12 | OCTOBER 2018
News
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
GOVERNMENT
ANNOUNCES NEW
HOUSING MEASURES
Measures to champion the rights of homebuyers and help ensure that
when they buy a new home they get the quality of build they rightly
expect. The New Homes Ombudsman will protect the interests of
homebuyers and hold developers to account when things go wrong.
The government is
committed to delivering
300,000 homes a year by
the mid-2020s and has
announced further plans
to speed up the planning
system as well as make bet-
ter use of land and vacant
buildings to provide the
homes that communities
need.
Local authorities will also
receive additional freedom
to make the most of existing
brownfield land and dispose
of surplus land that could
instead accommodate new
homes.
Support for
homebuyers facing
problems with
their newbuild
The government has
announced that there will
be a New Homes Ombuds-
man - a watchdog that will
champion homebuyers, pro-
tect their interests and hold
developers to account.
We intend to legislate to
require all new developers
to belong to a new home’s
ombudsman.
House buyers should be
confident that when they
purchase a new home, they
get the quality of build and
finish they expected.
In the meantime, govern-
ment expects industry to
continue to improve the cur-
rent redress arrangements
and improve the consistency
of quality for new build
homes.
Incarnation defies
summer lull with
soaring secondary sales
Defying typical trends
in secondary glazing, up-
and-coming manufacturer
Incarnation is enjoying a
surge in leads and sales.
Traditionally, interest in
secondary glazing is strong
throughout the winter
months, when improving
thermal efficiency and
cutting energy bills is very
much on people’s minds,
but then drops off during
the summer.
This year, however,
Incarnation is bucking that
trend – something Director
Paul Bygrave is attributing
to increased awareness that
secondary glazing is more
than just a one-trick pony.
“Once, secondary glazing
was often written off as a
niche product only suited to
a few very specific contexts.
Most notably, it’s known
for use on conservation
properties – and there’s no
question, secondary excels
in that context.
“But now, there’s a grow-
ing appreciation that there’s
a lot more to secondary
than that. Secondary glazing
is one of – if not the most –
versatile fenestration types
in existence.”
Today, Incarnation offers
two complete secondary
glazing suites – the Classic
Collection, and the Opti-
mum Collection.
The Classic Collection is
aimed squarely at the do-
mestic and heritage markets,
featuring an extensive array
of ultra-slim profiles to suit
virtually any style.
All Classic units are avail-
able with three outer frame
options, easily identified
on Incarnation’s recently
revamped order forms. They
offer a glazing capacity of
up to 6.4mm for acoustic
projects and can be fitted
with discrete locking hard-
ware.
Optimum, on the other
hand, is specifically de-
signed for large-scale and
commercial projects, and is
increasingly in demand. In-
carnation also offers a best-
in-class Deluxe option.
www.incarnationwindows.co.uk
Planning reform
The government set out
a package of reforms to de-
liver 300,000 homes a year
by the mid-2020s through
planning reform and target-
ed investment.
As part of this the gov-
ernment has announced
plans to consult on further
measures to speed up the
planning system as well as
make better use of land and
vacant buildings to deliver
the homes that communities
need.
This includes: introducing
a new permitted develop-
ment right to allow property
owners to extend certain
buildings upwards, while
maintaining the character
of residential and conserva-
tion areas and safeguarding
people’s privacy.
Building safety
Following the Grenfell
Tower tragedy the govern-
ment established a com-
prehensive building safety
programme that included an
independent review on fire
safety and building regu-
lations. In the summer the
government published its
response to this review and
said it would ban the use
of combustible materials on
external walls of high-rise
buildings subject to consul-
tation.
Following this consulta-
tion, the government has
confirmed that it will take
forward this ban on all high-
rise buildings that contains
flats, as well as hospitals,
residential care premises
and student accommodation
above 18 metres.
https://www.gov.
uk/government/
organisations/ministry-
of-housing-communities-
and-local-government
Incarnation Director Paul Bygrave