HOUSE BUILDING
H ere’s the simple truth: if small and medium- sized builders had a larger slice of the house building market share, more houses would be built. So says FMB National President Chris Carr. “We need to reduce the red tape for smaller sites. We can deliver more new homes through the SME sector than we can through volume house builders. It sounds strange but think about it: a volume house builder, on average, builds 40 units per site and that might be all they build for the year.
“Now, if you have 10 smaller builders building 10 units a site in that year, then you’d generate a far better return for housing. Believing that volume house builders will deliver the numbers we need is not right. Building fewer houses across more sites will lead to a greater number overall and it would be a more sustainable approach.” What is plain to see is the Government desperately needs to change tactics as it has failed to meet the target of building 300,000 news homes a year. Readers may well be aware of the worrying statistic from the Government that nowadays, smaller house builders in the UK are delivering around 10% of new homes, compared with 40% in the late 1980s. One of the problems that arises when a few volume house builders monopolise the market, Carr explains, is that it can lead to a drop in the quality of homes. More Master Builders operating in the marketplace would drive up standards. A whole new plan The FMB House Builder Survey shows that 55% of members consider the current
An issue with
the planning process is the cost and time involved for SME house
TOP CONSTRAINTS ON SUPPLY OF NEW HOMES 55% the planning system
builders when it comes to hiring consultants to produce various reports, such as on ecology, pollution, biodiversity, and advanced design and access. “Planners should be made aware of the consultancy costs of the reports they ask for and limit the amount they ask for. For example, an ecology report for a 1,000-unit site would be cheaper than a 10-unit site on a brownfield site,” Carr
51% restricted mortgage availability 48% lack of available land 43% material costs (expected to fall to 23% over the next 3 years) 42% lack of financing options
explains. “They’re asking for reports they may not need, not realising that the cost implication per unit is far far higher than if it were for a volume house builder. Picking holes in policy The UK Government’s policy needs to change if small, local builders are to gain greater access to small sites. To start, Carr says, we need to point out the difference between imposing and checking. “You can put a policy in place but you need to check that it has been delivered. So we need the local authorities to be told what to do and then have the Government make sure that they do it.
The Government should impose and check that a minimum number of all the sites allocated in local plans are suitable and available to micro and SME builders.” Currently, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) has a provision for small sites to be allocated and promoted by local authorities, but this is not yet yielding results that are favourable to SME builders. The next step, Carr argues, is to place greater focus on building houses in rural areas. So the Government should insist that all rural villages and hamlets be required to build new homes that are in proportion to the size of that particular area.
planning system a major barrier holding back the delivery of new homes.
“The whole planning process needs a massive shake-up for volume house builders and micro house builders alike,” says Carr, who runs Carr & Carr Builders Ltd in Grimsby with his brother. Carr wants to see dedicated planning officers dealing with smaller sites. “That way, local builders could build good relationships with the officers. Having dialogue with the same officer over time and across projects would only improve the relationship and the outcomes.”
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Master Builder
www.fmb.org.uk
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