Planning reform will go a long way to helping solve the housing and skills crisis.
Addressing the policy conference of the Home Builders Federation (HBF), Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government James Brokenshire set out what the Government is doing to tackle the housing shortage and improve the quality of new homes.
Brokenshire emphasised:
• The need to reduce planning delays;
• Increase the capability of local planning departments;
• Improve procedure to accelerate the end-to-end planning process; and planning reform.
The National Federation of Builders (NFB) welcomes Brokenshire’s speech, particularly since it seems to suggest that housing may be returning as a priority for the Government.
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the NFB, said: “The housing crisis is the greatest challenge to social equality that we have in the UK. The Government must prioritise it. By building more and understanding how we physically get more quality homes built, we can make really positive changes to our communities.”
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Housing and Planning Policy at the House Builders Association, added: “When ministers utter the words, planning reform, the industry gets quite excited. Getting permission to build is a painful, slow and desperate process, especially for SMEs. Reforming it will go a long way to helping solve the housing and skills crisis.”
With regard to MMC, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government James Brokenshire commented: “Earlier this year, we announced an agreed definition and categorisation for all modern methods of construction (MMC), with a unified quality assurance scheme, assessing these technologies, about to be launched — an important step to making sure that, as the use of MMC expands, quality does remain at the forefront.
“I think it’s great to see the sector really embracing MMC — both new entrants as well as established players like L&Q, which has announced that it will use MMC in all new-builds by 2025.
“So, the momentum is building, and I want to see the sector really taking this drive for innovation up a gear over the coming months to blaze a trail for the high-quality, energy-efficient, manufacturing-led smart homes of the future.
“These new methods of construction offer the prospect of building at pace with a leaner and high-skilled workforce — ensuring that access to labour should no longer be the brake on production that at times it has been in the past.”
Allison Whittington, Head of Housing at Zurich Municipal, said: “We welcome the comments from Secretary of State, James Brokenshire, on the need for the housebuilding sector to modernise its methods of construction. However, as the Secretary of State highlights, there are a number of challenges to consider and it is, therefore, essential to ensure that the regulatory system, associated guidance and industry standards are for fit for purpose, reflective of, and relevant to the construction systems being developed and implemented so that quality remains at the forefront.”
Image above ©ceebeestock/AdobeStock.
