"The planning process and everything associated with it delivers too little land and has long been a significant constraint on housebuilding."
- David O’Leary, executive director of the Home Builders Federation
Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and housing secretary, has launched the government’s New Homes Accelerator, designed to release “hundreds of thousands of new homes stuck in the planning system”.
The scheme, which chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her July 8th speech, will involve an “experienced team” from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and Homes England, working with local authorities and bringing together housebuilders, government agencies and local planning departments to accelerate the build out of schemes delayed by planning issues and “red tape”.
According to government analysis, 200 large sites across England have outlined or detailed plans ready to move forward but have not begun construction. These could deliver up to 300,000 homes, MHCLG said.
MHCLG said the Accelerator team was "already getting started on some of those [sites] that would benefit from early interventions” and would help “frustrated housebuilders and local communities who want to play their part to get Britain building again, in turn driving local and economic growth”.
The New Homes Accelerator, MHCLG said, would:
- Identify and address specific thematic issues causing delays, such as co-ordination failures, regulatory obstacles, and local authority capacity constraints,
- Deploy expert teams to provide on-the-ground support to local authorities, offering planning and enabling assistance to expedite the development process,
- Utilise its resources to unblock and accelerate delivery on sites that are facing delays or not progressing as quickly as they could be,
- Inform future reforms to housing and planning policy, where policy barriers to rapid housing delivery are identified.
MHCLG has launched a call for evidence, inviting housebuilders, local authorities and landowners to submit details of blocked sites with significant planning issues. Through this, the government hopes to “better understand the scale of the problem across the country, in order to tackle the obstacles that are preventing the delivery of new homes.”
Submissions need to fit the following criteria:
- The site must be a large-scale housing development with significant delays or obstacles preventing progression,
- MHCLG is “particularly interested” in developments with a capacity of more than 1,500 units and at all stages of the planning process. But information about smaller sites of more than 500 homes “would also be welcome to help us boost our evidence base”,
- Priority will be given to sites that are viable without requiring substantial additional government funding or infrastructure investment.
David O’Leary, executive director of the Home Builders Federation, commented: “The planning process and everything associated with it delivers too little land and has long been a significant constraint on housebuilding. Government has shown a welcome desire in the weeks since the election to address the problems.
“A lack of planning department capacity and misaligned incentives for other public bodies and statutory consultees has created a process with huge uncertainty. This creates an abundance of risk resulting in longer development timescales and severe challenges in particular for small and medium-sized house builders.
“Adopting a pragmatic approach to planning will increase the pace at which new homes are built and help to turn around ailing housing supply. Unlocking homes and delivering new communities will boost growth and support job creation while providing young people with access to new, more affordable housing. The housing market is complex and we look forward to working with government to ensure that all aspects of the housing market are functioning more effectively.”
