level and to the surrounding neighbourhood. Waste can also be controlled and reduced more easily when applying the uses of repetitive MMC processes and installations. Travel disruption is notably reduced around the country as MMC factory workers are geographically concentrated around the catchment to their premises reducing an impact on the environment as a whole.

Meeting Our Values

The scheme proposals have been tailored to align with V10’s objectives to provide enhanced BNG initiatives across all of our sites whilst striving to ensure the use of MMC methods are adopted as future pipeline sites are realised.

As I cast my eye out of the train window over on a cold and snow dusted but sunny landscape, I gather my early morning thoughts on the 2023 property market. It’s a peculiar feeling.

On the one hand I’ve seen several recessions over the last thirty-five years so I fear the worst. On the other hand my instinct tells me this will be one of those hallowed soft landings that the economists on Bloomberg frequently refer to – which I’ve never seen! Hmmm! Perhaps it’s time to looks at the facts.

Supply v Demand

Let’s start with the fundamentals. Everyone in development knows that demand (both market and need driven) exceeds supply. It seems like it always has done and always will do. It is these fundamentals which ensure the steady and substantial uptick in values during any 10 year business cycle. So, what will happen to supply and demand in 2023 in particular?

On the supply side we have already seen some volume house builders (VHBs) abandon committed land buying. They are retrenching and restructuring – bringing overheads down with redundancies and mergers. Housing production has also been adjusted downwards (since last summer actually) with sub-contractors being laid off and housing completions for 2023 being scaled down. Coupled with this the planning changes being shoehorned into the Levelling Up bill will ultimately result in a reduced number of planning consents – not in 2023 but beyond. Some housing associations however, nervous of the market and absorbing the impact of the rent cap, are likely to tailor their development programmes back– mistakenly IMO! Why? Because land buying should be easier, construction costs should peak out and they have the advantage of swapping out tenures skewed to rent to avoid the sales market curved ball (if it occurs) which the VHBs don’t! Nevertheless, the basic point is 2023 will see a reduction in actual homes being built and/or planned for and therefore less supply for this year and next.

Now on to the demand side. Well, the economy is on a knife-edge. Will it enter a technical recession? Does that matter? The main issue is, will there be mass unemployment? This is what takes substantial demand out of the housing market. If anything, the Government is trying to bring people into the workforce with appeals to the economically inactive over 50’s – early retirees. Employment is at historic highs and anecdotally businesses seem to be struggling to attract the right type of employees. Sure, higher mortgage interest rates, higher tax rates and a higher cost of living will affect housing buying but these effects will be offset by falling inflation and higher wage settlements in the months ahead. So, there will be some additional hardship to bear for some households (leading to a greater need for affordable homes) but overall, this is likely to be a pinch not a squeeze for most. The demand for housing is likely to remain strong in 2023 – all be it subdued compared with an effervescent 2022.

Sales Values

Assuming the above plays out house prices should maintain themselves for 2023 in general terms – with supply adjusting to reduced demand. Indeed, Rightmove reported just yesterday (16.01.23) that prices had risen 0.2% and 0.9% in London and nationwide respectively. For developers looking to invest, house price variations in 2023 isn’t that much of an issue. One Development Director of an RP told us last week that even if values dropped 5% in 2023 they wouldn’t be worried as by the time the development would be finished and plots released in 2025 then prices will have come back up.

Sales Rates

Well, I think the first thing to accept is that it will take longer for a property to sell in 2023 compared with 2022. Some of the VHBs have recently reported quite drastic drops in weekly sales rates for the end of 2022. This is to be expected when you consider we had three PMs, three (or was it four? – lost count) Chancellors and the Kwasikazi statement leading to all out economic turmoil with more doom and gloom forecast – it’s no wonder many buyers just froze! All that is gone now, so confidence and herd sentiment should return.

Conclusion

As I look at the photo that accompanies this blog (taken on my journey) I have to decide whether 2023 is going to go through a cold harsh winter or whether there are blue skies ahead. I look down at my Starbucks and it’s still half full – and that reflects how I feel for 2023. Sales rates will recover from the end of 2022 and sales values will be steady during 2023 (south of Birmingham) . That’s my feeling.

Comments by:

Karl Timberlake

Land & New Business Director

One of the key drivers for our business is sustainability and over the three months since joining V10 Homes, I have taken great strides in understanding what 55% pre-manufactured value (PMV) means and how it can be achieved.

Having worked for a volume partnership housebuilder delivering all affordable schemes mostly by traditional build, I must confess hearing of the 55% PMV option and the additional Homes England grant availability was alien to me. I knew about the MMC options and what can be achieved by timber frame and modular companies – having paid particular attention in the past to having windows, stairs and external cladding being factory fitted to speed up show-home delivery on schemes. What I was unaware of was the ability for these companies to have doors and linings installed, alongside pre-completed internal walls and hung doors.

Within the first month of joining V10 my colleagues introduced me to LoCal, whose factory we visited just before the end of last year. The visit gave me a better understanding of the product and what LoCal can do within the factory environment and also the benefits of this onsite. Having a huge factory with around 28 personnel on shift at a time, they can produce close to 1000 units a year that are effectively a category 2 closed panel pre-insulated timber frame unit – each externally finished in cladding, brick slips and render. The windows and linings are pre-fitted ready to be erected onsite. Within the factory they also produce pods for bathrooms/shower rooms and kitchen pods that can be installed during the build.

The key benefits:

1. Onsite Labour Reduction – Reducing the reliance on trades within a time where there is a trade and skill gap within the industry thus reducing reliance on bricklayers and the weather.
2. Programme Benefits – what would normally take between six and twelve weeks getting from slab to watertight, can take between five days and ten days. Overall programme benefits can be around ten weeks in total, as the internal trades can continue while the bricklayers are yet to start.
3. Programme Delivery Rate – While a traditionally built site can produce between 4 and 6 units a month at peak, these units can start between 6 and 8 units a month rising to 10 and 12 in peak times reducing the overall build programme duration which for all affordable sites can be instrumental in delivering much needed affordable housing, while also reducing interest payments.
4. Prelim Saving – Not only are you reducing onsite supervision hours, but other benefits such as reduced waste per plot and the overall number of skips reduced makes for a much safer and greener site.

There are a number of scenarios to achieve 55% PMV – the easiest way is:

• Pre-Cast concrete piled foundations – A category 2 closed panel timber frame system, with factory fitted external finishes, pre-installed windows and linings, and pre-hung doors and linings.

This system advocates a 57% PMV solution, provided the roof is constructed on the adjacent floor slab which is then lifted when completed.

Overall, the benefits for achieving 55% PMV on affordable sites is a driving factor for increased quality and productivity on sites, one of the issues is that surprisingly only a handful of RPs are aware of either the benefits or the additional grant from Homes England that can be applied for to help with the increased cost that this method often entails.  Better education and understanding is needed within all RPs and contractors on this approach and the overall benefits, and at V10 we are doing this site by site to meet one of our three sustainability pledges.

Comments by:

Keiran Wakley

Head of Pre-Construction & Sustainability

V10 Homes