The Chancellors first speech – Re-Building Britain

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SPEECH IN FULL

Construction sector responses

Scott Black, Chief Operating Officer for Places for People.

“Today’s statement from the Chancellor has our unequivocal support, we need more new homes and there is no time to waste. This is one of the most pressing issues for the UK, for economic growth, for families across the UK, and for us all at Place for People, whose mission is to build, help, and support communities across the UK.

“The measures Rachel Reeves has announced today are a positive first step for housing of all tenures including much-needed new affordable homes. As well as bringing forward the delivery of new homes, our own ‘Time to Build’ research illustrated that approximately three-quarters of people also want greater investment in local infrastructure to support new housebuilding, which must not be forgotten.

“Building must be scaled up now and we are ready to do our part to help. On top of mandatory housebuilding targets and a taskforce to accelerate stalled housing sites, we think more can be done to get Britain building again.

“If we are to maximise investment into the sector and tackle the current housing crisis for those most in need, we need certainty and more specifically, confirmation on rent at CPI plus 1% while the financial settlement between Government and housing associations is reviewed. This would provide housing associations nationwide with the stability to invest in the homes they own and to accelerate building new homes.

“This is an exciting time, and we look forward to further details of the Government’s strategy, including the greenbelt review and recruitment of 300 more people into planning which will help to get things moving again. For too long we haven’t done what is necessary to meet the nation’s supply and demand challenges, and it is great to hear the new Chancellor address some of the key barriers that have held us back for too long, so early in her tenure, a clear framework that unlocks more land for new homes and delivers planning consents quickly and efficiently is needed if we are to meet the needs of the nation. At PFP we are here to help the government get Britain Building at scale and for everyone across the UK.

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments:

“It is encouraging to see that the new UK Government is committed to reforming the planning system and delivering thousands of new affordable homes each year. Propertymark is keen to see a diverse mix of housing delivered that keeps pace with real-world demand.

“Fine details about reform to the National Policy Planning Framework must be mapped out and open to full stakeholder scrutiny. It’s crucial there is transparency on how they intend to meet their ambitious target of building 1.5 million new homes by the end of its term in government, which in reality would mean having a large housing estate built every day before the next general election. Whilst we support more homes being constructed, there needs to be careful consideration on background infrastructure to ensure we are making the best use of available land, ideally prioritising a brownfield-first approach.”

 Mitchell Pollington, Director (Historic Environment) at Lanpro said:

The lifting of the de-facto ban on onshore windfarm developments in England, and the desire to bring these under the NSIP regime, is a hugely welcome sign of the new government’s aim to massively accelerate the country’s transition to renewable energy. It has been estimated that this could boost the economy by £45bn and create around 27,000 jobs- and archaeology and heritage will again play a central role in environmental decision-making to enable these new schemes.

Since 2015, there has been an effective moratorium on the construction of new onshore windfarms, due to the introduction of footnotes to the NPPF, which required proof that there would be no local opposition of any type to such schemes – which, of course, there always will be at some level.

Prior to this, I was proud to work on the heritage and archaeological elements of numerous wind farm applications throughout the noughties – in both England and Scotland – working with passionate environmental consultants and developers who rightly saw that onshore wind was a vital part of our need for mixed renewable energy provision.

Archaeological assessment not only helps mitigate any impacts from wind farm developments, but also provides an opportunity for communities to gain a greater understanding of their surrounding historic landscapes, and the archaeological remains which lie within these. With appropriate initial assessment and survey, the layout of windfarms can easily be designed to avoid any significant impacts on archaeology, and rapid, non-intrusive archaeological survey methods, such as established geophysical survey techniques, and more recently adopted techniques such as multi-spectral imaging, can identify features without the need to necessarily dig up – and destroy – buried remains. The use of such methods will help speed up the delivery, and reduce the costs, of such projects and it’s important that archaeology is seen as a facilitator of these nationally vital developments, and not as an unnecessary delaying factor.

Bringing onshore wind back into the energy mix in England, is therefore vital to support the country’s move towards clean energy, but also provides great opportunities to further our understanding of our shared archaeological resource.

Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Policy Chair Tina McKenzie, said:

“It’s good to hear the new Government setting a target of 1.5 million homes in the next five years and it will not be possible to reach these numbers without the contribution of small construction firms. Small housebuilders are the key to achieving ambitious housebuilding targets.

“It’s integral that a Small Housebuilders Strategy is created to put small businesses front and centre of decision-making, so the builders who have had the hardest time in recent decades can deliver the outcomes the new Government seeks.

“We hope this will be the start of a renewed focus on getting Britain building again, and that the new Chancellor Rachel Reeves will follow up with further much-needed reform such as to the Community Infrastructure Levy, so it’s no longer an upfront charge.

“It’s good to see a clear statement from the new Government that it will focus on the growth that our economy needs.”