I need to produce a paper on the influence of the economy on a property developer and want to look specifically at changing building standards, incorporation of green bling, provision of grants, etc. Any pointers or input from this forum would be greatly appreciated. Also any uk economics supply/demand help would be great, as i'm struggling to find suitable reference material.

Who do you need to produce the paper for?

You've stumbled upon a difficult subject: You will find it difficult to get real answers.

As skywalker says, development is about making money. Bling abounds. Grants are rarely of value. Building standards will make the production of buildings more expensive. Development these days is largely controlled by a relatively small number of developers.

The Thames Barrier park had an intersting economic rationale as well so you could search out the old LDDC or whatever thay are now called.

skywalker, could you de-acronymise LDDC

London Docklands Development Corporation

Generally speaking the developers only need to up the ante on one house of each type within a development as usually only the first one of each type finished is tested (so if you ever buy a brand new house ask which one was finished first!). The rest may be constructed as well but my experience (I've walked around a lot of big building sites) is that they are often 'less carefull' with the rest. Unless random testing is done (or all properties are routinely tested) on completion and say 2-3 years later (with a remedial cost penalty to the developer) it is my contention that no house (or at best a vanishingly small number of commercially built ones and the odd self build) gets to part l (as ammended) or stays there in terms of performance for more than a couple of years (if that). I hope I am wrong.

I agree with every comment made above. I live in a modern house built in 2000. This is the first one I have lived in that I have not built or converted for a considerable time. It is rubbish. The ground floor slab is damp and uneven. There is a 3/4" step in the 1st floor where the joists are not level & they started boarding at both ends and simply put a bit of polyfilla from one level to the other where they met in the middle They didn't bother using the tongue & groove - much of it is butt jointed. There is a minimum of insulation in the loft. The double glazed units have failed (causing condensation) and have gaps around the edges through which wind whistles in. None of the pipework is lagged. There is minimal hot water flow and they installed the cheapest heating system possible which is inadequate for the house. We get huge drafts from under the 1st floor. I could go on for ever. If I snagged this house it would run into pages. Basic building standards are not met. Insulation was obviously an afterthought that 'had to be done'. To correct the faults would entail a complete gut and renovation. This house was always to be a stop gap until we moved on but I have been apalled at the lack of quality. Where are the standards? Who inspected it? Certified to inspect & sign off their own shoddy work is probably the answer. Priced and sourced down to the lowest common denominator possible. As I said in another post a few minutes ago there is no political will to put things right. It is all about ticking boxes to show that you have 'done it' rather than 'actually doing it' - if you follow the logic. Can't wait to get out and into my 'bungalow project' and rip it apart and do it right.

But there again with such huge profits available pre/post planning permission I cant see that happening

It is more likely that the number of bricklayers labourers is the critical controlling factor here.

Maybe Tony, but the proviso was if buyers imposed a cap. If buyers do not impose a cap then it's a supply side issue.

Buyers seem to be imposing a cap right now relative to trend. Perhaps their resolve will weaken come the spring? It should be interesting: The changes in CGT will mean that many sellers, particularly of BTL properties, may hold off going to market until March/April. If the buyers resolve has not weakened by then, we may see a cap effectively being introduced.