Judgement paves way to new homes built on small sites

Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis hailed a judgement that paves the way for more housebuilding on smaller sites.

A judgement hailed by Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis, will pave the way for more housebuilding on smaller sites and homes being built more easily.

A government policy that means affordable homes contributions will fall to those bigger developers building the larger sites, has been restored by the Court of Appeal. As a result, smaller builders developing sites of ten homes or less will be able to get work started on the sites, without facing charges that often prevent them from being able to continue to build new homes.

Brandon Lewis said: “Today’s judgment by the Court of Appeal restores common sense to the system, and ensures that those builders developing smaller sites – including self-builders – don’t face costs that could stop them from building any homes at all.

“I hope councils focus their time and money on delivering the front line service that their residents rely on and helping support new housebuilding in their areas that is very much needed.

The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has claimed that this move could end up stifling the housing industry by increasing regulations and taxes on small builders.

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said:  “Now we have a situation where the House of Lord’s is actually inserting into legislation that small sites should be treated the same as large sites, almost as if it were a matter of principle. We’ve seen a long-term decline in the number and output of small and medium-sized (SME) house builders, a trend which has accelerated during the downturn and has almost certainly reduced the overall capacity of the industry, and in turn reduced our ability to build our way out of the housing crisis. There’s little doubt that the historically unprecedented demands now being placed on small developers are a major barrier to this. To our members, this amendment will appear little more than a direct attack on SME house builders.”

The Court of Appeal’s judgment allowed on all grounds the government’s appeal to a High Court ruling.

The small sites affordable housing contributions policy was introduced in 2014, to help boost housing incentives and tackle the disproportional burden of developer contributions on small scale developers, custom and self-builders, There have been significant changes to the policy since 2014 that will speed up planning and housing delivery with the aim succeeding in the government’s commitment to deliver 200,000 starter homes by 2020.

 

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