New homes must be built throughout the country, not just in urban areas, the leader of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has stated, responding to levelling up secretary Michael Gove’s aim to relax planning rules in England and to create more homes in “the hearts of our cities”. Gove’s announcement followed the UK prime minister’s manifesto pledge today: the Conservative Party will commit to building 1m homes during this parliament.
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, described the government’s housing plan as a much-needed boost to help build more homes. But he also warned that new homes are needed in every village, town and city, not just selected urban areas.
He said: “The government’s focus on urban areas needs to be balanced with the need to address housing shortages in our rural communities.”
Giving further context about his view on the new housing plan, Brian said: “A plan for more housing is very welcome and hopefully it will go some way to get housing numbers back on track.
“It’s positive to see a focus on brownfield sites, which are the mainstay of SME house builders. But the planning system also needs to be fixed to ensure that these developments become a reality. Too many SME house builders are stuck in planning purgatory which stops the delivery of housing and employment opportunities in their communities.
“The recommitment to ‘building beautiful’ is positive. The FMB has consistently highlighted that it is the small, local house builders that are best placed to truly deliver on this ambition. They build quality, local homes that reflect their communities’ needs, which is why the government’s focus on urban areas needs to be balanced with the need to address housing shortages in our rural communities.”
According to the Commons housing committee’s report earlier this month, ministers are on track to deliver the government’s 1m homes target but they are not predicted to meet the commitment to deliver 300,000 new homes every year by the mid-2020s.
The BBC reported the reaction of a representative of the National Housing Federation, which represents housing associations. They said that Gove’s policies were “a positive start” but “nowhere near the scale or ambition that is needed”.
Polly Neate, head of housing charity Shelter, praised Gove for not being “afraid to build” but warned that plans to convert takeaways into homes risked creating “poor-quality, unsafe homes”.
