Industry News
Young people gloomy about home owning prospects
Architects feel optimistic about future workloads with Northern practices looking to recruit more staff – RIBA Future Trends Survey May 2018
Seven in 10( 70 %) of us say that the difficulties young people have getting onto the housing ladder is one of the biggest problems we have in Britain today.
However at the same time the desire for home ownership remains strong. Almost half( 48 %) of people aged between 25 and 34 today who aren’ t on the property ladder say they want to own their own home within the next 10 years.
However, many in this age-group are highly pessimistic about their prospects of achieving home ownership even if they wait a decade: 41 % think that the achievement of their dream is unlikely.
The past, current and future accommodation that young people between 25 and 34 live in clearly shows:
A significant drop in those who own their own home – down from 40 % in 2008 to 33 % today.
But a significant number( 62 %) want to own their own home by 2028.
By 2028 far fewer want to be living in private rented accommodation – down from 31 % today to 9 %.
Today 14 % of the so-called boomerang generation live in a property owned by a friend or relative.
This is not somewhere that many of today’ s 18-24 year-olds see themselves living in 10 years – just 3 %.
The RIBA Future Trends Workload Index continued its positive trend this month, rising to + 24 in May 2018, up from + 13 in April.
In terms of geographical analysis, practices in London continue to be the most pessimistic about medium term workloads, but with a balance figure of + 16 London practices have at least returned to positive territory and on balance believe that workloads will increase in the medium term.
The balance figure in the Midlands and East Anglia was + 18, in the North of England + 46, in the South of England + 24 and in Wales and the West + 28. Practices in Scotland were somewhat more cautious, returning a balance figure of + 17. It is the northern powerhouse region that remains most upbeat.
In terms of practice size, large practices( 51 + staff) returned a workload balance figure of + 80, for medium-sized practices( 11- 50 staff) the balance figure was + 25, and for small practices( 1- 10 staff) the balance figure was + 23.
The private housing sector workload forecast rose to + 22, the commercial sector rose to + 11 and the public sector rose up to + 3: all moved in a positive direction this month. Only the community sector workload forecast saw a negative movement, falling to + 3 in May 2018 down from + 7 in April.
There was also a sizeable jump in the RIBA Future Trends Staffing Index this month, up significantly to + 12 in May 2018 compared with + 1 in April. The staffing forecast for large practices( 51 + staff) was + 80 in May, for mediumsized practices( 11- 50 staff) it was + 18 and small practices( 1- 10 staff) it was + 9.
Mirroring the Workload Index, practices in the North of England( balance figure + 23) were the most optimistic about being able to take on more staff over the next quarter, whereas London practices( balance figure + 3) do not anticipate a significant recruitment drive.
RIBA Executive Director Members, Adrian Dobson, said:
“ Commentary received from our participating practices continues to suggest a reasonably steady work flow and the overall mood music remains cautiously optimistic, but many practices report fee levels are still under pressure because of the highly competitive market for our services.
A small number of correspondents report difficulties in recruiting staff, but this does not appear to be a widespread problem at present, suggesting a fairly balanced employment market for salaried architects”.
HBA: Rural communities need bespoke housing policy
The Institute for Public Policy Research( IPPR) has published a policy report,“ A new rural settlement, fixing the affordable housing crisis in rural England”, shedding light on some of the unique challenges rural communities face.
The report identifies four solutions:
• The Government must commit to more devolution, including bespoke deals on housing and planning
• The need for a new approach to capital funding for affordable housing
• The need to bring forward land for affordable housing
• The need for new housing policies designed to support the unique features of rural communities and housing
The IPPR highlighted that housing costs are approximately 25 % higher in rural communities, while average wages are lower.
Homes in rural communities are around £ 19,000 more expensive than the average for England and, when compared to the urban communities( except for London), that figure exceeds £ 87,000.
Moreover, the IPPR identified that homes in rural communities are predominantly built on small sites, with rural exception sites being the key policy tool to enable these properties.
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