Delays and rising costs in the planning system are driving small companies away from house building and slowing down attempts to tackle Britain’s housing crisis, a report claims today.

New research from NHBC Foundation shows that small builders are experiencing “deeply frustrating” delays, with a third waiting more than a year for local authority planning approval and nearly 80 per cent experiencing a significant hike in planning-related fees in the last two years.

The NHBC Foundation report ‘Small house builders and developers: current challenges to growth’ outlines the climate faced by small firms, using the experiences of almost 500 companies who typically construct less than 10 homes a year.

The report highlights the fact that the number of small firms active in house building continues to decline, accounting for just 12 per cent of market share in 2015, compared with 28% in 2008.

Earlier this year, the Government pledged “radical, lasting reform” to tackle Britain’s housing shortage, including accelerating the planning system by making it more accessible and increasing its support for small and more innovative builders.

Commenting on the report, NHBC Head of Research and Innovation Neil Smith said: “While the planning process is recognised as a necessary control, small house builders and developers continue to express considerable frustration with it. The increasing complexity, time taken to achieve a decision, and the unpredictability and inconsistency within the planning process are slowing the delivery of new homes and, in some cases, causing companies to leave this market.

“Greater certainty and more standardised approaches, clarity concerning the fees and tariffs, coupled with a more responsive service from planning departments would increase predictability and significantly help to speed up the process, thereby increasing the number of homes built.”

The report found that the lack of viable building land was also a major barrier for small house builders who raised concerns about shortage of skilled workers and a lack of interest among young people in becoming apprentices.

National law firm Clarke Willmott has sponsored one of the UK Housing Awards at a glittering ceremony in central London.

Considered the ‘Oscars’ of housing, the awards, organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing and Inside Housing, recognise the ingenuity, creativity, passion and hard work of housing organisations across the UK.

The sold-out ceremony, celebrating its 20th year in 2017, took place at the Lancaster London Hotel and was attended by over 700 of the sector’s key leaders. The awards were hosted by comedian, author and broadcaster Dominic Holland.

One of the largest providers of social housing legal advice in the country, Clarke Willmott sponsored the ‘outstanding approach to tackling ASB behaviour’ category. The award was presented by the firm’s Head of Housing Management, Lindsay Felstead, to Newham Council, with Stockport Home also highly commended.

Lindsay said: “We are delighted to have sponsored a UK Housing Award. The ‘outstanding approach to tackling ASB behaviour’ recognises landlords that have developed an outstanding and sustainable approach to improving the safety and wellbeing of their communities. This is such an important part of social landlords’ commitment to their local communities, something we witness every day in the work we do with them.

“The work that Newham Council has been doing in this area is very important and they were very worthy winners of the award. 

“Our sponsorship of the award demonstrates Clarke Willmott’s commitment to the social housing sector and the ongoing work of our clients.”

The 2016 winners of the ‘outstanding approach to tackling ASB behaviour’ award, which is in only its second year, was the housing provider Peabody, who set up the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance (DAHA) with a mission to improve the housing sector’s response to domestic abuse.

Black Country Chamber of Commerce are celebrating Dudley Zoological Gardens as their Member of the Week with the renowned tourist attraction currently celebrating their 80^th Anniversary.

To mark this special milestone, Dudley Zoo will be holding their annual charity walk, Take A Walk On The Wild Side, which this year will be taking place on 6^th May and raising money for their orangutan enclosure. In addition, there will also be celebrations at a post-walk party on the castle courtyard during the afternoon, with retro singers and birthday cake, as well as a display of archive photographs and memories from visitors.

As well as the aforementioned charity walk and party, the zoo will be running a series of celebratory events taking place throughout 2017, including castle talks and tours, as well as paranormal nights.

Furthermore, Dudley Zoo will be redeveloping several enclosures throughout the year, with the recent redevelopment of the capuchin having being completed, whilst work on their lynx and farm enclosures is now also underway.

Derek Grove, Zoo Director at Dudley Zoological Gardens, commented: “Everyone at Dudley Zoo is immensely proud to be celebrating our 80^th Anniversary! Since 1937, we have welcomed millions of visitors from across the world to our unique site to visit our animals and 11^th Century castle, helping to ensure that we play a vital part in the cultural heritage of the Black Country.

“Moving forwards, we are looking to build upon the resounding success of last year, which saw us welcome more than 310,000 visitors. With the redevelopments that we have planned across the site, as well as the range of celebratory events that we have taking place, our 80^th year is set to be one to remember!”

