A statement issued today by the Home Builders Federation commits firms to raising output in 2019 to more than double the homes built in 2010.
The commitment comes as concern grows in Whitehall that the Government will miss its target of building 1m homes in this parliament.
Volume house builders claim to have doubled build rates on large sites to help deliver 30% growth in supply in just two years.
They now also plan to develop a ‘land exchange’ aimed at allowing larger builders to sell sites or parts of sites to smaller builders. They have also agreed to provide local councils and central Government with actual and projected build out rates of current and future sites.
A statement issued this morning on behalf of volume builders said: “HBF and its members recognise that delivering 1m homes requires significant further action from the house building sector and that there needs to be a substantial increase in the number of homes they deliver.
“Accordingly, HBF’s largest members have an ambition to match their current rates of growth and in 2019 build more than double the number of homes they built in 2010.”
House builders and Government will continue talks in the coming months to identify further ways of increasing delivery from existing sites and bringing forward more sites, particularly for smaller builders.
In particular HBF is keen to explore how blockages in the planning process, and with utilities providers, can be addressed to get builders starting on site more quickly.
Stewart Baseley, Executive Chairman of the HBF, said: “Over the past two years the industry has responded to the positive policies introduced by Government and has delivered huge increases in output.
“All indicators clearly show the significant progress being made and last year we delivered more than 180,000 new homes in England.”
He added: “Moving forward the industry is committed to going further, and provided that the political, economic and policy conditions are conducive, to deliver further increases in supply.
“House builders are investing in their supply chains and have taken on tens of thousands of new workers to ensure there is the capacity and skills to deliver more high quality homes.
“Working with Government, and others, we want to ensure that the investment environment remains attractive and that the right measures are in place to support the delivery of the homes the country needs.”
Brandon Lewis, the Housing and Planning Minister, said: “This statement of intent shows house builders are committed to continuing the growth in supply we have seen under our administration – building more of the homes that this country needs.
“We have already seen a strong upwards growth in new homes delivered since 2010 and I welcome developers’ plans to share with councils how quickly they will get homes built on sites.”
