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 [...]

SME housebuilders claim the government’s new contract forcing all developers to pay £2bn or more to fix unsafe properties is unfair. Housing secretary Michael Gove released the details this week giving developers a six-week deadline to sign up to remediate homes that are 11 metres or above built over the last 30 years. National Federation of Builders, NFB Richard Beresford chief executive said: “This announcement is a case of ‘Hobson’s choice’, as it tells innocent builders to sign a contract [...]

Housebuilders have described new rules forcing developers in England to adopt sustainable drainage systems to prevent flooding as ‘ill thought out’. The government has announced it will amend the flood and management act to make sustainable systems, referred to as SuDs, mandatory on all new housing development by 2024. Currently, SuDs, which typically use soakaways, grassed areas, permeable surfaces and wetlands to reduce pressure on public sewers, are required for developments of ten homes or more. The National Federation of [...]

Giving up mandatory housing targets will harm SME developers and condemn another generation to ‘housing misery’, the National Federation of Builders, NFB, has warned. The trade body said compulsory targets had allowed councils to concentrate on sites that could easily be delivered which had helped local SME builders. It claimed that making the targets negotiable would lead to councils concentrating on high-volume sites which take longer to happen. National Federation of Builders, NFB, housing and planning policy head Rico Wojtulewicz [...]

Changes to the levelling up and regeneration bill allowing councils to withhold planning consent to developers slow to build on a site are counterproductive, claims the industry. They argue that land banking is a myth and that developers are keen to build on sites as soon as possible to gain a return on investment. Home Builders Federation, HBF, planning director Sam Stafford told Construction News: “Repeated independent investigations have concluded that homebuilders do not land bank. “Builders are always keen [...]

Housebuilders are calling on chancellor Jeremy Hunt to support SMEs following the demise of help-to-buy where first-time buyers could access a mortgage at low-interest rates. The scheme, which only required a five per cent deposit, made up nearly half of all sales for many housebuilders in 2020. However, this figure dropped when it was limited to first-time buyers back in April 2021. New help-to-buy applications closed last month with a deadline of the end of March 2023 for completion of [...]

Construction companies are being asked for their views on an industry-wide plan to slash diesel use on building sites by more than three quarters within the next 13 years. Since last year’s COP 26 contractors, plant firms, clients and trade bodies have been working with the Construction Leadership Council, CLC, on a draft zero diesel sites route map published this week. Zero Diesel working group chair and HS2 environmental sciences head of Neil Wait said: “We are reminded of the [...]

PM hopeful Rishi Sunak’s pledge to protect the green belt and focus on delivering new homes on brownfield sites has been described as lacking insight by the construction industry. Mr Sunak has said he wants to help smaller developers by removing barriers hindering them from building new homes and has pledged to tackle land banking. He also said he would offer funding certainty for planning departments with a ‘balanced approach’ to planning fees. The National Federation of Builders, NFB’s housing [...]