An inquiry has been launched into the capacity of the house building industry to meet demand.
The Government wants to see 1m new homes by 2020 and there is no suggestion that ministers want to reduce this.
However, the launch of the inquiry suggests significant nerves as to how this can be achieved.
The Communities and Local Government Committee is particularly seeking evidence on:
- whether the numbers of builders and types of firms in the home building industry is sufficient to meet housing demand
- the structure of the home building industry, in particular the role of small and medium-sized developers
- house builders’ business models and how risk and uncertainty affect incentives to expand
- the sustainability, size and skills of the building industry workforce
- why fewer homes are being started and completed than the number of planning permissions being granted
- the extent to which current planning approaches cause delays to the building of new homes
- innovative approaches to increasing the housing supply, for example self-build, off-site construction and direct commissioning by central government and local housing companies
- the role of development finance and how it can promote or constrain housing investment
The Committee, chaired by Clive Betts, is looking for written submissions by September 12.
Betts said: “The capacity of the home building industry is a key factor in housing supply, which is simply not keeping up with demand and has left us in the midst of a crisis.
“The Committee will cast a critical eye over the major home builders, examine the decline of small and medium-sized developers and look closely at the skills shortages, planning delays and finance issues hampering the industry.
“Our wide-ranging inquiry will also explore alternative models, such as self-builds and off-site construction, to see if such innovative approaches to home building can help address the country’s housing needs.”
How much will this cost to get a result 95% of us already know the answers to?
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Part of the problem is no doubt the reduced profits for developers resulting from the Government and Council creaming off part of the profitability of business with taxes like the Community Infrastructure Levy, Section 106 Agreements, Provision of Social and affordable homes. Like all Council type initiatives and trail schemes what starts off sensible then is used as a cash cow, milking until things are killed off.
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Latest I heard on CIL is that they are index-linking at our local council, but I don’t quite understand the linkage as £90.00 per sq m became £105.00 which I make 16.66%. So are they linking to house prices? Will it go down if the rate of house price inflation drops? I think not. Other thing many of them are at is Local Authority Trading Company’s which are encouraged by central government for them to make use of owned and non-owned assets to fund themselves with. Cut a long story short, developers will find themselves competing with the same LA that also controls planning – do I smell something or am I being overly suspicious and sensitive …
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I don’t propose to speak for everyone in the industry but let me try and save the enquiry time and expense. There is not the slightest possibility of getting your ” soundbite” one million new homes by 2020.
We have a lack of consented land, planning issues. access to funding and a skills shortage and no government joined up thinking that allows government and developers to work together.
Sorry, but the government has yet to understand that demand alone doesn’t build houses.
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“An inquiry by Communities and Local Government” essentially a false flag exercise to give the impression government has done ‘consultation’ waste of time!
They will end up talking to the same people, groups and organisations that created the mess to help them try something else; Pin the tail on the donkey policy making!
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Part of the problem is no doubt the decreased income for builders on account of the government and Council creaming off part of the profitability of business with taxes just like the network Infrastructure Levy, section 106 Agreements, Provision of Social and affordable homes. like all Council kind projects and trail schemes what starts off practical then is used as a coins cow, milking till things are killed off.visit more detail
http://www.buildershampshire.net/damp-proofing-surveys-hampshire
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