Inquiry held at Parliament discusses the potential of self and custom build to help solve UK’s housing shortage
04 November 2016
The Government could unlock the supply of tens of thousands of new homes a year from small, self, custom and community builders, according to an inquiry held at Parliament by the National Housing Taskforce.
The New Sources of Supply Inquiry, led by the National Community Land Trust Network, has been looking into new sources of housing supply that have the potential to combat the nation’s housing crisis.
Helen Hayes MP, chair of the inquiry, said: “There is clearly a huge amount of enthusiasm and innovation among small, self, custom and community builders. But our inquiry is uncovering a long list of barriers that are frustrating their efforts, whether it’s acquiring land, getting to site, accessing finance, or even just starting up a new community-led housing organisation.”
“The Government has an opportunity to take these sectors from the margins and help them become a mainstream part of house building in England. We’ve identified a lot of practical ways to do this, and will shortly be making our recommendations.”
The Taskforce was set up by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing and Planning and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, after research revealed that the number of house builders has halved since the early 1990s – pointing out that eight builders now make up half the market.
Throughout 2016, the Taskforce has been developing clear, workable proposals for both Government and industry to address the UK’s chronic shortage of housing. Fifteen expert witnesses from specialist sectors, councils and lenders – including the National Custom and Self Build Association – spoke at the inquiry and discussed a variety of topics, as well as reviewing examples of best practice in the UK and abroad.
Subjects spoken about in detail were:
- Releasing more public land, and helping local authorities and builders navigate issues like best consideration, competitive procurement and state aid that frequently trip innovative projects up.
- How more private land could be released by thousands of owners who care about stewardship and local communities, particularly through work with community-led providers and if concerns about Right to Buy and Starter Homes are overcome.
- The need for seed-corn finance to take new providers through to the point where commercial lenders will be willing to lend to them, including de-risking projects.
- The role that enabling organisations can play, both in helping local authorities to put in place the right policies and procedures, and to support new providers to start up and grow.
For more information, visit: www.communitylandtrusts.org.uk
