A leader of the National Federation of Builders (NFB) has warned that the government U turn on mandatory housing targets could harm SME developers. Fewer new houses means reduced jobs for tradespeople, including those in the glass and glazing industry. The NFB is calling for accurate, detailed and locally driven housing needs assessments, based on the latest technology.
According to the trade body’s representative, compulsory targets had allowed councils to concentrate on sites that could easily be delivered which had helped local SME builders. Making those targets negotiable could lead to councils concentrating on high-volume sites which take longer to happen.
The comments follow a deal struck by Michael Gove, UK housing secretary, which means that senior MPs that councils can build fewer homes if they can prove that hitting targets would significantly change their area’s character. Currently, each local authority is set a target based on housing needs and their progress is monitored annually through housing delivery tests.
Rico Wojtulewicz, NFB’s housing and planning policy head, said: “We were led to believe that Mr Gove was appointed to ensure Robert Jenrick’s ambitious planning reforms were not lost, yet his first move was to water them down so much that disgruntled Conservative MPs were given a platform to further derail vital change. By ending mandatory housing targets, the government has signalled an end to its housing ambitions and placed backbench MPs’ careers before the national interest. The housing crisis is going to get worse.”
Neil Jefferson, Home Builders Federation’s managing director, added: “If ministers fail to stand up to the anti-business and anti-development section of the Conservative party it is inevitable that housing supply will fall dramatically. This will end up costing hundreds of thousands of jobs, slashing gross domestic product and preventing even more people from accessing decent housing.”
Neil commented on the same day as a public accounts committee (PAC) report was published (7 December) revealing that the government is likely to fall short of its targets. The report stated that the government is likely to deliver 32,000 homes short of its 2016 and 2021 affordable homes building programme.
Dame Meg Hillier MP, the PAC’s chair, said: “The human cost of inaction is already affecting thousands of households and now the building programme is hitting the challenges of increased building costs. This does not augur well for ‘generation rent’ or those in desperate need of genuinely affordable homes.”