Opening in May 1937, Dudley Zoo is constructed over 40 acres within a 200-acre densely wooded site, which also includes an 11^th Century castle. In addition, the zoo is home to more than 200 species, including Asiatic lions, Sumatran tigers, Rothschild giraffes, Bornean orangutans, and Madagascan lemurs.

As people across the globe prepare to raise a dram in celebration of World Whisky Day on 20 May, it is the perfect time to regain a thirst for the 'Water of Life' and embrace all things Scotch whisky, with some incredible festivals, tours and experiences all in honour of Scotland's national drink.

It is also the ideal opportunity to reacquaint oneself with the classic story Whisky Galore!, originally written as a novel by Compton Mackenzie, which was made into a film in 1949.  It has been re-made for a new audience: the new version starring Eddie Izzard, Gregor Fisher and Game of Thrones' James Cosmo has been shot at various locations in Scotland and will be sailing onto UK film screens from 19 May.

With well over 100 distilleries producing five different blends covering five whisky regions, massive festivals, wonderful attractions, and plenty of amazing bars and whisky clubs to delve into, Scotland is the place to enjoy a dram come World Whisky Day and beyond.

City of Wolverhampton Council has become the first council in England to achieve the British Deaf Association’s (BDA) pledge 2 status.

It is one of five pledges set out by the BDA’s charter for British Sign Language - and the council is currently working on completing two more. Pledge 2 promotes learning and high quality teaching of British Sign Language (BSL). The BDA presented the award in the Mayor of Wolverhampton’s parlour this week.

The BDA’s Charter for British Sign Language encourages councils to meet several pledges, and in doing so help eliminate unlawful discrimination, support equal opportunities, and build good relations with the deaf community. 

It confirms the council's commitment to three of the five key pledges, which are ensuring access to information and services for deaf people, promoting learning and high quality teaching of BSL, consulting with the deaf community on a regular basis, supporting deaf children and families, and ensuring staff working with deaf people can communicate effectively in BS.

Paul Redforn, Business Development Manager for the BDA, presented Councillor Ian Claymore, Member Champion for Equalities, with the award.

Paul said: "The BDA is delighted to present this certificate of achievement to City of Wolverhampton Council. The council is the first in England to be awarded this certificate and I would like to congratulate the council for their work on including deaf people in its services and improving their responses to deaf people's feedback.”

Councillor Claymore added: “I am delighted City of Wolverhampton Council has achieved BDA, BSL pledge 2. 

“The council is committed to doing all it can to support everyone who lives, works or visits the City of Wolverhampton and the completion of the first pledge puts us on the right track.

“One in seven people in the UK have some form of hearing loss, and by signing this charter, and completing the first pledge, we have underlined our determination to further improve the service we offer to members of the deaf community in Wolverhampton.”

The UK’s slowing economy underlines the concern Greater Birmingham businesses have over exchange rates and their impact on costs, business leaders said today.

This followed the announcement by the Office for National Statistics that the UK gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated to have increased by 0.3 per cent between January and March, the slowest rate of growth since Quarter 1 2016.

Slower growth was said to be mainly due to services, which grew by 0.3 per cent compared with growth of 0.8 per cent between October and December.

In Quarter 1 2017 there were falls in several important consumer-focused industries, such as retail sales and accommodation; this was due in part to prices increasing more than spending.

Production, construction and agriculture grew by 0.3%, 0.2% and 0.3% respectively in Quarter 1 2017 GDP per head was estimated to have increased by 0.1% during Quarter 1 2017.

Paul Faulkner, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC), said: “As expected, the UK posted a slower rate of growth for the start of 2017. Nevertheless, we should be mindful of the fact that growth levels in the UK have held up pretty well since the referendum result and this is a real testament to the strong foundations which underpin the British economy.

“It is not surprising to see retailers putting up prices due to higher input costs as a result of the falling value of the pound. However, it is heartening to see the manufacturing sector grow by 0.5 per cent last quarter, although this is unlikely to change the overall direction of growth as the service sector accounts for the majority of the UK’s economic output.

“Both of these overarching trends have been reflected in the findings of our latest Quarterly Business Report; local businesses are increasingly concerned about higher costs and manufacturers in the region have posted stronger growth rates than their service sector counterparts.

“The British Chambers of Commerce are releasing their manifesto on May 2 and we are backing their agenda,  including that with a General Election on the horizon, it is more important than ever that the Government provides a clear plan on how it intends to tackle regional economic imbalances and bring prosperity to the country as a whole.”