Pocket Living Calls on the Government to Establish up to 25 Homes England SME Manager Roles
Pocket Living has called on the government to establish up to 25 Homes England SME manager roles as part of a 10-point strategy aimed at revitalising the struggling small and medium-sized housebuilder sector.
These managers would serve as dedicated support, acting as a single point of contact for SMEs, enhancing the funding process’s clarity and efficiency, and collaborating to find solutions using a new Homes England toolkit.
The report also proposes incorporating a performance metric within Homes England’s annual review that requires at least 15% of housing delivery to come from SMEs.
Titled “Get SMEs Building Again,” the report, released today by Pocket Living, outlines recommendations to “save” the SME housebuilding sector and has gained support from major developers and trade bodies, including Barratt Developments, Berkeley Group, British Land, Clarion Housing Group, National Federation of Builders, Peabody, Southern Housing, and others.
Among its recommendations, the report suggests local plans include a quota for local SMEs to ensure their continued role in the housing market
It also calls for Homes England to introduce a platform-level equity investment initiative specifically for SMEs, using customised standards to assess cost factors and risks.
The report highlights the dire situation facing SME housebuilders, noting a significant decline in numbers from over 12,000 in the late 1980s to fewer than 2,500 today, according to a 2017 Home Builders Federation report.
SMEs now contribute just 10% of the UK’s housing output, compared to nearly 50% in the 1960s and 70s, with a 66% drop in the number of SMEs in London alone over the past two decades.
To boost housing delivery by 50,000 brownfield homes annually, the report estimates that more than £60 billion in additional capital investment is needed. It advocates for tax reforms allowing the full expensing of build costs when incurred, rather than at the point of sale, to promote competition and ease financing challenges for SMEs.
Regarding planning reforms, the report recommends a presumption in favor of development on small brownfield sites within paragraph 70 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
It also suggests adopting New Zealand’s planning approach, which involves delegating only the largest planning applications to panels that include expert members to depoliticise the process.
To better utilise the 300,000 unused small sites across England and Wales, Pocket Living proposes a national public land portal dedicated to small sites to support SME developers.
Marc Vlessing, founder and chair, Pocket Living, said: “Ever since I co-founded and led Pocket 20 years ago, Labour has had a strong history of supporting small businesses in the UK. Their manifesto today promises to make small businesses ‘the beating heart of our economy.’
“So it’s time to use their substantial majority, heed the sector’s calls and implement these ten policy proposals, which are designed to be cost-neutral for the Treasury and should be low-hanging fruit for the Chancellor.”
Paul Rickard, managing director of Pocket Living, said: “As a sector, we are staring down the barrel of extinction, and it’s time for the government to take action before it’s too late.
He added that “without a flourishing SME housebuilding sector, there is no way the government will deliver on its promise of 1.5 million homes by the end of this term.”
David Thomas, chief executive of Barratt Developments, said: “We welcome this report and its recommendations which are a positive and creative addition to the debate on housing policy. SMEs are vital to housing delivery, and we’d encourage the Government to look at ways they can be supported alongside other providers in the sector.”
