In the first State Opening of Parliament, King Charles set out new legislation prioritised by the new Government to “get Britain building” with a Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
Following the speech, Neil Jefferson, Chief Executive of the Home Builders Federation, said the ambition on housing delivery and policy proposals put forward to deliver them are positive and welcome.
“Planning has been the biggest constraint on house building in recent years and the measures proposed will address the main areas of concern by bringing more land forward for development more quickly,” he explained.
“Housing delivery has a range of determinants and will require a number of policy areas are addressed. Moves to unblock the planning system are a huge step forward but we will also need to see moves to help increase mortgage availability, especially for young people, if we are to get to the levels Government is aiming to deliver.
“Building the homes the country needs will address the social issues our housing crisis is creating, provide young people with access to decent housing, whilst creating tens of thousands of jobs and boosting investment in communities in every area of the country.”
The Labour Government has not been shy in putting growth at the centre of its aspirations and the King’s Speech reinforced that. Planning reform, devolution, clean energy and attracting investment topped the speech, with reforms to the leasehold system, NHS, police powers and public transport also taking centre stage.
Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “It is refreshing to have a government which views its primary role as enabling growth and removing barriers because this ensures business and communities know they can be part of the strategy.
“The continued focus on planning reform should also be applauded because it has been almost a century since any government understood its role in enabling business growth, better places and a healthier, well-functioning society. It does feel as though country is being put before party.”
Forty bills including draft bills will be brought forward, with a focus on ‘growing the economy through speeding up the building of houses and infrastructure, improving transport, creating more jobs and securing clean, green energy.’
The Government also announced an intention to reform the apprenticeship levy and set up ‘Skills England’, whose remit will be to ensure we have the highly skilled workforce the nation needs.
Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight at the NFB, said: “The NFB has been lobbying for apprenticeship levy reform for some time, so we are delighted the King’s Speech agrees with our recommendation.
“We hope to also help the Government recognise that their planning reforms are vital to ensure Skills England meets its ambition. In construction, 90% of training capacity is delivered by SMEs, who also train 7 in 10 apprentices. Yet smaller builders only build 9% of homes and the largest contractors (Tier 1), dominate the procurement process.
“Without ensuring planning and procurement reform enables SMEs, the nation’s main trainers and retainers, workers will not have sustainable, local employment opportunities and Skills England will not be able deliver its imperative ambitions.”
The Government has hit the ground running with ambitious plans to reform the planning system and build the homes we need, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB).
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “It is positive that the new Government has already made tackling the UK’s housing crisis a key priority. For too long we’ve under delivered on housing delivery and pushed out smaller house builders from the market. However, these bold plans will only be successful if the current skills crisis in the construction industry is addressed.
“We are substantially lacking the skilled workers required to build new homes, and to upgrade our existing homes with the energy efficiency improvements which Labour have pledged. The UK is in desperate need of a long-term skills plan, to establish clear pathways into careers in construction. Unless this is delivered it is difficult to see how 1.5 million new homes will be built over the next five years.
“One startling omission is the lack of plans to upgrade the existing housing stock. We had been expecting to see a bold plan to retrofit five million homes to make them greener and more energy efficient but clearly the purse strings have not been opened enough to allow for this.
“While we should be looking to build more homes we mustn’t take our eye of the existing housing stock, which is the oldest and leakiest in Europe.”
