C OMMENT & OPINION DON’T SOLVE PROBEMS THE HARD WAY
Imperial Bricks MD Jason Hughes says, while Government now understands we have a housing supply problem not a housing demand problem, it still makes it hard to build new homes.
IT’S TAKEN A long time for Government to grasp that Britain has a housing supply problem not a problem with demand. But its recent ‘Fixing our Broken Housing Market’ report stops short of a practical solution. Recession ripped a hole in our building capacity and buyers to get on the housing ladder. We were building only half the numbers of homes we needed, driving house prices up. But the problems started much earlier.
The population is growing fast. Long term projections have a way of proving you wrong, but the ONS expects 4.5 million to be added to today’s 65 million in the next ten years, 10 million over the next 25 years. The projections are based on people living longer, fewer emigrating and stable immigration, and more births calculated from the here. If we’ve not been building enough for today’s population, we’re well short of future demand. One-third of small housebuilders gave up in recession. According to the Home Builders Federation 12,215 small builders built 40% of new homes in 1988 compared with 1,920 building 12% today. Self- build projects also decreased dramatically.
People debate build to buy and build to rent, affordable homes, greenbelt inappropriate building on easier to build and having the capacity and skills to build are the key challenges. Understaffed planning departments, hyperactive NIMBY groups opposed to any building, regardless of need, has made it a long complicated business to
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acquire suitable land and get permission to build. Recession, business failures and Cowboy Builders’ on TV have made banks reluctant to lend to SME small builders.
Everything favours big housebuilders. The cost and and negotiate with planners and local protesters is affordable for big projects but disproportionate in small ones. Financing it rules out many SME builders. It’s worth doing for 200 houses, but it doesn’t pay for 10 or fewer.
Capacity down
So, we’ve lost a large chunk of housebuilding capacity, and it won’t be simple to replace. It isn’t in the interests of large nationals to build many more. Who would want to risk demand exceeding supply, selling growing?
Labour and skills shortages are a big constraint. Up to 40% of the workforce on large London building developments are from Eastern Europe , and many are returning home because their welcome is in question and opportunities look rosy at home.
Offsite construction is back in contention – including big overseas investment - but it’s only really suitable for and social housing. Offsite also bypasses the normal supply chain and builders’ merchants.
Sit in on a council planning meeting and listen to the objections. It’s not just the scale and infrastructure to support the new homes that’s the sticking point. It’s what people want to preserve. Big estates leave big footprints that change
and welcome new skilled labour.
Self-builders need easier processes in planning and through a lengthy, process to build their dream home, and most use better quality
Making it easier to build and having the capacity and skills to build are the key challenges.”
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the look and feel forever. gaps and unoccupied spaces and blend in with their surroundings. Built where demand is, and where locals want them, they impact less on local infrastructure, schools and cramped roads.
Character counts A development of less than 10 houses can be built with individual character, using a variety of quality building materials in textures and colours that merge with the local architecture. Human scale developments that look right are what people want. restrictions on SMEs, but most of the builders who retired or left housebuilding won’t return so we need to make it easy to attract new housebuilders. The industry needs new apprentices too, and Britain needs to keep Eastern European builders
Smaller business needs SMEs and self-builders are good for the industry, and they’re key to Britain’s housing problem. So, we need to supply them with products that add character and variety so local communities and planning departments welcome the homes they build. That means materials suppliers delivering a wide variety from stock or short and quality of craftsmanship. Traditional building materials, such as premium blends of handmade bricks work well in traditional and contemporary housing projects. They can be regionally matched, or weathered to create an aged effect. Adding just 1-2% to overall build cost, an authentic, unique brick makes the homeowner pleased with the premium design, and helps the developer can sell a property. recognises that supply rather than demand is the problem. But there is no single solution. Government needs to ease planning and red tape, and encourage lenders to provide realistic who don’t have big budgets. And material producers need to make it easier for merchants to supply locally appropriate products such as handmade bricks in a rich variety of textures and colours so local communities welcome new homes that blend in.
April 2017 BMJ
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