‘We WILL build 1.5 million homes by 2029’ says defiant Labour
Ministers led by Housing Secretary Steve Reed insist his own 'stretch target' is achievable despite concerns from housebuilders that the Government has to do more to make it happen.
The Government has issued a staunch defence of its housebuilding plans, insisting it will hit its 1.5 million new homes target.
“No stone will be left unturned” it says, after some reports suggesting the number was unachievable by 2029.
The Home Builders Federation’s wrote to the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) saying ministers must help first-time buyers and avoid new taxes on homes, or accept the target was out of reach.
We will leave no stone unturned to build the 1.5 million homes this country desperately needs.”
But, in a strongly-worded response, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says: “From the outset the Government has been clear this is a stretching but achievable target.
“We will leave no stone unturned to build the 1.5 million homes this country desperately needs and restore the dream of homeownership.
Further and faster
“On top of the major planning changes we have already introduced to get developers building and our huge £39 billion investment in social and affordable housing, we are going further and faster to accelerate reforms and bring about the biggest era of housebuilding in our country’s history.”
The statement points to emergency reforms in London to boost home building, agreed by Housing Secretary Steve Reed (main picture) and Mayor Sadiq Khan, which relax the affordable housing and design rules.
“The Government remains confident in its plans to get Britain building and will continue working closely with the OBR and sector experts to monitor delivery and adapt as needed,” the statement read.
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As for 1.5 million units by 2029 – HOW is this going to be achieved? The Government’s done nothing so far except offer some social housing cash and planning bungs to the big housebuilders, and even then Rayner wanted to impose 50% S106 in exchange for access to “grey belt” land. SME developers are a vanishing breed, and the HAs are focusing on renovations, not new builds, because of EPC requirements and new laws on ventilation, mould etc
Dropping S106 to 25% in London is a small start, but schemes remain blocked because housebuilders can’t find housing associations with the cash to buy them, or at a price that makes the units viable. Construction costs and obligations like FHS, BNG and water neutrality have soared, but are HAs going to pay a penny more for the S106 units that only they are allowed to buy? No – their offers are based on how much they are prepared their future tenants in rent, so I don’t see that increasing by anything like the rate of housebuilding and development costs.
If the Government is going to persist in forcing the housebuilding industry to pay for its social housing, rather than invest much state money – £39 billion over 10 years is not “huge”, it barely touches the sides of the supply needs – then it should commit to buying S106 units at a fair, profitable price and then renting them itself or selling them over time to HAs at a price the HAs can afford. S106, like its evil sister CIL, has always been a dead weight holding down the industry and damaging its viability, especially for SMEs; now it’s a massive block on sites proceeding at all, even when by some miracle developers do get planning permission.