Environmental rules under review for small housebuilders in England

Image: Iryna via AdobeStock - stock.adobe.com

Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced the review of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements, as part of an effort to simplify the planning system.

Rayner is planning to ease BNG requirements for smaller developments of up to nine homes and give planning officers rather than councillors the power to approve them.

Ministers have also proposed exempting sites of between 10 and 49 homes from the Building Safety Levy, which funds the removal of unsafe cladding on sites.

Smaller housebuilding firms have seen their market share shrink since the 1980s, when small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) delivered 40% of the country’s homes, the government said.

Homes England will release more of its land to SMEs and a new National Housing Delivery Fund, to be confirmed at the government’s spending review later this year, will support long-term finance options.

The news comes as the government presses on with its target to build 1.5 million homes in England by 2030, which many commentators have suggested cannot be achieved.

Rayner said, “Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.”

Earlier this week, the government announced proposals to make housebuilders commit to delivery timeframes before they get planning permission.

They would also have to submit annual reports showing their process to councils to keep them on track.

Those who fail to build out sites with planning consent consistently and those who secure planning permissions to trade land speculatively could face a “Delayed Homes Penalty” costing thousands of pounds per unbuilt home.

The government cited figures showing that larger sites, producing over 2,000 homes, can take at least 14 years to build. But where more than 40% of homes are affordable, build-out is twice as fast. It said it was therefore also testing a new requirement for larger sites to be mixed tenure by default.