In a submission to the Communities & Local Government Committee’s Inquiry, LendInvest told the government to scrutinise land banking and said larger developers who do not develop land in their stock should sell it on to SMEs who will develop the land more swiftly.
LendInvest has urged the government to prioritise SMEs over major housebuilders to increase levels of housebuilding in the UK.
In a submission to the Communities & Local Government Committee’s Inquiry, LendInvest told the government to scrutinise land banking and said larger developers who do not develop land in their stock should sell it on to SMEs who will develop the land more swiftly.
The LendInvest submission said: “The government has a real opportunity to reinvigorate the market by putting homebuilding front and centre of its industrial policy.
“It is not enough, however, to set ambitious housebuilding targets without addressing the challenges in the sector that are preventing developers from delivering the targets that the government aspires to achieve.
“Instead, measures should be taken to address the shortages in land, opportunities for finance and the lack of skills in the sector to truly get Britain building.”
The mortgage lender reckoned the government should explore state-backed funding schemes to provide businesses like LendInvest with more capital to lend to SMEs, while it should support industry initiatives to develop skills for property developers.
It felt the government should work with SME developers at all levels to make it easier to plan and develop property.
