Winter 2008 Key prime housing market dynamics As we predicted, the global credit crisis has taken its toll on prime central London and downside risks are increasing. Values fell by -2% for PCL in the final quarter of 2007.
February 2008 UK residential market update
Given the weaker economic backdrop, the downside risks have increased for the UK's housing market
October 2007 UK Shopping centre and high street bulletin
With it looking increasingly likely that the next move in the base rate will be downwards, we expect consumer confidence to improve.
Autumn 2007 Key prime housing market dynamics
Given the weaker backdrop in the financial markets, we have lowered our forecast for growth in prime London properties from 22% to 18%...
October 2007 Residential Market Update The balance of opinion amongst surveyors is that house prices have fallen month on month in both August and September.
September 2007 Rising housing supply
Although housing supply has been rising nationally, the levels still fall well short of the numbers that would remove housing scarcity...
2007 Better by Design
The current planning emphasis on urban regeneration, mixed use,
sustainable development and high residential densities...
2007
Better By Design
The current planning emphasis on urban regeneration, mixed use,
sustainable development and high residential densities means
that we are in the middle of nothing short of a revolution in
the scale, design, content and complexity of development projects.
There is an expectation for the development industry to deliver
ambitious Government targets on house building, to clean up
derelict land, redress decades of neglect in transport and other
infrastructure, whilst at the same time regenerating cities,
making better places in which to live, creating safe and attractive
urban environments, quality public realm and cities that we
like.
This is an exciting professional challenge, but it is also
a mighty tall order. The pressure is on all of us involved
in planning and property to perform miracles. If we get it
wrong we will be pilloried by press and public, and I guess
rightly so - we have a responsibility in all of this; the
success of development schemes will be measured not just in
development profit and increased land values but by the quality
of new buildings, their setting and the spaces around them.
And the media is focused on these issues as never before.
A key factor in all of this is the recognition that higher
densities and mixed use will only succeed if there is an underlying
quality, not just quality architecture and buildings, but
also the quality of public spaces, the way that access and
public transport work (or don't), and as a result whether
the places we have created feel good or awful.
There is an imperative to achieve better design quality, otherwise
we shall lose the plot and end up with high density development
that is awful to live, work or shop in and which will cause
an inevitable backlash against increased densities, mixed
use and the entire regeneration agenda.
Just to add to the challenge, there is more published guidance
and Government targets around now than ever before - telling
us what we should be achieving, how and by when. This is coming
at us in various forms - from Government, from commissions,
working groups and reports such as Kate Barker, bodies such
as CABE, and increasingly from the regional Government agencies.
And just in case we thought that was challenging enough, we
must now add one more factor to the array of complications
- the efficient use of energy in building design, siting,
materials and construction is also moving rapidly up the agenda.
Meeting the requirements of the European Directive on the
Energy Performance of Buildings will have consequences extending
well beyond the Building Regulations, which have dealt with
it hitherto. In our master-planning work for English Partnerships
and other clients, we are examining how passive solar design
methods can be reconciled with established urban design objectives
to arrive at a form of development that is attractive, resource-efficient
and comfortable to live in - whilst also (and this is absolutely
critical) being deliverable from a commercial perspective
and producing houses that people will want to live in.
My response to all of this? There is, I am afraid, no escape
- these issues have to be faced up to and positively addressed.
Development solutions need to be based on three factors: firstly
an understanding of urban design (the link between architecture
and planning - considering buildings in their wider relationship
along with land uses, public spaces, transport linkages, etc);
secondly a thorough understanding of what lies behind all
these government objectives - energy efficiency, sustainability,
design quality and environmental safeguards; thirdly and absolutely
fundamental, is a commercial understanding of development
- the demand, costs, values, marketability and the other factors
that at the end of the day determine whether a project is
deliverable. Just to add a little current spice to the equation,
house prices are going through a period of uncertainty and
expectations of land value may have to be tempered.
Savills' Planning, Urban Design, Development, Environmental,
Commercial and Research teams are combining their skills to
deliver solutions based on a firm understanding of the complex
range of issues involved. To succeed in all of the necessary
areas, developments must be assembled carefully, and implemented
well. They must address environmental, sustainability and
energy considerations. They must be better by design.
