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.”

EAN Breaking News

Breaking News from the team at Estate Agent Networking. Have a new story to share with us? Then please get in contact today! When and where we can we will refer to third party websites with a 'live link back' where news was released first.

You May Also Enjoy

Estate Agent Talk

How to Sell Your House Fast in Birmingham, UK: A Complete Guide

Why Homeowners in Birmingham May Need a Quick Sale Life often throws unexpected challenges our way. Many owners in Birmingham want to sell their house rapidly. Birmingham comes up for one of a kind reasons. Some are probably relocating for work and need to move fast, while others are going through economic pressures or coping…
Read More
Breaking News

Latest HMRC property transactions report

Headline statistics from the latest transactions data include: The provisional seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in August 2025 is 93,630, 2% higher than August 2024 and 2% lower than July 2025 The provisional non-seasonally adjusted estimate of the number of UK residential transactions in August 2025 is 103,610, 1% lower…
Read More
Breaking News

Landlords Not Leaving, But Thinking Differently About The Future

New research from LRG reveals a rental sector in transition. In the face of economic pressures, regulatory change and shifting tenant expectations, landlords are adapting. Most are choosing to hold, consolidate or reinvest, with long-term sustainability now taking priority over short-term expansion. The most recent Lettings Report shows that the majority of landlords (60%) intend…
Read More
Breaking News

Property expert on whether interest rates should decline again in 2025

The average two-year mortgage rate is at a three-year low at 4.99%, the first time below 5% since the Liz Truss mini-budget, according to Moneyfacts. However, the question is, will interest rates go down? Mortgage Advisor, John Morris from Pure Property Finance discusses whether this may or may not be the case for the remainder…
Read More
bank of england interest rate
Breaking News

Bank of England – Mortgage approvals down in August

The latest figures show that: – Mortgage approvals on house purchases for August sat at 64,680 down (-0.7%) from 65,161 in July. This brings three consecutive months of growth to a stop. Approvals are also down slightly (-0.5%) when compared to the 64,983 seen in August 2024. This reflects a quieter summer period, while there…
Read More
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 29/09/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X.   AI platform looks to transforms London’s £1 million+ market with instant precision search, deep property research, and live market dashboards HomeHapp AI has launched a ‘Prime Property Intelligence Engine’, a unified platform combining comprehensive property discovery, instant research, and AI-powered agency tools tailored for London’s…
Read More