Trying to fix the #housingcrisis & frustrating people by bringing in nuance & reality. Rants my own. Head of Policy & Market Insight. @NFBuilders. #AVFC
The lovely south
Joined May 2011
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Rico Woj retweeted
Head of Policy and Market Insight at the National Federation of Builders Rico Wojtulewicz, says decades of anti-business governments have made it tougher and tougher for people to hire.
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Rico Woj retweeted
🚨 OUT NOW 🚨 New towns on the horizon
🏘️ Housing minister @mtpennycook, Labour MP @SEANLWOODCOCK, urbanism professor Susan Parham, @shortthought from the National Federation of Builders, and housing correspondent @Victoria_Spratt join @Alain_Tolhurst to discuss the government's plan to build seven new towns in England
🎧 Listen now: pod.fo/e/3c3869
Rico Woj retweeted
'Investors that want to come to the UK are not going to spend millions of pounds if they can't get any produce off the line.'
Rico Wojtulewicz from the National Federation of Builders, explains the slump in building across the UK, despite Labour's promise to increase homes.
Rico Woj retweeted
Forest City is incredibly grateful to have the full throated backing of the National Federation of Builders. Since 1880 the NFB's members have been building Britain's cities. And hopefully, before long, they'll be building the next one.
“Forest City 1 is a chance for the UK to reinvent placemaking, land use and the planning system. It can serve as a blueprint for growth, while solving some of the greatest challenges the nation faces such as the housing emergency, nature depletion and the skill crisis. It needs to be taken seriously and we certainly back the proposal.” - Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB. (cc @shortthought)
pbctoday.co.uk/news/projects…
Rico Woj retweeted
The Weekend on @GBNEWS with @DawnNeesom & @BJElsey_! @DavidWooding @EmmaMcClarkin @AnitaMendiratta @ProfKarolSikora @IsobelFeculak Kathleen @annarileynews, William Mike @AidanMageeTV, @HCH_Hill @AlastairPKerr @shortthought @RFitzwilliams & @AndyMrChristmas. @GARVEY66 @GBNUpdates
Rico Woj retweeted
On that I completely agree. Wr should have automatic approvals for certain interventions. Yes. I am very pro a detailed pattern book approach and have been arguing for this for years. In this case however the example of full of errors and as a window obsessive! I think it’s important to correct the premise on which the argument is made. I also think the focus should be on repair and not in replacement. Teaching craftskills which you cant get here for live nor money other than from older people none of whom that I have met have passed on the skills. That is our biggest issue right now. Education. And quick decisions based on very precise and helpful guidance!
Rico Woj retweeted
📺WATCH: Bob the Builder heads for retirement and he’s not alone.
👷Construction is ageing fast and shrinking faster:
🔴1 in 3 builders over 50
🔴150K fewer young workers post-2008
🔴500K fewer workers in total
Can we build it? Not without a workforce❌
@Jonathan_Hinder
Rico Woj retweeted
🚨New CSJ inquiry into the construction skills shortage🚨
For all the government’s promises to “build, baby, build”, there’s no way that can happen if we don’t have enough builders.
Respond to our call for evidence here ⬇️
centreforsocialjustice.org.u…
Good news about today's apprenticeship reforms and decision to dump GCSE English & Maths⭐
Let's not stop there. We've launched a Call for Evidence into the construction skills shortage👇
centreforsocialjustice.org.u…
Rico Woj retweeted
Our entire regulatory and planning system around nuclear power seems designed to prevent us having abundant affordable clean electricity.
We should change it.
Britain needs nuclear power. Our nuclear projects are the most expensive in the world and among the slowest. Regulators and industry are paralysed by risk aversion. This can change. For Britain to prosper, it must.
Earlier this year, the Prime Minister appointed me to lead a Taskforce to set out a path to getting affordable, fast nuclear power Britain.
Our final report today sets out 47 recommendations, among them:
- Creating a one-stop shop for nuclear approvals, to end the regulatory merry-go-round that delays projects at the moment.
