Political Bulletin

Week commencing 16th November 2009

Persimmon says home buyers are back In an update to the market today, Persimmon reports an improved trading environment in the third quarter as well as lower debt.

Mike Farley, the CEO, reports that the market is more encouraging, buyers are back, prices have stabilised, and there is growing availability of mortgages.

The UK’s largest housebuilder by market value said it met its sales targets for the year and booked a further Ł500 million of sales for 2010. Persimmon’s focus is now on growing margins, expecting to complete 9,000 homes this year; the average selling price of a home is 6% higher than at the start of July when it stood at Ł 173,000.

Housing Minister visits Government funded housing start In a boost to get Britain's housebuilders back on site and building again Housing Minister, John Healey, put the first spade into the ground of the first Kickstart project today.

Mr Healey met with workers at the Yarn Street development in Leeds who are on site thanks to Government's Kickstart cash. This is the first of over 150 projects which will get off the ground shortly, with almost 100 across the country gearing up to get their spades in the ground by the end of the year.

The 281-home Yarn Street development had lain at a standstill for over 18 months and would likely have remained so without Government help.

With almost Ł4m of Government cash kickstarting this scheme less than five weeks after the money was allocated, this is a much needed helping hand for the development sector.

State Opening of Parliament In a shortened week, the Queen opens a new session of Parliament on Wednesday. Much time over the next few weeks will be taken up by departmental debates over the content of the speech affecting each department. The speech, however, will contain only a dozen pieces of legislation, little of which is expected to be controversial.

State Opening of Parliament The Queen opens a new session of Parliament on Wednesday. On Thursday the House debates the Queens’s Speech, Foreign and European affairs, International Development and Defence.

Mayor sets out vision for public spaces The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson today set out his vision to transform London's public spaces and create beautifully designed oases throughout the capital's urban jungle.

Over the next three years, in excess of Ł220 million will be invested in over 50 public space projects, ranging from redesigned streets to reclaimed green spaces and waterways.

The Mayor launched London’s Great Outdoors – A Manifesto for Public Space which sets out his commitment to champion the improvement of public spaces and create places that are fit for a great world city, and which are enjoyable for everyone who uses or visits them.

His manifesto is supported by two practical guides that set out his principles for designing better streets, roads and squares as well as better green and water spaces.

27 towns in battle to save Green Belt Government plans to erode parts of the Green Belt were disclosed over the weekend. The Sunday Telegraph identified 27 towns and Cities that have been chosen by Whitehall planners as locations where parts of the Green Belt should be reviewed or sacrificed.

Ministers have expressed their determination to push ahead with the plans. Planning Minister, John Healey MP said ‘The Green Belt principle is unchanged, but we are determined to see the new homes we will need’ Areas proposed for cuts or reviews include Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth, Guildford, Harlow, Oxford, Redill, Reigate, Welwyn and Woking.

Conservatives embrace the internet and announce a national house swap scheme Shadow Housing Minister, Grant Shapps MP, believes social housing mobility is stuck in the twentieth century, and last week announced that a future Cameron Government will facilitate a nationwide affordable house-swap programme.

The proposal is to introduce an Open Database Connectivity platform to ensure that, for the first time ever, every family in social housing will have the chance to relocate by exchanging their home for another one, anywhere in the country.

By ensuring that home-swap information is provided in Open Data format, entrepreneurial businesses will be able to create even more innovate housing-exchange services.

Shapps believes potential tenants will be texted when their ideal home swap appears, and tenants will be given the opportunity to take a virtual 360 degree tour of the prospective home.

Clegg calls for cancellation of Queen’s Speech With only 70 sitting day’s left at Westminster before the next election, LibDem leader Nick Clegg believes the programme outlined in the Queen’s Speech should be ignored and the final task of a rump parliament should be to clean up politics once and for all.

Clegg’s speech and proposed measures have over shadowed any other LibDem announcements and include reducing the power of the whips, introducing fixed term parliaments, allowing MPs to be sacked for misconduct and reforming party funding.

Despite this appeal to boycott politics, the LibDem team are expected to fully engage on any issues from the speech and will be looking carefully at DCLG issues which stem from the Queen’s Speech.