Good news from the NHBC last week as they report that registration of private sector homes increased by 62% in the first quarter of 2025 against Q1 2024.
They identified various confidence increasing factors such as easing of inflation and lower mortgage rates, as well as the government’s rightly applauded plans for investment in infrastructure, skills and planning reform.
We are seeing a corresponding optimism among the residential builders we work with, both large and small.
Of course there are still blocks. There’s a lot of secondary legislation that’s going to be required to make the Planning and Infrastructure Bill that is currently making its way through Parliament, workable in the real world.
Three things to watch for in the coming months as the Bill progresses:
Locally set application fees
It’s suggested that fees should be capped at cost recovery, but what exactly does that mean? If we look at pre-application fees as a potential model for application fees, the varying levels of cost are extreme.
In some instances, the cost of pre-application advice has been 3+ times the cost of the application fee alone. If not approached with clear guidance this has the potential for Authorities to prejudice delivery of development through exorbitant application fees.
Nature recovery vs development
A controversial topic, with the Bill acknowledging that a lack of sufficient mitigation is delaying development. Environmental Delivery Plans (EDP) are proposed, brought forward by the, to be established, Nature Restoration Fund and produced by Natural England or other designated body. This would enable a more strategic approach to the discharge of environmental obligations.
Spatial development strategies
A spatial approach to planning, based on the Greater London Authority (GLA) model, to facilitate cross-boundary issues such as housing need. For those of us that have been in planning for some time, it sounds a lot like RSS’s or even the old County Structure Plan. The Government suggest it is not and that it will be based on smaller sub-regional models. The question is then how this fits into the Devolution Agenda.
What this means for housebuilding
The Government’s housing target is underway and real. They have successfully brought forward the NPPF 2024 and this Bill in a timely manner.
The questions to be answered are whether it can make it through Parliament and obtain Royal Assent with the essential secondary legislation coming forward fast enough to truly make an impact on the 1.5million home target, or will it simply create a platform for future growth?