- Simplifying environmental rules to avoid extreme outcomes like Hinkley Point C spending £700m on systems to protect one salmon every ten years, while enhancing nuclear's impact on nature.
- Limiting the ability of spurious legal challenges to delay nuclear projects, which adds huge cost and delay throughout the supply chain.
- Approving fleets of reactors, so that Britain’s nuclear industry can benefit from certainty and economies of scale.
- Directing regulators to factor in cost to their behaviour, and changing their culture to allow building cheaply, quickly and safely.
- Changing the culture of the nuclear industry to end gold-plating and focus on efficient, safe delivery.
If the government adopts our report in full, it will send a signal to investors that it is serious about pro-growth reform and taking on vested interests for the public good.
A thriving British nuclear industry producing abundant, affordable energy would be good for jobs, good for manufacturing, good for the climate, and good for the cost of living. And it could enable Britain to become an AI and technology superpower.
Britain can be a world leader in this new Industrial Revolution, but only if it has the energy to power it.
Our report is bold, but balanced. Our recommendations, taken together and properly implemented, will forge a clear path for stronger economic growth through improved productivity and innovation. This is a prize worth fighting for.
gov.uk/government/publicatio…
Rico Woj retweeted
If you buy a £10 t-shirt from abroad online, the de minimis exemption saves you £1.20 on tariffs.
Post-abolition, you will need to pay the £1.20 yourself. If you do it via Royal Mail, you also have to pay an £8 handling charge.
This almost doubles the cost.
Rico Woj retweeted
Everyone hates stamp duty. Everyone knows an annual property tax would be better. But no one has come up with a plan that:
1️⃣ Fully removes stamp duty
2️⃣ Leaves no one worse off than on the current system
3️⃣ Raises money for the Treasury from day one
Until now.
There are a plethora of think tank reports advocating switching from stamp duty to an annual property tax. Because stamp duty sucks! It gums up the property market and makes it costly to move house.
As a result, people stay in the wrong place for longer:
💼 workers pay a penalty for moving to new job opportunities
🪹 empty-nesters are effectively fined for downsizing
🧑🍼 new parents can’t afford homes large enough for their families.
But there’s a reason that no government has managed to replace it: ending stamp duty means EITHER:
⬇️ Foregoing a huge amount of revenue (close to £12bn) for years, OR
⬆️ Massively raising taxes on people who have just bought a house (and already paid stamp duty)
For all the pages that have been written on stamp duty, no one has managed to design a tax that avoids this dilemma.
We think we have an answer.
Our scheme would give buyers a choice: when you next buy a house, you can EITHER pay stamp duty on the current system, OR you commit to paying an annual property tax - 0.16% for an average property worth £300,000 (which works out at £480 a year).
For someone who moves house twice in 10 years, this will be a huge saving on the current system, as shown below:
Rico Woj retweeted
The housing association Peabody were planning to build 564 new homes in Ealing. 50% affordable.
Now cancelled.
The reason 👇
Rico Woj retweeted
Tradesmen are being shafted by an epidemic of tool theft.
It’s destroying their livelihoods.
We must have their backs.
Rico Woj retweeted
Urban intensification in Islington.
Originally an old garage, this has been considerately converted into a usable space. It’s an office now but could just as easily be used as a small home as it’s kitted out with a kitchen and bathroom.
And you can hardly tell it's even there!
Rico Woj retweeted
We should be doing more to support small home building companies like this.
This is a great video from Skipton Properties of CGI vs the real build!
youtube.com/watch?v=VWbwTI1R…
Rico Woj retweeted
Do you know about the Landfill Tax?
If implemented from 2030 could add between £5,000 to £50,000 to the cost of building a new home (a 3,015% cost increase).
Rico Wojtulewicz, NFB Head of Policy and Market Insight explains ⬇️
youtu.be/yo6HrnzrVXU?si=xUx9…
