Sir Edward Lister, chairman of Homes England, has warned that developers must up their delivery of housing or risk punitive measures from government.
The former deputy mayor of London for policy and planning told delegates in a keynote address at EG’s UK and Ireland stand at Expo Real that the government had never done more to tip the balance in favour of developers but that, if they did not step up, rhetoric around the sector may change.
“There is significant government support at a level not seen for a long time. Watch this space,” he said. “Unless production goes up government will take further action to drive [housebuilding] forward. Some will be good but some could be bad for the industry. [Politicians] know their political survival is about getting those numbers up, and they will do it one way or another.”
Lister highlighted the forthcoming introduction of additional stamp duty for overseas buyers as an example of government’s willingness to bring in measures to address perceived issues in the industry.
“It always surprised me that it took so long,” he added. “There is a frustration because they feel the industry is not building fast and there is a view gaining more ground within government and amongst ministers and civil servants that the industry has gotten everything it’s ever asked for but not produced the numbers… every time a developer says ‘my financial model doesn’t let me build’ it sees people tense up.”
Homes England has been addressing issues of market failure when it can stimulate housebuilding through providing debt or equity, and Lister said the public sector has been selling land to developers but also buying schemes that had become “stuck”.
“The government has always tried to release land, sometimes successfully, sometimes very slowly. A lot of government land is in the wrong places… The government is also now acquiring land and taking positions in order to move stuff on. It should never be in competition with a developer but for that which is stuck and needs to be moved on.”
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