From next July 2021, Homes England will scrap its Delivery Partner Panel (DPP3) in favour of a new dynamic purchasing system.

This will allow firms to join the line-up of preferred developers at any time, a move expected to favour flexibility and smaller builder/developers.

Previously house builders and contractor had one opportunity to join when the panel was renewed every four years.

The DPS is planned to open for the first round of applications from April 2021.

House builders will have the option to apply to join the DPS at any time as pipeline sites come to market through the Homes England Land Hub or are brought forward by public sector landowners.

Nick Walkley, chief executive of Homes England, said that the DPS would also be opened up to other public sector bodies, including local authorities and Registered Providers, so they could procure a house builder or contractor to build homes on their land.

Just under 70 firms presently hold places on the panel, split across five regions in England and excluding London.

The present panel includes most of the major house builders including several national contractors like Kier, Laing O’Rourke, Mace, Wates and regionals like Esh,Eric Wright and Spellar Metcalfe.

This new dynamic and land led approach will open Homes England sites up more widely to the whole market and be more flexible to accommodate market changes.

The DPS will introduce different categories of membership.

SMEs bidding to deliver smaller sites will benefit from simpler entry criteria whereas the entry criteria for developers bidding to deliver larger strategic sites will be proportionately more testing.

Larger developers will be expected to demonstrate leadership around issues such as design quality, building safety and improving equality and diversity in the industry.

House builders will be able to tailor their membership to express interest in specific locations or types of development to give the agency the ability to more effectively market sites to interested parties.

Throughout the lifetime of the DPS, housebuilders will be able to apply to enter new categories and amend their membership, giving SMEs the ability to take on more ambitious schemes as they grow.

Housing secretary Christopher Pincher said: “We are helping more SME and new developers to get into the house building market.

“This compliments our recent work to simplify the outdated planning system through our planning reform proposals, making it easier and cheaper for small developers to build the homes we need.”