Ben Roskrow

Ben Roskrow

Ben is the publishing director at Housebuilder Media and editor of Housebuilder magazine

How many new housing starts in 2018?

April 29, 2013

At a recent housing debate, not one member of the audience thought we would be building 150,000 homes a year by 2018. Ben Roskrow wonders whether the government is aware of such pessimism

New investors rewarded by Budget boost

March 27, 2013

A new wave of US and European private equity funds have entered the UK housebuilding sector, judging that the time is right to invest. Ben Roskrow says that the Budget will have helped these funds believe they have backed the right horse

Replacing the rungs on the Broken Ladder

Feb. 26, 2013

Ben Roskrow says that despite having their detractors, government initiatives to ease the mortgage market are starting to gain momentum and at present are the best hope to tackle the housing crisis

A flying start to 2013

Jan. 29, 2013

The new homes debate has lost no momentum going into 2013 thanks to the intervention of planning minister Nick Boles, says Ben Roskrow. And Boles' skewering of Sir Simon Jenkins on Newsnight is an early contender for best moment of the year

Conflicting views of a challenging market

Nov. 2, 2012

There is no easy answer to the classic question: "So, how's the housing market going?" Some may say it's going well, says Ben Roskrow, others call it grim. It depends who you are, what you do and where you operate

HMI charts the vagaries of the industry

Oct. 4, 2012

The Housing Market Intelligence conference on October 3 was the tenth staging of the housebuilding industry's favourite event. Ben Roskrow notes how the themes of each previous conference allow us to chart the fortunes of the industry at a glance

Affordable housing crisis coming

June 15, 2012

Affordable housing is about to hit a crisis point says Ben Roskrow, whatever the HCA figures may say

Designer snobbery

April 27, 2012

Ben Roskrow argues that views about new home design are fuelled by a design snobbery that not only manifests itself in architects’ surveys but also in popular culture – even in the Harry Potter films

The right to open our windows

March 7, 2012

New research shows that people like the cost savings in their energy efficient new homes but that they are not fully embracing the sustainability adventure. Ben Roskrow says the industry should not be forced to build homes that folk won't buy

New regulations? Yes, minister

Jan. 27, 2012

Ben Roskrow argues that civil servants cannot resist introducing new regulations - despite promises to the contrary - as is proven by the latest wave of consultations to hit the housebuilding industry