According to the Federation of Master Builders cutting VAT on domestic repairs and maintenance work would bring the 1 million empty properties across the UK back into use.

If they were able to turn these currently empty properties into homes it would take a lot of pressure off the growing housing crisis which has to cope with five million people on the social housing waiting list with a further 90,000 living in temporary accommodation.

Brian Berry, Director of External Affairs at the FMB said: “Recent research commissioned by the FMB from the London School of Economics reveals that there is capacity within existing towns and cities to create all the new homes the UK needs and that reusing empty properties is one of the instruments to help fulfil this aim. “

“However, the current rate of VAT is acting as a disincentive for owners of unused properties to bring them back into use. Often it is cheaper to simply demolish and rebuild as new build is VAT exempt.”

Berry concluded: “Cutting VAT on domestic maintenance and repairs would not only mean many empty properties are brought back into use but would help boost an ailing construction industry by helping to create much needed jobs and apprenticeships for young people. Communities would also benefit too as getting rid of neglected properties would help create better local environments by helping to reduce crime and create demand for local services.”

“With house building at its lowest level since 1924 bringing empty homes back into use is a sensible way to help meet housing needs of every community around the UK and cutting VAT on domestic maintenance and repairs would make sure that this happens.”

The team here at BuilderScrap are always frustrated when hearing about buildings or construction materials not being used to their full value. Approcximatelty14% of the UK’s 120 million tonnes of construction waste generated each year is surplus brand new material, which equates to roughly 16.8 million tonnes. Currently these materials are recycled or sent to landfill without ever being used. By using this material for its intended purpose with in maintenance or empty properties environmental, social and financial benefits could be made.

At BuilderScrap we attempt to facilitate this through both our open house online exchange platform as well as our managed service pilot scheme launching December 1^st. This service seeks to identify and segregate surplus materials and redistribute these materials into charities and community project via a transition yard. This will enable charities and community projects to benefit from these materials for free or a heavily reduced cost.

If you know of any projects in the North-West that would benefit from this initiative please call is on 0844 225 300. Thanks.

This article was sourced from Construction Now.

The government is asking construction companies to slash 40% off the cost of schools projects that were approved by Michael Gove in July, in the latest attempt to save money from the school building programme.

The news, which will force supply chains to rescope projects previously thought safe from cuts, comes two days after the government revealed that the annual budget for school building work would be cut by 60% over the course of the next parliament.

It is understood that the government wants to reduce the overall cost of building for an approximate 600 schools, including those from the Building Schools for the Future programme and academies, given approval by Gove by 40%.

All projects that were given approval in July will be asked to find savings. The exact amount demanded from each project will depend on the stage it is at, meaning some may be cut by more than 40% and some less.

The local authorities involved and their construction supply chains are being given a month to come up with the savings. They will be advised by Partnerships for Schools, the government’s school delivery agency, and will have to re-examine the scope of projects and look at value engineering to drive down cost.

It is understood that that the money saved will be used to fund other schools work. One source said: “It’s about making the money go further.”

If every construction company used BuilderScrap as a way of getting rid of surplus materials rather than paying for skips and transport charges it’d be interesting to see how much of a saving that would be to the client and the construction company.

The supply chain may BuilderScrap as a solution for slow moving or obsolete stock as well as providing their customers with a solution for surplus materials that cannot be returned.

This article was sourced from Building.co.uk

The SME construction sector is heading for a double dip recessions according to the latest State of Trade Survey from the Federation of Master Builders.

A worrying 42% of people surveyed for the third quarter of 2010 said that public new build workloads had fallen and that a further 51% expect them to do so again in the next three months.

Richard Diment, director general of the FMB said: “The severe reduction in workloads for small construction companies working on public sector new build projects such as schools, hospitals and other infrastructure construction is a direct consequence of the government’s public sector cuts.”

“We are now moving towards a double dip recession in construction with more than half of our members anticipating falling workloads in the public sector over the coming three months. Only 9% of our members expect things to improve.”

With times in the construction industry looking so bleak it is important that all construction materials are used to their fullest potential, so any surplus materials should be made available to a wider audience who may have a need for it, that’s why BuilderScrap is continuing it’s drive for re-use across the construction industry.

We have all stayed at rubbish hotels but this one is a little different, it’s a hotel made entirely out of rubbish.

The hotel is made up of approximately twelve tonnes of rubbish collected from Europe’s beaches. It has been built as an artistic method of raising awareness about the throwaway culture that we live in and to highlight the coastline’s worrying levels of pollution.

