Funding uncertainty and the slowing of affordable housing

Our partnership business model means we work very closely with our registered provider partners and share their ambitions to deliver more affordable homes. However, frustratingly, some sites that are ready to progress are stalling because registered provider partners have run out of funding.

Earlier this year, the housing industry welcomed the announcement by the chancellor and deputy prime minister of an additional £2bn of funding to deliver 18,000 new affordable homes by the end of this parliament.

This has been described as a down payment ahead of more long-term investment in social and affordable housing, which will provide additional funding for 2026-27 and beyond.

“An increasingly challenging planning environment over the past few years has been a key factor in making it harder for house builders to bring sites forward for delivery”

The scale of the challenge to deliver the new affordable homes the UK needs can’t be overestimated, and we are hopeful that more sustainable long-term funding will be announced when details of the new Affordable Homes Programme are released in June.

An increasingly challenging planning environment over the past few years has been a key factor in making it harder for house builders to bring sites forward for delivery, so it is pleasing that this government has recognised the urgent need to overhaul the planning system and the need to actively engage with the industry to learn about the main barriers to delivery.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill, which was introduced in March, promises to speed up decisions, boost housebuilding and remove unnecessary blockers to the delivery of key infrastructure projects.

I am hopeful that this, alongside the more extensive reforms to the planning system included in the new National Planning Policy Framework, will enable us to open more new sites more quickly when they start to take effect, to support the government in achieving its ambitious housing targets.

The housing industry is a cornerstone of the UK economy, so more new sites and an environment more conducive to development will provide a much-needed boost, delivering not only more new homes, but also thousands of new jobs.

“Over recent years, a raft of new environmental legislation has been introduced, which, while important to protect our environment, can pose a significant challenge for house builders”

Over recent years, a raft of new environmental legislation has been introduced, which, while important to protect our environment, can pose a significant challenge for house builders.

At Keepmoat, we are proud to be leaders in brownfield regeneration. Over 70% of our current developments are on brownfield land, so we have welcomed consecutive governments prioritising these sites for development over the past few years. However, legislation such as Biodiversity Net Gain, which became mandatory for major developments in February 2024, can make it very difficult to develop some brownfield sites and can even result in them stalling.

This is because, on brownfield land where nature has taken over, pre-development biodiversity values can be high, meaning that ensuring wildlife habitat is measurably (10%) better than when development started, can be very time-consuming and extremely costly, making them less attractive.

We are passionate about continuing our mission to work with the government and our partners to deliver more of the high-quality new homes the UK needs.

Ian Hoad, divisional chair, Keepmoat Scotland, North East and Yorkshire East