Ben Roskrow

Reasons to be cheerful - parts 1,2,3

Dec. 2, 2011

If you're a glass half full sort of person, then, argues Ben Roskrow, there are reasons to be cheerful in the housing market in the short, medium and longer term

Time to sideline the selfish

Nov. 8, 2011

Ben Roskrow argues that many opponents of new planning rules are plain selfish and are not considering the needs of those who are not yet on the property ladder

Ben Roskrow argues that the Daily Telegraph should know better than to run its one-eyed "Hands off our land" campaign which is unnecessarily raising the fears of its readers and skewing the argument on important planning reforms

Excellence is well worth the effort

July 12, 2011

Ben Roskrow says that the quality of entries for this year's Housebuilder Awards demonstrates how far the industry has come in improving all aspects of the new homes business

Make your mind up

May 25, 2011

Ben Roskrow argues that a government that changes its mind too often runs the risk of looking weak and lacking leadership. It is time to focus on getting the decision right first time

What caused the Pickles prickles?

April 8, 2011

Communities secretary Eric Pickles' appearance at the HBF Policy conference was almost bizarre. Ben Roskrow speculates that his strange mood may have been due to the measures introduced in the Budget just before the event

Lazy Legoland comments miss improvements in design

March 15, 2011

Ben Roskrow argues that Grant Shapps' attacks on new home design were somewhat lazy. Whilst there is always room for improvement, new home design has improved significantly in recent years

Measuring the effect of the Coalition's housing policies

Jan. 7, 2011

The industry expressed concern that without targets there would be no way of measuring whether enough new homes were being built. Ben Roskrow looks at a new initiative that might just help

Don't be a Leicester City on Localism

Dec. 20, 2010

Three nil down in a blizzard, Leicester City looked like a team hoping the game would be abandoned rather than seeking an opportunity to score. It didn't work, and there's a lesson in that for the industry in its Localism challenge

Housebuilding's own Truman Show

Oct. 28, 2010

Sometimes, says Ben Roskrow, working in and alongside the housebuilding industry is like being in a long running TV soap opera