Business
56 | MARCH 2017
Business
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FIXING THE BROKEN HOUSING MARKET
Worryingly , 40 % of local planning authorities do not have an up to date plan that meets the projected growth in households in their area . This is just one fact to emerge from the government ’ s latest housing white paper . Pro Installer investigates .
Ben Brocklesby , Director at Origin
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Action to help small independent builders enter the market includes the £ 3 billion Home Building Fund
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The government has introduced new plans to fix the broken housing market and build more homes across England .
Communities secretary Sajid Javid says the current system isn ’ t working and is one of the greatest barriers to progress in Britain today .
The reforms in a white paper published on 7th February sets out new measures to ensure the housing market works for everyone - including people on lower incomes , renters , disabled and older people - by consulting on the principle of a new , standardised way of calculating housing demand to reflect current and future housing pressures . Every local area will need to produce a realistic plan and review it at least every five years .
Currently 40 % of local planning authorities do not have an up to date plan that meets the projected growth in households in their area . Fixing this will help make sure enough land is released for new homes to be built in the parts of the country where people want to live and work and ensure developments take heed of local people ’ s wishes , while continuing with maximum protections for the green belt .
Councils and developers will also be expected to use land more efficiently by avoiding building homes at low density and building higher where there is a shortage of land and in locations well served by public transport such as train stations .
There are also moves to give local authorities the tools to speed up house building as well as powers to make sure developers build homes on time . The government says it will make it easier for councils to issue completion notices , shortening the timescales to require developers to start building within two years , not three , when planning permission is granted . It will also require greater transparency and information from developers on their pace of delivery of new housing so councils can consider this when planning their local need . This will help address the serious and growing gap between the number of planning permissions granted and the number of new homes completed .
Action to help small independent builders enter the market includes the £ 3 billion Home Building Fund . Currently around 60 % of new homes are built by just ten companies .
The fund will help build more than 25,000 new homes in this
Parliament and up to 225,000 in the longer term by providing loans for SME builders , custom builders , offsite construction and essential infrastructure , creating new jobs in the process .
Research shows it is difficult to get on the housing ladder , with the average house now costing eight times more than average earnings – an all-time record .
The proportion of people living in the expensive private rented sector has doubled since 2000 and more than 2.2 million working households with below-average incomes spend a third or more of their disposable income on housing .
This means they have less money to spend on other things every month , including putting aside money for a deposit .
Sajid Javid , Communities Secretary
Call for products made in Britain
Reacting to the white paper , Ben Brocklesby , director at Origin door and window company , said : “ There ’ s no doubt that this white paper marks a step in the right direction for the future of the UK ’ s housing industry . It is hugely positive to see the government lending support to local authorities and developers to resolve Britain ’ s housing crisis .”
Many of the issues and challenges identified were discussed at length by industry experts during Origin ’ s Homes of the Future round table , which brought together housebuilders , architects , developers and economists to discuss the changes that needed to be made to support growth .
British Manufacturing
While the white paper promises to support housebuilders , and resolve the issue of skills shortages in the construction industry , supporting British manufacturers is not mentioned within the government ’ s plan . Whether suppling bricks or bi-fold doors , manufacturers need to be geared up to support the new demand for building products . In addition , greater emphasis should be put on the importance of specifying products ‘ made in Britain ’, with a focus on the quality of new homes , not just quantity .
Construction Skills Shortage
We have spoken at length about the trend in recent years for homeowners to improve their homes rather than move . It is not uncommon for homeowners to have to wait months until these improvements can be made , as good tradespeople are in strong demand . Will a focus on building new homes affects the availability of skilled workers for home improvements ? Will this just mean the skills shortage moves away from new build , towards renovation projects instead ?”