A new report published by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for SME Housebuilders is calling for urgent investment in the planning function of local authorities, and in the training of planners and other related professionals.
This view, which sees the extra investment as necessary if the industry is to reach the target of building 300,000 new homes per year, is shared by the Builders Merchants’ Federation.
The aim of the APPG is to provide answers to Parliament and Government on how England can deliver more and better new homes, especially through SME builders and developers.
When members of the APPG were asked what the problems with the planning system are - and what the solutions may be, staff shortages in local planning authorities were revealed as the top issue faced by SME house-builders.
Chairman Andrew Lewer, MP for Northampton South, unveiled the report that describes ways to improve planning permission from the perspective of users - SME builders and developers. He said: “Who better to ask how the planning system can be improved than the people building, or seeking to build, the new houses? Furthermore, who better to ask than the SME house-builders and their partners in the housing industry? The quality and the quantity of the responses we received underline the on-going success of this APPG.
“People who really know what they are talking about have given their time and effort towards this report. We as MPs will try our best to ensure that it both gets into the right hands and into as many hands as possible”.
This APPG report was launched ahead of the Government’s much-anticipated Planning White Paper. Participants were clear in wanting more investment in planning departments to ensure that promises to “Build, Build, Build” are taken literally and completions are accelerated.
Brett Amphlett, BMF Policy and Public Affairs’ Manager, attended and said afterwards: “The BMF welcomes efforts to mobilise SMEs who are the customers of merchants. The APPG recommendations are consistent with the BMF’s own views. We want to see unrelenting determination to simplify and speed up the process to narrow the gap between demand & supply”.
Other strong themes emerged from this report:
