The UK’s focus on increasing habitats for wildlife could hinder housebuilding on smaller sites warns the National Federation of Builders, NFB. The trade body is concerned that rules which go live in November to increase biodiversity net gain, BNG, by ten per cent on all new housing developments will prove tricky for small sites. NFB chief executive Richard Beresford said: “The UK’s biodiversity strategy is one focused on habitats, rather than biodiversity.” The trade body warns that this means smaller [...]

A call for evidence to look at successful nutrient mitigation schemes in areas where river phosphates and nitrates are too high, has been cautiously received by the housebuilding industry. Currently, an estimated 120,000 proposed new homes are on hold because they are in areas where nitrate levels in rivers are regarded by Natural England as too high. The government has offered funding for quality proposals to support clearer routes for developers to deliver in areas affected such as The Solent, [...]

Housebuilders want chancellor Jeremy Hunt to get cladding and insulation product manufacturers to contribute to the estimated £3bn bill to make hundreds of risky flats safe. The trade body, in its Spring budget representation, is arguing for a levy, or a corporation tax surcharge, so that they can contribute to the post Grenfell remediation bill. Home Builders Federation, HBF, executive chairman Stewart Baseley said: “It is only the private home building industry which has been repeatedly targeted for contributions, which [...]

Up to 77,000 fewer new homes are likely to be built a year for the rest of this decade, slumping to the lowest level since the second world war, according to a new report. Lichfields’ Making a Bad Situation Worse, calculates by 2030 more than a million fewer homes will have been built than anticipated with annual output dropping to 120,000 a year. This would leave the government’s 300,000 new homes a year housebuilding target in tatters. Homebuilders Federation, HBF, [...]

SME developers are bracing themselves for huge extra costs when new rules requiring a housing or commercial project to increase biodiversity by ten per cent go live in November. The National Federation of Builders, NFB, had hoped the government would raise the limit of nine to 39 new homes for defining a small site allowing greater use of a digitised habitat metric. NFB housing and planning policy head Rico Wojtulewicz said: “We believe the government has missed a trick by [...]

More than 20,000 new homes are expected to be built in the capital over the next decade on land owned by Transport for London, TfL, and Network Rail. TfL’s commercial property company TTL Properties and Network Rail have formed a partnership to deliver homes and commercial properties across nearly 14,000 acres of land they own across the capital. Network Rail group property director Robin Dobson said: “This is a landmark moment for the capital, to see our two organisations build [...]