Responding to the report into affordability and the supply of housing published today by the ODPM Select Committee, Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the Home Builders Federation, says:
“We fully endorse the report’s central conclusion that housing output must meet demand. If housing output remains at the 2005 level, there will be a shortfall of 50,000 homes every year and affordability will continue to be an issue. The only way of delivering long-term affordability is to increase supply, and this, critically, must mean bringing forward more land for development.
“We share the Committee’s conviction that different groups have different housing needs and aspirations. Social rented housing is part of the solution, but affordability problems will remain if the demand for market housing is not adequately met. There is a need for greater flexibility within the planning system as well as greater output so that home builders can more effectively cater to consumer demands and aspirations across the board.
“The industry has shown that it can work with planning policies that favour brownfield development. We do not believe current proposals for Planning Policy Statement 3 (PPS3) will weaken local authority powers to prioritise brownfield sites. If the Committee’s vision is to be realised, however, we will need more developable brownfield land than is currently coming through the planning system.
“Finally, we wholly agree that homes must be built to high environmental standards to manage their energy usage and water consumption. Under the latest revision of building regulations, new homes will be 40% more energy efficient than those built five years ago, and they are as much as six times more energy efficient than their Victorian and Edwardian counterparts. The industry is also promoting steps to improve water efficiency.
“Long-term, the industry wants to see a policy and regulatory framework for innovation that stimulates cost-efficient, consumer-friendly innovation. To forge further progress we will also need to take consumers with us.”
Notes for Editors
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) is the principal trade federation for private sector home builders and voice of the home building industry in England and Wales. The HBF’s 300 member firms account for over 80% of all new homes built in England and Wales in any one year, and include companies of all sizes, ranging from multi-national, household names through regionally based businesses to small local companies: www.hbf.co.uk
ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government & the Regions Committee, Affordability and the supply of housing, Third Report of Session 2005-06, embargoed until 00.01, 20 June 2006.
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