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Planning reforms alone will not deliver enough homes, veteran Labour MP warns
The government’s planning shake-up will not deliver enough homes unless issues in the housebuilding sector are also tackled, a veteran Labour MP has argued.
Clive Betts, the former long-serving chair of parliament’s housing select committee, told the Northern Housing Consortium (NHC)’s annual summit in Leeds that it was “no good" just having planning reforms which identify sites that will be available.
"More room for more houses doesn’t necessarily mean more will be built, and that’s a key issue," he said.
“Most private sector houses in this country are built by a handful of major companies. Their business plans are quite clear – they will build houses while they can get a price for them that gives them a 20% return on their capital investment.
“At that point, however many sites are available, however many are included in the local plan, they will not build any further.
“That’s something we have to address because planning reforms by themselves, in my view, are not going to deliver the number of homes we need.”
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Discussing the government’s goal to build 1.5 million homes in the current parliament, Mr Betts said the target was “very ambitious” and “may be one that’s not completely achieved”.
He added: “The government has to set out – and we’re still waiting for this – a very big plan, not merely about where the homes are going to be built, but also what type of homes are going to be built and by whom.”
The government is due to publish a 10-year housing strategy at the upcoming Spring Spending Review, alongside details of the next multi-year Affordable Homes Programme.
In response to Mr Betts’ comments, a spokesperson for the Home Builders Federation said: “Second-hand sales make up the vast majority of a local housing market and so dictate the price of new homes.
On the government’s planning changes, the spokesperson said the measures will “address one of the significant barriers to delivery, but more policy interventions will be needed to achieve their ambitious targets”.
The spokesperson added: “Private house builders, large and small, will deliver the vast majority of private and affordable homes if targets are to be met. This would also create tens of thousands of jobs and investment in communities across the country.”
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “The housebuilding sector has welcomed our mission to build 1.5 million homes and the steps we have taken to deliver this. The Home Builders Federation and major house builders have made it clear that the industry stands ready to deliver more homes, faster, to deliver the high-quality and affordable homes this country needs.
“We are committed to ensuring the housing market is delivering the homes our country needs and unlocking more affordable housing for all.”
Meanwhile at the NHC summit, Fiona MacGregor, chief executive of the Regulator of Social Housing, said it had seen “a real dip in forecasts of delivery of new homes”.
“A year ago, the sector was forecast to deliver over five years nearly 400,000 new homes. This year, that’s dipped to just under 200,000 new homes,” she explained. “So that’s quite a dramatic 25% change in the space of the year.”
Ms MacGregor said the new figure was broadly the “long-run average” that the sector delivers, but added that the number did not correspond to the government’s stated increase in housebuilding ambition.
Also speaking at the event was West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin. She provided a bright spot on the development of homes, as she told delegates that the number of affordable homes built in West Yorkshire was the highest figure since 1997.
Ms Brabin, who was re-elected in May, has promised to build 5,000 new affordable homes over the next five years and retrofit every home in West Yorkshire by 2038.
Last month, the NHC called on the government to devolve and simplify funding for brownfield regeneration.
Earlier this year, Tracy Harrison, chief executive of the NHC, called on the government to focus on regeneration and job creation, as well as finance the delivery of 320,000 new homes on brownfield land.
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