16 INDUSTRY NEWS
Lib Dem Gideon Amos calls for SME exemption from planning permission
Agratas ‘gigafactory,’ a £4bn EV battery manufacturing facility under construction by Tata Group in Bridgwater, which is near to his constituency.
Amos also called for councils to be given more support to build social housing and unlock stalled sites, warning that simply issuing more planning permissions wont fi the housing crisis while 13,000 approved homes in Somerset alone remain unbuilt.
30 aff ordable homes to be built by Owl Group in Worcestershire site
Lib Dem housing spokesperson Gideon Amos has suggested small builders should be exempted from requirements to gain planning permission for very small developments. He said SMEs should be able to put up a “couple of houses” without planning permission, and backed the Federation of Master Builders’ call for licensing for housebuilders, to “drive out cowboy builders.”
Amos, who is the Lib Dem spokesperson for housing and communities and MP for Tiverton and Wellington, made the comments in an interview featured on the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB’s)’ podcast, Build Up From the Basement. He said that small builders should be “freed up altogether from requiring planning permission for a handful of homes,” said the FMB.
Mr Amos, who is a chartered architect and former town planner, said he was exploring plans to expand permitted development rights so small builders could construct a small number of
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houses without going through the planning system at all, “in the same way homeowners can build an extension without permission.”
On licensing, the FMB said that its new research shows “rogue builders” have cost consumers “£14.3bn over the past fi ve years, with the economy losing out on bn a year as one in fi ve are put off doing domestic building work.” Amos also took aim at the Government’s skills system, revealing that more than £3bn of the apprenticeship levy was handed back to the Treasury unused between 2020 and 2023, and warning that 200,000 EU workers have left UK construction since 2019.
Commenting on why so few young people are choosing construction careers, with FMB research showing fewer than half of parents would recommend the industry to their child, Mr Amos said the sector needed to do more to show off the scale of the opportunity, pointing to major projects such as Hinkley Point and the
Site layout showing the 30 new aff ordable homes Owl Partnerships will deliver at Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire (Umaa Architecture)
Award-winning housebuilder, Owl Group has completed the purchase of a 3.74 acre parcel of land in Worcestershire for an undisclosed sum. At Stonebow Road in Drakes Broughton,
Owl Partnerships, Owl Group’s affordable housing business, will deliver 30 brand new affordable homes. Detailed planning consent has already been secured for the site on the village’s northern edge and includes a mix of one- to four-bedroom homes, private parking, and new landscaping. Homes at Drakes Broughton comprise six different designs, including some with striking dual aspect views. The development will include the retention of green corridors along the northern and western boundaries, along with extensive new trees and planting.
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