Planning delays biggest barrier to growth, say SME housebuilders

Planning delays have been cited by small housebuilders as the biggest barrier to growth they face.

A survey of hundreds of smaller builders, published today by the Home Builders Federation, Travis Perkins and Close Brothers Property Finance, shows 93% of SMEs believe delays to securing planning permission is a “major barrier to growth.”

This was followed by under-resourcing of local authority planning departments, cited as a barrier to growth by 91% of respondents. It is the fourth consecutive year that planning delays and town hall resources have been the most frequently cited barriers.

The report shows nearly half (46%) of SME housebuilders saw an increase of more than 30% in the costs of obtaining planning permission over the past three years. This was before planning application fees for major applications increased 35% from 6^th December.

Stewart Baseley, executive chair at the HBF said:: “The house building industry faces some major barriers to delivery and all indicators now show sharp falls in supply.

“SMEs in particular are unable to manage the delays caused bythe collapsing of the planning system and the lack of capacity in planning departments.”

>>See also: Fears raised over NPPF reform consultation 

>>See also: Reforming planning: one way to solve the housing crisis

>>See also Key takeaways from Gove’s big planning speech

The report was based on survey responses from 305 SME housebuilders.

The survey results follow the publication of the revised National Planning Policy Framework in December, which seeks to speed up planning decisions by restricting the use of extension of time agreements, under which applicants can agree with the council that they can have longer than the statutory period to make the decision.

However Paul Smith, director of the Strategic Land Group, writing in Housing Today yesterday warned this could have the unintended consequence of incentivising local authorities to simply refuse an application earlier.