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Homebuy plan details released

The government has released further details of its Homebuy proposals, aimed at boosting home ownership levels by a further 100,000 households by 2010 and tackling the fact that first time buyers are at an all time low.

Online consumer property sales "a matter of time"

Almost two thirds of consumers use the internet to research a house purchase, and more than 20% would consider buying a home online, according to a survey by new homes website smartnewhomes.com. The survey questioned 545 consumers on their online shopping

Berkeley’s Tony Pidgely to launch social housing arm

Berkeley Group chief executive Tony Pidgley is planning to launch a social housing business, which will enable the plc to retain ownership of the affordable housing elements of its developments. Berkeley’s existing social housebuilder, Berkeley First, bui

Developers shortlisted for social housing grant

Two housebuilders have been shortlisted by the Housing Corporation (HC) as potential development partners. Taylor Woodrow and David Wilson Partnership Homes will now go through to the next round of bidding as they attempt to win some of the £3.3 billion o

UK’s tallest residential tower planned for London

COMMENT - Allison Heller Deputy editor

[MMC-IMG=1754-A=Left] Summer. Short and sweet. Also a drought in parts of the country and getting warmer, according to a new report by the WWF. The study analy-sed temperatures from 16 European cities over the past 30 years and found that of them all, Lon

Housebuilding 2005: "essential event"

Thousands of people engaged in the UK’s housebuilding industry are set to converge on London on September 7 and 8 to attend Housebuilding 2005, the two day dedicated event for the industry.

ODPM planning targets lead to "reject and resubmit" cycle

Developers are increasingly being forced onto a "reject and resubmit" planning merry-go-round in order to win approval for housing schemes, as planning authorities seek to meet the government’s speed-of-decision targets, writes Brian Green.

CIOB skills shortage

Home ownership levels continuing to fall

Despite the government’s pledge to create one million new homeowners by 2010, ODPM figures show that the amount of people who own their own home dropped last year by around 400,000.