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Government must help smaller builders in order to meet 300,000 homes target, says HBF
The government must make improvements to the planning system to help smaller builders in order to meet its 300,000 homes a year target, the Home Builders Federation (HBF) has said.
In its latest housing pipeline report, the HBF and Glenigan revealed planning permissions were granted for more than 350,000 new homes in 2017. The HBF said the 351,169 planning permissions granted in England last year was the highest since it started its housing pipeline annual report in 2006.
But the membership body said not all of these permissions on sites will be at the stage where builders can start work, and the government should speed up the time it takes between getting planning permission and starting construction work.
The HBF said housing supply is up 74% in the past four years, with more than 217,000 new homes completed last year, “meaning the industry is well on track to deliver the government’s previous housing target of a million homes over the period 2015 to 2020”.
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But in order to meet Theresa May’s higher target of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s, improvements need to be made to help small house builders, the HBF said.
The government should look at why planning permissions are increasingly on larger sites, the HBF said. It said councils “faced with financial pressures” are seeking to minimise the number of sites where development can take place.
While the number of plots approved in 2017 was 35% higher than in 2006, there were 3.5% fewer sites permitted last year. Although planning permissions were at their highest since 2006, the homes are on 18,079 sites, compared to 21,912 sites in 2007.
Stewart Baseley, executive chair of the HBF, said: “The record number of applications being submitted and approved is a clear demonstration of the industry’s commitment to ramping up housing supply even further than the unprecedented increases of the past four years.
“To build more homes needs more land to come through the planning system more quickly, and to encompass a broader range of sites. SME builder numbers are down by more than 80% in recent decades as layer upon layer of legislation has worked against small firms and start-ups as well as those delivering specialist housing such as retirement homes.
“Government should ensure councils are not just taking the easy option and encourage them to grant permissions on a range of sites by type and size, rather than merely relying on a few larger sites to meet local housing need.”
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been approached for comment.
