Propertymark outlines how UK Government can help smaller housebuilders meet ambitious 1.5 million new homes target
Property agent professional body, Propertymark, has outlined how the UK Government can assist small to medium-sized homebuilding businesses (SMEs) to build 1.5 million new homes.
As part of their ambitious target for boosting England’s supply of new homes, Propertymark has responded to the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government’s (MHCLG) Planning Reform Working Paper Reforming Site Thresholds consultation.
MHCLG is considering ways to help smaller construction firms build 1.5 million new homes over the course of this parliament through easing planning requirements for smaller and medium-sized sites.
Propertymark supports efforts to boost the capacity of the construction industry to not only build additional homes but to be more responsive to local demand for the size and tenure of properties that residents require.
The industry body said the views of industry bodies such as the National Federation of Builders and academic papers on the subject is that SMEs are more likely to concentrate on smaller sites, which need less time to finish once planning has been approved.
Despite this, the need to submit many planning applications to construct the same number of homes from a single bigger application is a substantial obstacle for smaller developers. Therefore, the number of larger projects has increased in recent years, with massive projects of over 500 units representing 38 per cent of new developments, a surge from only 8 per cent from 25 years ago. This has made delivering development projects harder for SMEs but also contributed to delays in other development projects.
Reducing costs and bureaucratic burdens is essential for SMEs to help the UK Government meet its target, as they can build on brownfield sites and deliver affordable and social homes, Propertymark states. However, without more workers trained, the construction industry will experience a considerable labour shortage.
Propertymark recommends that a streamlined planning process should be provided with fewer conditions and a quicker statutory period for determination. Helping SMEs via a faster application process where projects are less likely to be rejected will help boost the number of properties constructed.
Local councils must be given the resources to invest in ecologists to help developers via planning applications, where they can take a more proactive role in supporting developers to organise their own Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and other environmental needs which are renowned for being rejected by local councils.
Finally, Propertymark said that the Building Safety Levy must be targeted to all industries responsible for installing dangerous cladding, as developers who never installed unsafe cladding are being charged for an issue they did not create.
Henry Griffith, Policy and Campaigns Officer at Propertymark, said:
“Propertymark fully welcomes any efforts to help the UK Government meet their ambitious target of constructing 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029, which is why helping SMEs is crucial if they are keen on hitting this ambitious aim in less than five years’ time.
“This can only be achieved via a streamlined planning process that boosts the number of properties being constructed, alongside other measures such as local councils investing in ecologists to help developers through planning applications, and by targeting the Building Safety Levy appropriately.”
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