Gov't and industry must work together to fix UK's dysfunctional housing market for good
4 min read
Housing Minister Alok Sharma calls for government and industry to work together to deliver sustainable solutions to the "broken housing market".
For decades we have not built enough homes in this country and tinkered around the edges of a fundamentally dysfunctional housing market.
We have made some progress since 2010 - such as delivering over 893,000 additional homes - but we know there is much more to do.
That is why we published the Housing White Paper earlier this year, setting out new measures to get more homes built in the right places, and wide-reaching reforms to create a housing market that works for everyone.
A crucial part of this is diversifying the market. We need to boost productivity and innovation across the sector to increase supply from multiple outlets and providers, giving people greater choice over the homes they live in.
Small and medium sized housebuilders have a vital role to play in delivering this much needed housing. However, we know that these smaller builders struggle to access land and finance, and that the planning system can also act as a barrier. That is why we are making sure the right support is in place for them.
We have already made available £1 billion of short term loan funding to small builders through our Home Building Fund to help to unlock their potential for growth. Going further, in our Housing White Paper we set out proposals to increase the availability of small sites through changes to the National Planning Policy Framework. This will help make sure that SME housebuilders know what land there is to build on and provide a faster, better planning service.
Part of the problem is that local authorities lack the resources to process planning decisions at pace. So the Government has outlined a 20% planning application fee increase for local authorities that commit to invest this additional income back into developing their planning departments. All planning authorities have now accepted, and we are bringing forward the necessary regulations in the autumn to apply the increase.
Another issue facing the housing market is the need for skills reform in the sector - we need an industry that has the right skills to build more homes, including in new and innovative ways.
An important part of meeting this challenge is supporting modernisation across the sector. By encouraging greater use of modern methods of construction such as modular and off-site construction, we can expand upon our traditional building skills, create new and rewarding careers, and accelerate house building. Financial support through the Home Building Fund will help us achieve this, as well as working with lenders to overcome their concerns around these innovative new methods.
We are also changing the way the Government supports training in the construction industry to ensure we have strong industry leadership on skills. By reforming the Construction Industry Training Board, as well as simplifying the path of technical education, we are making it easier for people to qualify and get more workplace experience.
Our investment in apprenticeships will double, with funding reaching £2.5 billon by 2019-20, delivered through the Government’s new Apprenticeship Levy. This will mean that every young person, regardless of their background, gets the opportunity they deserve to succeed.
Government will do its part to improve skills provision, but I want to challenge industry to step up on this front and train the workforce it knows it will need.
The Home Builders Federation has already risen to this challenge and committed to bringing forward 45,000 new skilled workers by 2019-20, but I want us to do more to entice fresh talent into the industry. Only by working together - government and industry - will we be able to deliver sustainable solutions to increase our housing supply and fix our broken housing market for good.
Alok Sharma is the Minister of State for Housing and Planning and Conservative MP for Reading West
*****************************************
Celebrating SME house builders today, the Federation of Master Builders holds it's annual Master Builder Awards. Read more here.
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
