This comes following a commitment by Government, during the report stage of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill to “consult on changing national policy to encourage greater use of small sites, especially those measures that will increase affordable housing”.
The Government provided clarity on the matter just before Christmas (22nd December), outlining within the consultation to the National Planning Policy Framework a section dedicated to potential reforms around small sites and their delivery. The Government stated that they had heard views that existing policies were not effective enough in supporting housebuilding and looked for proposals to encourage greater use of small sites.
This follows an intensive campaign by Andrew Lewer MP, supported by an alliance of over 30 developers and other industry bodies - led by Pocket Living, who pioneered the model of discount-to-market housing for sale - who called for immediate action from the Government in light of the growing difficulties facing the SME sector.
The number of SMEs in the housebuilding industry has collapsed: in 1988, SME housebuilders built 39% of new homes; now they build just 10%.
The alliance of developers and industry bodies argue that a small sites planning policy would not only streamline the planning process for SME developers (the average determination time for small sites is now 60 weeks in London alone, 4.5 x the statutory 13-week period), but also deliver much needed affordable housing across the country.
The need for the review into small sites policy comes after a detailed analysis, undertaken by Pocket Living across 10 urban settlements within England, highlighted the potential to deliver over 110,000 new homes on small brownfield sites in those areas alone, with the figure nationally potentially being far higher.
Marc Vlessing, Chief Executive Officer at Pocket Living, comments:
“We are pleased that the Government has committed to reviewing national policy to encourage greater use of small sites for development, following our campaign and analysis around the potential for such sites to deliver thousands of new homes.
"If the Government wishes to unlock homeownership for the next generation, then it must look towards innovative policy solutions to do so. The small sites policy proposal would not only achieve this, but would also help rejuvenate the SME sector and contribute to the Governments Brownfield First policy."