The hotel is located in the world famous tourist city of Rome and has been created by German artist HA Schult. The distinguished guest list of the hotel includes eco-warrior and Danish fashion model Helena Christensen.

Whilst this may be seen as a bit of fun by some, there is a very serious underlying message that we are ignorant about rubbish and resources. We currently consume far beyond the earths capacity of resources and at some point something must give.

To some extent the increased awareness of recycling has largely determined that our throw away lifestyles can be maintained safe in the knowledge that rubbish will be recycled. This fails to address the true underlying problems and the need to reduce our rubbish, where this is not possible then reuse should be preferential to recycling.

This is a value that BuilderScrap can assist with in relation to construction materials, we are always seeking to maximise the life cycle of products and resources by providing a platform to do so.

It is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that we do everything we can to reduce the amount of consumption that we are currently inflicting on our planet, after all the earths resources are finite.

If you caught our last blog post about Buildability then you woudl have read all about how Design and Specification fit into the Buildability Cycle.  This post looks at the second phase in the cycle – Procurement.

Sustainable Procurement

The following highlights several points which should be considered at the Procurement stage, to help improve the sustainability of your project.

Standardize procurement procedures
Put local suppliers on procurement framework
Explore compulsory packaging and materials take back schemes
Maximize recycled content wherever possible
Use easily available construction products
Utilise local labour to boost local economies and reduce carbon emissions from transport
Considerate Contractors scheme
Vigorously check the environmental credentials of any potential suppliers

The next stage is construction, watch out for that post.

This article we have come across on the Building website, discusses the proposed improvements to the sustainability of new home construction.  We believe that BuilderScrap can help by providing a sustainable method of passing on surplus building materials.

Housing minister John Healey has proposed changes to Part L of Building Regulations which will introduce a 25% improvement on current standards of energy efficiency of both homes and commercial buildings from October 2010.

The new housing minister launched a consultation at the RTPI planning conference on changes to the building regs that would require new buildings to have much better insulation and lower-energy lighting and heating. The 25% improvement in domestic performance was widely expected as it is already contained in the Code for Sustainable Homes, however the plan to expected non-domestic buildings to achieve the same improvements will come as a surprise to the industry.

Healey said such a move could save families £100 a year on their heating and electricity bills.  He said: “We must build our homes to a better, greener standard. We are leading the way globally, with our ambitions for zero-carbon homes and buildings. Today I have announced the next step towards zero carbon – a 25% improvement on current standards for new homes or buildings from 2010.”

Robert Upton, secretary-general of the RTPI, said: “To adopt this 25% improvement in 2010 will be tough but this is a bold decision which we welcome and fully support. If we are to achieve our targeted reduction of carbon emissions of 20% by 2020 as the minister indicated, we have to act now… It’s time for planners, architects and developers to step up to the mark and respond to this challenge.”

BuilderScrap has been talking this week to Flame TV, a company making a program about using builders surplus materials to help people ‘fix their home for free’.  Can youhelp?

FIX YOUR HOUSE FOR FREE

WE NEED YOUR HELP !!!! – “Fix Your House For Free” presented by Tommy Walsh and Liam Collins is an eco design and building project which is going to be aired on Discovery later this year for 10 consecutive weeks and has already garnered lots of publicity. It will head up the autumn schedule on prime time.

 This project is all about eco building – recycling and reclaiming goods – putting materials we throw out to good use by reusing them. We will be sourcing these materials from skips outside homes – with owners consent – and from salvage yards and we will be looking from anything and everything – rubble, tiles, concrete, wood flooring, panelling, cupboards, bricks, windows, metal, bathroom and kitchen units etc.  I have all environment agency licences in place to enable me to take materials from building sites and skips and reuse them.

 This is a zeitgeisty series – some projects we undertake may be helping people who have been affected by the current changes to the property market – so they want to enlarge or convert their house or build an office in the garden. As we are taking on five projects – anything from conservatories, garden offices, loft conversions, extensions etc we will be looking to source a large amount of materials – bricks, timber, glass, doors, windows, floorboards, plasterboard, tiles etc.

 If you feel any of your projects may have surplus materials we could use (sand and cement, bricks and timber we’ll need in abundance!) then please do let us know – we would film Tommy or Liam coming to the site and chatting with your representatives there, which would allow for your branding to get screen time.

If you do think this is something you may be able to help me with please do not hesitate to contact me.

 Hayden King

Producer/Director

FIX YOUR HOUSE FOR FREE

Flame TV

hayden@flametv.co.uk

0207 7136868

Of course, you can always add items to the BuilderScrap website where the producers will be keeping an eye out for suitable building products!