‘Antiquated’ planning system contributed to housing crisis

Policy changes are needed to deliver quality, energy-efficient housing, and the election presents an opportunity to tackle what the HBF describes as a “growing emergency”

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has published a ‘blueprint for the next government’ in response to the UK’s housing crisis.

The plan, Homebuilding: An engine for growth, prosperity and opportunity, highlights a ‘complex and cumbersome’ planning system, a lack of affordable mortgage lending and an ‘uncertain’ policy environment.

In terms of greener homes, it calls for a roadmap for the talent pipeline necessary to deliver low-carbon, sustainable housing and for the publication and implementation of the recommendations of the Industrial Training Board review.

Neil Jefferson, HBF Managing Director said: “Housebuilding is falling, deepening social divides, costing jobs and damaging economies up and down the country. The election presents an opportunity to tackle this growing emergency.

“Building the homes needed would give the country a huge economic boost, create tens of thousands of jobs and help provide the high-quality, energy-efficient housing our population needs.

“If politicians grasp the nettle and introduce positive policy changes, housebuilders are ready to deliver.”

Professor Tony Crook, Emeritus Professor of Town and Regional Planning at The University of Sheffield and chair of the Construction Industry Council’s housing panel, argued that several factors were holding up new building, “not the least the abandonment of mandatory local housing targets by the government, the very low coverage of the country by up-to-date adopted local plans and the failure to adequately link infrastructure investment with housing plans.

“On top of that, there are now many government departments involved, not all working towards the same housing end,” he said.

“Based on discussions with the housebuilders and off-site manufacturers, the root cause of the problem hangs around the country’s planning practices, which at best are arbitrary.” 

Chris Gorse, Professor of Construction Engineering and Management at Loughborough University said the situation had worsened over the past decade. “Promises to address the housing shortages and improve the quality of house building have not been met.

“Based on discussions with the housebuilders and off-site manufacturers, the root cause of the problem hangs around the country’s planning practices, which at best are arbitrary. 

“This echoes the recent HBF comments on housing policy. If we are to deliver high-quality homes efficiently and effectively we need a functional planning system.”

Professor Gorse argued that the problem is exemplified by the challenges faced by off-site modular housebuilders. He said: “Companies have demonstrated that they can produce high-quality homes consistently that would help meet the country’s demand, but planning delays meant that houses were produced with nowhere to go. 

“Our resistance to change antiquated practices is having disastrous consequences. Quality housebuilders and offsite manufacturers cannot operate within the current policies. It’s time for change!”