NEWS | DIGEST Loan rate hike trashes social housing plans The government has announced a surprise one percentage point increase on cheap Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) finance, raising fears that plans for more social housing across the UK may have to be shelved. The PWLB is the main source of long-term finance for local authorities for capital projects such as housebuilding and regeneration schemes. The cost of borrowing was raised by 1%, bringing the rate to 1.8% over gilts, which sit at around 1%. A spokesperson for the Local Government Association said: It presents a real risk that capital schemes, including vital council house building projects, will cease to be affordable and may have to be cancelled as a result. Stevenage Borough Council leader Sharon Taylor said the increase meant that plans for a 300m investment in social housing in the borough had been trashed. There has been no consultation on this whatsoever and, when we are this close to budget time, a major change like this could absolutely blow our plans out of the water. Government rejects offsite advice The government housing body Homes England has ignored a call for it to insist that any developer being paid from public funds must use modern methods of construction (MMC). Parliaments Housing Select Committee set out 21 recommendations in a report earlier this year, including a requirement for housebuilders supported by the Help to Buy scheme to use methods like offsite fabrication. However, Homes England the public sector housing accelerator rejected the advice, saying there were currently no plans to make the use of MMC a requirement for these funding schemes to ensure we continue to create conditions for the industry to innovate and avoid focusing only on the frontrunners in the sector. We will continue to encourage beneficiaries of the funds to make use of MMC where appropriate, it said. It also rejected a recommendation to identify types of MMC that work best and can be used at scale. It said: Homes England does not believe that any one type or types of MMC technology will provide the answer to the housing shortage across the country. All types may have a part to play and what is suitable and viable on one site may not be appropriate on another. 14 November 2019 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Nov19 pp14 News Goldsmith.indd 14 Passivhaus project wins RIBA Stirling Prize Standard enables average energy savings of 70% on heating bills The Goldsmith Street Passivhaus-certified low-energy social housing scheme in Norwich has won this years RIBA Stirling Prize. The development for Norwich City Council (NCC), designed by Mikhail Riches with Cathy Hawley, comprises around 100 ultra-low energy homes and is the UKs largest social housing project to achieve Passivhaus certification. The housing scheme which was described by RIBA judges as a modest masterpiece is a mix of housing types, with seven terrace blocks arranged in four rows and bookended by threestorey flats. The Passivhaus approach enables average energy savings of 70% on annual heating bills, which was one of the main reasons why NCC choose to pursue the standard as a way of addressing potential fuel poverty issues. But as well as reduced fuel bills, the architect also brought a clear social focus to the project. The layout draws inspiration from Victorian terrace housing and a quarter of the site has been reserved for communal space. Announcing the win in October, the RIBA judges said: It is highquality architecture in its purest, most environmentally and socially conscious form. Behind restrained creamy faades are impeccably detailed, highly sustainable homes an incredible achievement for a development of this scale. This is proper social housing, over 10 years in the making, delivered by an ambitious and thoughtful council. These desirable, spacious, low-energy properties should be the norm for all council housing. WORKING TOGETHER ON M&E PASSIVHAUS Passivhaus design practice Greengauge was appointed to lead the M&E design for the Goldsmith Street project, with specialist design practice Warm appointed for the Passivhaus design. Greengauge had previously collaborated with Mikhail Riches on a number of other schemes, although this was the most ambitious, comprising around 100 Passivhaus dwellings for social rent. With a range of building types, from one- to four-bedroom houses, it is the UKs largest social rent project that is 100% Passivhaus. The design of the buildings took priority, and the architects wanted the Passivhaus to work to the design rather than the design being secondary to making the Passivhaus work. Understanding the amount of information that needed to be delivered and how to manage it was a big challenge, said Hannah Jones, co-founder of Greengauge. There were at least 12 different house types, and that posed a different situation as opposed to a typical big housing development where there might be a handful of house types. Greengauge designed the complete M&E package for the development, which included the hot and cold-water systems, heating, ventilation and all the electrical systems, such as the power, data, lighting and fire detection. Warm worked with Greengauge as a sub-contractor on the mechanical side of the project, Jones said. For the Passivhaus design, Warm was separately appointed. We have worked closely with them to ensure the mechanical elements are tied in with the Passivhaus requirements and to make sure we dont get any conflicting issues between the two. This involved reconciling the inputs of architect Mikhail Riches, which had modelled the Passivhaus scheme in 3D using ArchiCAD, and Warm, which was working in 2D. 25/10/2019 15:24