Friday, Jun 22, 2007
OFT Begins Probe Into Housebuilders
biz.yahoo: OFT Begins Probe Into Housebuilders
"It had found cause for concern that the sector was "not working well for consumers"."
No shit!
New builds are a complete joke i.e. bricks made out of skip contents (including glass & wood), interior walls glued up, they even water the paint down to save a couple of quid.
Posted by millard @ 08:58 AM (152 views) Add Comment
13 Comments
- If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
- If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
- Please adhere to the Guidelines
1. Planning4acrash (previously Pr) said...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6229194.stm
This link gives a bit more info.
2. confused76 said...
See related links
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml;jsessionid=1MYENQV3NZAXZQFIQMFSFF4AVCBQ0IV0?xml=/money/2007/06/22/bcnoft122.xml
Well, that is good news, but past attempt of govt to "study" the problem (see Barker's report of 3 years ago) have led to no action.
I do not see why this OFT attempt should lead to any practical result. Look at the deadline, they are committed to release a report by mid next year.... talking about timeliness
3. confused76 said...
From the Telegraph link...
"According to property website Rightmove.co.uk, the average national asking price for a home hit a new record high last month, of £239,317, thanks to the glut of new properties put on the market by sellers rushing to beat the Home Information Pack (HIPs) deadline."
can someone help me understand how prices can go up "thanks" to a glut in supply?
4. inbreda said...
I think you have to understand the dynamics of the new paradigm first, confused76.
Fkd if I know. You'll have to ask an expert ;-)
5. Dissillusioned said...
Bear in mind - it is the "average national asking price" - a lot of people still think their property is worth that much. Let's see the selling prices over the next year...
6. George Monsoon said...
"The OFT will focus on two key areas - whether land suitable for development is being used to best effect and the standard of properties being built."
I hope this means stopping them submitting plans for 12 homes and then building 25 on the same plot of land, by cutting the size of the gardens down to 3sq foot each. The tinber for the roofing is cheap and warps very quickly. The walls are all breezeblock and the fixtures and fittings are all but stuck down with pritsticks.
A housing development near my house was put together five years ago. The original planning was for 22 houses and they ended up building 45. The gardens are a strip of grass no wider than the path running along side them. The drains backed up for the first 12 months because no provision was made for the extra strain on the sewage system. One owner complained that the stairs were not afixed to the wall and were only held on by several nails at the top and the foot of the stairs. Another house had the carpet holding down the floorboards. This was 5 years ago, the rules have got even more lax since then. Its a complete farce. I would not touch anything younger than 15 years old when looking to buy.
The houses are ridiculous. My tent will outlast most of the sheds that have been thrown up around my area.
7. george monsoon said...
"The OFT will focus on two key areas - whether land suitable for development is being used to best effect and the standard of properties being built."
I hope this means stopping them submitting plans for 12 homes and then building 25 on the same plot of land, by cutting the size of the gardens down to 3sq foot each. The tinber for the roofing is cheap and warps very quickly. The walls are all breezeblock and the fixtures and fittings are all but stuck down with pritsticks.
A housing development near my house was put together five years ago. The original planning was for 22 houses and they ended up building 45. The gardens are a strip of grass no wider than the path running along side them. The drains backed up for the first 12 months because no provision was made for the extra strain on the sewage system. One owner complained that the stairs were not afixed to the wall and were only held on by several nails at the top and the foot of the stairs. Another house had the carpet holding down the floorboards. This was 5 years ago, the rules have got even more lax since then. Its a complete farce. I would not touch anything younger than 15 years old when looking to buy.
The houses are ridiculous. My tent will outlast most of the sheds that have been thrown up around my area.
8. japanese uncle said...
In any event, low ceiling, small rooms, shabby finish, etc, etc.; even making flat blocks in Tokyo look superior. Without doubt they are all destined to make 21st century slums. I can predict literally 80% drop in price in many of these new developments.
9. Pimtail said...
george
There is a development where I work, walked past it with a friend and noticed how fragile they look, the roofs looked like they were made from 2 x 1 timber, also all the houses were of a wooden construction and packed into such a small area that they were overlooking each other, these are being advertised as luxury homes not affordable homes as you would expect. although I'm sure someone will snap them up, unbelievable
10. semi-detached-from-reality said...
Back to confused76's point; the asking prices may well be high during a glut of new offerings - just see what they SELL for though, the new economic proof of the pudding paradigm.
11. This comment has been removed as it was found to be in breach of our Blog Policies.
12. Scottow said...
Just remember who is building all the PFI schools / hospitals etc.
13. cyril said...
Just to correct something that confused76 said. The Barker Report was very influential on the government's planning policy. The main thing is that the planning system has been changed so that local authorities have to earmark a five year supply of developable land, and a new body called the national Housing and Planning Advice Unit has been set up to ensure that the forecasts of housing numbers in Local Authority plans are very high (so 5 year's worth of land is likely to be an oversupply, and might as well be an infinite supply of land. Clearly this isn't possible in all Local Authorities e.g inner London).
Anyway the point is that Barker said the planning system was holding up housing supply, but really everyone knows it is our useless construction industry which is the problem.