‘Get on and Build’ – Or Else, Housebuilders Told

COUNCILS will get new powers to make housebuilders set housebuilding timeframes before planning permission is granted, Government has announced.

Developers who repeatedly fail to build on development land (land banking) or use planning permissions to trade land speculatively could face new ‘delayed homes’ penalties or be locked out of future permissions by councils.

The government hopes the move will force developers building 50 homes or more to deliver new homes faster, helping to reach their 1.5 million new homes target by 2029.

Get on and Build

Under the new rules, housebuilders will also have to submit annual reports showing their progress to councils.

Delayed Homes Penalty will apply after a 10% delay to the schedule and be charged (in “the thousands”, government says) per unbuilt home, paid directly to local planning authorities.

For land banking, developers could see their sites acquired by councils and they could be stripped of future planning permissions.

How compulsory purchase orders by councils would be implemented is not yet clear. The Local Government Association (LGA) says land should be acquired at its value before planning was agreed.

Welcoming the new penalty powers for councils, LGA housing spokesperson, Cllr Adam Hug said: “We are pleased the Government has acted on the LGA’s call for it to be easier for councils to penalise developers and acquire stalled housing sites or sites which have not been built out to timescales contractually agreed, ideally with the recovery being made at pre-planning gain prices.”

Mixed Tenure Developments

Large housing 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. As a result, the government is testing a new requirement for large sites to be mixed tenure by default.

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner pointed out that, when the planning system was reformed last summer, the industry pledged to work with the government to build out as quickly as possible. She added that in return, developers need to get on and build.

Planning Proposals

The National Planning Policy Framework includes mandatory housing targets for councils, expected to drive housebuilding to its highest level in over 40 years. It is estimated that this will add £6.8 billion to the UK economy by 2029/30.

In a technical consultation, utilising powers introduced in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023, proposals are to require developers to provide:

• a build out statement with their planning application;
• a commencement notice when they commence their development; and
• an annual progress report tracking build out progress.

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