Government’s Policy Paper on housing and planning- Tim Boag, Aldermore comments
Tim Boag, group managing director, Business Finance at Aldermore, comments on the government’s Policy Paper on housing and planning:
“In order to solve the housing crisis, we need to build more homes. Our SME housing developer customers tell us that they often face delays due to local planning department resourcing or are told their plans have been rejected. Therefore, we welcome the government’s announcement that it is looking to speed up the planning system to help accelerate house building in the UK.
“SME housebuilders invest heavily in purchasing development land and drawing up plans, but continuing planning delays and rejections will mean fewer homes and less quality homes being built due to increasing cost implications. Creating more standardised planning rules, together with better resourced local planning departments should help speed up the planning permissions process and help developers better understand the locations and requests for development and different housing types that are needed.
“In addition, more needs to be done in order to ensure SME developers and housebuilders can survive and grow. SMEs have less financial flexibility to manage the risks associated with the planning process and one way to help would be to introduce different planning application fees in relation to the size of the developer. At Aldermore, we’re supporting the work of the APPG for SME housebuilders who are exploring how the current planning system is impacting the number of new homes being built, which will help inform the government’s Planning White Paper due in the Spring. The APPG’s findings are also expected later in the Spring.”
