Biodiversity rules pushing small housebuilders over the edge Just three weeks into new rules on improving biodiversity uplifts on new housing schemes SME developers are facing a barrage of difficulties and extra costs. These include councils’ inflexibility to consider more than one biodiversity option in section 106 agreements and pushing up costs to the extent that offering affordable housing is no longer viable. National Federation of Builders, NFB, policy and market insight head Rico Wojtulewicz said: “At the moment we [...]

Stamp duty rebates for buyers who make their homes more energy efficient and for pensioners downsizing are among the tax breaks the property industry would like in the forthcoming budget. The National Federation of Builders, NFB, wants a stamp duty rebate given to homeowners who improve the energy performance ratings of their place to ‘C’ or above within two years of purchase. They also want the tax to be scrapped for new build homes with ‘A’ grade efficiency ratings. NFB [...]

Michael Gove has come under criticism for putting pressure on London and 19 other major cities to build more homes on brownfield land. The building industry has claimed the housing and levelling up secretary’s latest consultation is a political move to avoid pressure to build on the greenbelt. National Federation of Builders, NFB, chief executive Richard Beresford said: “There isn’t enough brownfield land to get close to solving the housing crisis.” The Federation of Master Builders, FMB, added that the [...]

Depoliticising planning and offering more help for first-time buyers would speed up housebuilding according to SME developers’ comments in a recent study. More than 90 per cent of the 303 respondents cited planning permission delays as a major growth barrier in the Homebuilders Federation’s fourth annual  State of Play survey. SMEs would like to see local councils’ planning committees replaced by an independent body of trained planning experts with residents’ input at the local plan state. Homebuilders Federation executive chairman [...]

More young people look set to live with their parents as buying a home becomes increasingly expensive, the government’s housing accelerator Homes England has warned. Office of National Statistics has revealed the cost of a home is rising quicker than earnings with affordability ratios increasing from 4.92 in 2002 to 8.28 in 2022. “Many young people cannot afford to buy homes in their local communities where they have grown-up, due to worsening affordability,” Homes England said in its latest factsheet [...]

More than half of SME builders reported the planning system as their biggest barrier to delivering new homes, according to the Federation of Master Builders, FMB, annual survey. Respondents cited ‘inadequate resourcing’ of planning departments as the main reason for delays in applications followed by poor communication. FMB chief executive Brian Berry said: “For small builders, the survey is clear that the system is too complex and costly. Communication from local planning authorities is also poor. Without changing this, planning [...]

Deloitte’s latest London office crane survey sees the highest volume of new offices being built since 2005 the study was extended to cover seven central London areas. Currently, 124 schemes are under construction totalling more than 15m square feet in volume in the West End, Midtown, Southbank, Docklands, Kings Cross and Paddington with The City leading the way. Deloitte real assets advisory director Sophie Allan said: “New builds have roared back from their post-pandemic nadir, which has likely been driven [...]

Two-thirds of younger Londoners support green belt reform to help solve the capital’s housing crisis and enable them to buy their first home, according to research.  Pocket Living, which builds affordable homes for first-time buyers, surveyed 1,000 Londoners aged between 25 and 45 and found more than three quarters, 78 per cent, felt the government was not doing enough to create reasonably-priced homes.  Chief executive Marc Vlessing said: “Our findings suggest a staggering two in three non-homeowning Londoners believe they [...]

An updated list published this week shows all 51 developers have now signed up to the government’s building safety remediation contract.  Four developers who had signed up have been found to be outside the scope which covers properties of 11 metres or higher built in England over the last 30 years.  A spokesperson from the department for levelling up, housing and communities said: “It’s good news. We are glad that all the developers we have approached have now signed.”  The [...]