Welsh Secretary David Jones told Conservative Party Conference delegates today (Wednesday) that unnecessary red tape in Wales, including the requirement for sprinklers to be installed in all new homes, had contributed to a 32 per cent decline in new home registrations there in the period from May to July (compared with a year earlier). In the same period, registrations increased 34 per cent in England, he said.
In Labour-run Wales, regulations on builders are considerably more onerous than in England, including the bizarre proposal to fit every new house with a sprinkler system.
The consequence of this over-regulation is that fewer houses are being built in Wales.
Last week, one of the biggest builders of homes in Wales, Persimmon Homes, said it would stop building houses in parts of the South Wales valleys, because they do not make money. The builder blamed red tape, saying that homes cost around GB pound 3,000 more to build in Wales than in England and sell for less.
Regulations that would force builders to install sprinklers in all new buildings were originally intended to take effect in 2013, but a phased introduction was announced this year. Under this plan, new high-risk properties such as care homes and university halls will be required to have sprinklers from April 2014. The regulations will not apply to other houses until January 2016.
So the current downturn in the Welsh house building market cannot be directly apportioned to the new sprinkler regulations. However, the looming threat of them taking effect in 2013 could have put some builders off.
The Welsh secretary called on the Welsh Assembly to rein in regulation.
Cut the red tape that is pushing builders out of the Welsh market.
Use devolution as something that can give Wales a competitive edge in the global race, rather than as an excuse to regulate.
The views of the Welsh secretary broadly mirror those of Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles. In a June letter to Ann Jones, the Welsh Assembly member behind the sprinkler regulations, Pickles wrote that they would place an unnecessary “burden of red tape” on builders, especially when compared with the rules in England. This prompted an angry response from the Chief Fire Officers Association, which called the UK government’s negative stance on the Welsh approach “short-sighted.”
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They Say, 80% of Statistics are just Made Up! Like that one was, but tradition says, Lies Bloody Lies & Statistics, when you put it into the context of the Political Arena?? I do not sell or get involved in Sprinklers, but I do know they save many lives, homes, buildings & Business. House Fires have been a regular thing in Wales, so it is a good policy, but would be great if it were the norm. When I did look into them, it was the high, “American” specification that was costing money, a simple high pressure fire extinguisher, micro… Read more »
I as a consumer do not see this from keeping me from buying a home, and I would imagine as a home builder that if I want to stay in business then I have to accept the regulation and continue building homes. I dont think any business that builds homes as their main focus would go and decide to just stop because they have to put a sprinkler systems in. I would wonder if the decline in home building is not that these builders won’t accept it but that there are some running to play catch up and learning how… Read more »
Same here. This wouldn’t detract me at all from purchasing at home. If you think about it, those regulations are there as an added safety measure in case of fire. That’s a positive thing for me.
I would consider sprinkler system as the most cost effective and reliable fire prevention system when we have so much of sophistication and fear that it would not work in the time of need. Its has been tired out at most occasion and proved it success. Any home builder should take it for granted that he would not get the value for his property if its not adequately covered with the fire prevention system.
I think that yes, they may be expensive, but over time the cost is minimal. For me, this is about developers and politicians wanting a short-term fix to their economic woes, when homes should be about investing in the future.
If there’s demand for homes, someone will build them. Let these developers build elsewhere, someone will pick up the business here.
But once the property is sold it’s not their responsibility anymore. The builder therefore wants the most cost-effective solution. If a sprinkler system is more expensive than, say, effective compartmentation and fire doors then you know what the builder is going to want to specify.
We should really look more at the statistics of fire deaths in houses. Only a level playing field would allow cost comparison, rather than drag Wales down to our standards we should move to follow and bring them in across the UK. Perhaps a delay on some other Regulation changes to prioritise something so important. If it’s the norm installation costs will fall and water authorities may get their act together to make sprinklers an easy option even for refurbishment. Then the cost of houses in Wales will look more acceptable.