Wednesday 8th June 2011 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Government’s decision to sell off billions of pounds worth of public sector owned land to house builders is a good decision, but this action alone will not be enough to end the country’s housing crisis. In response to today’s announcement that the Government’s surplus land will be sold, the FMB is urging the Government to go even further in its bid to get Britain building more homes. The Government now needs to concentrate on the issue of mortgage finance and getting the planning system fit for purpose.
Brian Berry, FMB Director of External Affairs said:
“It is pleasing to hear the Government is being ‘ambitious’ about the total amount of land it will release. Even smaller pockets of land should not be overlooked as these would create a better opportunity for SME house builders to access the newly available sites. However, the Government must also recognise that the financial crisis has severely restricted the availability of finance for developments and mortgages. In a recent survey of FMB members, 67% of those building homes stated that a lack of mortgage finance was preventing potential clients from buying from them, and 79% stated that the lack of mortgage finance was causing the business to slow the rate at which it builds homes. Even if house builders are offered a Build Now, Pay Later deal on newly released land they still need to be confident that clients will find the finance to buy from them.”
Berry continued:
“We know the Government hopes to release enough land for 100,000 new homes, but its decision to allow councils to ignore Regional Spatial Strategies has already resulted in plans for around 160,000 new homes being dropped. The Localism Bill changes the nature of the planning system quite dramatically, by removing these regional house building targets and devolving planning powers to local people. Like the Government, we hope the Bill will encourage communities to see the benefits of development so that housing is delivered according to the needs of a local area. However, we have asked the House of Lords to ensure the Bill leaves no room for the deliberate misuse of powers by those seeking to obstruct development plans.”
Berry concluded:
“We remain particularly concerned about the additional burden neighbourhood planning could place on already overstretched local planning authorities, and fear that the worst case scenario could see the plan led system grinding to a halt causing even more turmoil and delay for developers.”
