Let us help you:

Phase 1 Environmental Report Phase 2 InvestigationRemediation Strategy Flood Risk Assessments Site Condition Report Monitoring Verification Report Drainage Strategy

Should SME Builders be Added to the Endangered Red List

Submitted by Peter George on

Pocket Living, a housing developer, is driving a campaign to increase the contribution of SME housebuilders to new housing.

The proportion of housing supplied by SMEs has dropped significantly over the last few decades. 

An infill housing development on the site of former lock-up garages in southeast London illustrates what can be done

Two of the ten points specifically mention the use of brownfield sites and of course many of the small sites that are being promoted within this ten point plan will be brownfield sites. This campaign is to be welcomed as a common sense contribution to growing housing output.

The 10 point plan is as follows:

  • Empowering Homes England – By Paul Rickard Create up to 25 new bespoke Homes England SME Managers and include a metric within Homes England’s annual performance review requiring at least 15% of housing delivery to come from SMEs.
  • Finish Tax Reform to Drive Investment into New Brownfield Homes – By Andrew White. Reform tax to allow full expensing of build costs for new homes when the money is spent, rather than when they are finally sold.
  • Small Sites Planning Policy – By Marc Vlessing OBE. Unlock the delivery of thousands of homes through minor tweaks to Para 70 in the NPPF, allowing for a presumption in favour of development for small brownfield sites.
  • Small, but Perfectly Formed – By Russell Curtis. Deliver suburban design guides to offer greater certainty, potentially unlocking 900,000 homes within a 10-minute walk from major train stations in London alone.
  • Implement a National Public Land Portal for Small Sites – By Hugo Owen Councils across England and Wales possess over 300,000 unused small sites. A national public land portal dedicated to small sites for SMEs could facilitate their development.
  • Implementing Quotas for SME Housebuilders in the Local Plan Process – By David Parry. Implement a quota of allocations per local plan for local SMEs to ensure they continue to play a role in the housing market.
  • Exploring the Kiwi Approach to Planning Committee Procedures – By Grant Leggett. Draw upon New Zealand’s approach by reforming the committee process so only the largest applications are referred and depoliticise the process by including experts on the panel.
  • Helping People on and Up the Housing Ladder – By Gary Day & Suzanne Revel. Refine the national housebuilding target to provide for a minimum of 10% as specialist housing for older people and offer greater certainty through a presumption in favour of specialist housing on small sites.
  • Creating Certainty for Planning Decisions Through a Chief Planner – By Georgina McCrae. Encourage Local Planning Authorities to employ a Chief Planning Officer responsible for ensuring decisions align with the adopted and up-to-date Local Plan.
  • The Growing Challenge of Rights of Light – By Jonathan Lonergan & Jamie Parkes. Right of Light liabilities can reach upwards of £1.5 million for a 100-home scheme. The government should encourage all local authorities to use pre-existing statutory powers under s.203 to ensure small sites remain viable.