SMEs are hoping to get a slice of the housebuilding action when it comes to expanding existing places and regeneration under new town proposals announced by the government this week.
The government is to reform planning to enable 370,000 homes to be built a year and sees the creation of communities of at least 10,000 homes as instrumental to achieving this.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said: “Our new towns will deliver housing fit for the future, shaping new communities with real character that people can be proud to call home.
“We are getting Britain building again and our long-term vision for a new generation of new towns will enrich the lives of working people in the years to come.”
The government hopes the towns will help meet housing needs with 40 per cent of the new houses affordable with a focus on genuinely inexpensive social rented homes.
A large proportion of the proposed new towns will be urban extensions and regenerations of existing places.
The National Federation of Builders, NFB, chief executive Richard Beresford described new towns as a strategic mechanism for stimulating regional growth and affordable homes in expensive places.
“There are also considerable opportunities to ensure local employers, investing in regional contractors and SME builders are part of the process, particularly as policies, such as the subdivision of large sites, already exist to achieve that in practice.”
The Federation of Master Builders, FMB, policy head Jeremy Gray said: “By utilising small local developers, new towns can incorporate a wide diversity of housing stock, using locally trained labour.”
SMEs well placed to build new homes in rural spots
He added that SME builders, who predominantly operate in rural communities, were in a good position to help towns and villages hit the government’s new housing targets.
“This will be vital to ensuring rural communities have access to affordable homes, something they are currently suffering from a chronic lack of.”
Regeneration expert Sir Michael Lyons is to chair the task force with housing economist Dame Kate Barker as his deputy. The team will work with mayors, local leaders and communities to produce a shortlist within a year of where the new towns should be.
Sir Michael said: “A new generation of new towns and large-scale urban extensions could play a significant role in the government’s plans for economic growth as well as offering new homes on an ambitious scale.
“Our mission begins today, and we will work closely with local leaders and their communities as well as the wider development and investment sectors to make sure these new towns are built in the right places.”
A new towns code will outline what developers must do to make the new settlements well-connected, well-designed, and sustainable with the necessary public services.
Chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves said: “Alongside our landmark reforms to the planning system, this programme of new towns will kickstart economic growth and give businesses the confidence to invest.”
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said development and refurbishment finance lenders were ready to offer loans to SMEs involved with delivering new towns and extending existing places.