- Map from Bloor Homes and Church Commissioners proposed housing report
In 2008 Bloor and the Church Commissioners submitted a report to the West Midlands Regional Assembly, the now defunct organisation that set the housing targets for the region called ‘A Vision for Hereford’ (see below).
It concluded that 8,500 homes should be built on the green field sites they own to the south and west of Hereford and that a western bypass is needed. A route, design and cost for the road was given. Their report was written by the consultants, JMP, who were the same consultants that did the Council’s own report on the case for a western bypass called ‘the Multi Modal Study’ in 2009. Not surprising then that the Council came up with the same conclusions. Indeed the Council’s LDF, out now for consultation, is very similar to Bloor’s ‘Vision for Hereford’, so similar that we wonder just who is calling the shots – the Council or Bloor.
Said Mark Hubbard, Leader of It’s Our County, the largest opposition party in the Council
“This plan will bring such change to Herefordshire and it has been designed by property developers as a response to their needs, not the needs of Herefordshire and future generations”.
Bloor Homes has recently undergone considerable structural change due to financial stresses. Their 2010 financial report (see below) shows that last year 14 x J S Bloor housing companies existed. On July 1 2010 they were all amalgamated into one group called ‘Bloor Homes’.
This happened one day after the Bloor Homes annual accounts were published. At least one of these Bloor Homes (the Newbury, main one) made an operation loss on the year to 30 June 2010 of £3m. On the same day, i.e. July 1st 2010 Bloor Homes was taken under the wing of Bloor Holdings (which includes Triumph motorcycles + plus a hire firm) for 18 months, to tide them over difficult financial times. Six weeks before this the Bloor (all companies) auditors KPMG resigned and new auditors were appointed (Ernst Young, B’ham).
This giant Bloor Holdings company in the year up to 30 June 2010 had a turnover of £312m, assets of £227m and made an ‘operational profit’ of £17m, about half of which came from the house building Bloor Homes, but this shakes down to profit after tax of just £3.3m, for the whole Bloor Holdings company. It has a debt of £111m at 5% to 6%.
The Bloor 2010 financial report states house building has been difficult in the past year. As a result they have adjusted their business away from apartments and first time buyers and are looking for social housing grants. (However, housing grant has been halved by the Coalition Government from £8b to £4b and this money will be harder to find, see below). This may not be what the Council want to hear, after all, the mantra has been ‘affordable housing’ for a long time now, though the actual delivery of affordable housing has been low, no more than 17% in the last 14 years (see below). With all the other infrastructure calls on their stretched coffers, in particular the proposed bypass it seems unlikely Bloor and the Church Commissioners (or indeed rival builders with smaller patches of land) will be able to even achieve this low rate of affordable homes in the future
Bloor Homes 2010-11 annual financial report should be out sometime soon. It is awaited with interest.
Notes for Editors:
It’s Our County is the largest opposition political party in Herefordshire. It has nine Councillors plus one Green member in its political group in the Council.
It’s Our County stands for independence, openness, accountability, fairness and sustainability. While recognising Herefordshire is part of a global economy it rejects fashions in national political and works on local solutions for local problems. For more information go to http://itsourcounty.org/
For Bloor Accounts go to Companys House http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/
Social Housing Grant to be cut see: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/20/biggest-shakeup-in-social-housingAffordable Housing completions in Herefordshire
For affordable homes completions see: Herefordshire Council website, see Full Council Minutes November 2010, Question 11 answer from Leader John Jarvis
For the Vision for Hereford Bloor Homes and Church Commissioner document go to www.www.itsourcounty.org/downloads
For the LDF plans go to the Council website