Planning uncertainty is blocking the construction of more homes, SMEs say
In the fourth annual State of Play survey, SME developers said depoliticising planning and offering more help for first-time buyers would speed up housebuilding in this country.
Earlier this week, the Homebuilders Federation published their fourth annual State of Play survey, which, uncovered that 90% of the 303 respondents cited planning permission delays as a severe barrier to constructing new properties.
‘The debate around planning has become increasingly political over the last year,’ Stewart Beasley, executive chairman of Homebuilders Federation said. ‘Policy uncertainty is causing further delays where local authorities are withdrawing or pausing local plan consultations. Only when SMEs do well can the housing supply we need be delivered.’
In a bid to aid this issue, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have claimed they would like to see local councils’ planning committees replaced by an independent body of trained planning experts with residents’ input at the forefront.
In addition, SMEs are also calling for more financial help to be implemented for first-time buyers and that there should be a national review of the green belt.
As the government have set the goal of building 300,000 new homes a year, researchers and ministers across the country have argued whether certain areas of the green belt should be used as construction space. Findings that were published by a Centre for London report in December 2023 said building on such land would enable the capital to double annual housebuilding to 74,000 homes a year for 15 years.
Furthermore, SMEs have called for smaller sites in local plans, with the process streamlined to make land available quicker.
Respondents included within the new survey also asked for housing delivery targets to be ‘mandatory’ again as an estimated 64 local councils have stalled on their local plans since the government made them advisory in 2023.
Nine out of ten SMEs said that local planning authorities were under-resourced and 46% said planning permission costs had risen by more than 30%.
Rowland Thomas, managing director of Close Brothers Property Finance, which played a part in the study, said: ‘SME house builders are particularly exposed to delays caused by under-resourced local authorities and the inefficient, embedded processes as they often don’t have the time or funds to navigate the system. If they aren’t building, they aren’t earning.’
Respondents called for the threshold for affordable housing contributions to be raised from more than 10 dwellings to 50 and that they should be paid at the end of the project rather than the start.
Image: Josue Isai Ramos Figueroa
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