Two of the issues highlighted in the report as slowing up the supply of new houses were slow speed of build-out of developments as a result of too large developments being undertaken and the need for developers to adopt more modern methods of construction to speed up the construction process.
The reports states that to keep house price inflation down to the European average of 1.1% an additional 120,000 houses are required.
Gearing up Britain’s large housebuilders to increase the housing supply to this level is impossible in the short term and some alternative thinking is required. Currently self builders build 20,000 houses every year but there is a pent up demand for more than double this number. Buildstore says that with improvements and flexibility in planning and the availability of land, self builders are in a position to play a greater part in helping reduce Britain’s housing shortage.
Buildstore also advocates developers zoning part of their larger developments for self build to reduce the overall build-out times for these developments by in effect having multiple simultaneous developments on the one site.
BuildStore’s managing director, Raymond Connor says “If the government is looking to reduce build-out times for developments, the self builder is an excellent person to help. With the appropriate land availability and an ease in the planning requirements, the government could have an additional 20,000 developers a year.”
He continues: “In addition, the Barker report is advocating that house developers follow a lead already set by self builders in adopting more modern construction methods. For many years self builders have used offsite prefabrication for example timber frame or structural insulated panels as a quick and efficient way of getting their house built more quickly. This helps self builders get round issues such as skill shortages which have beset the national and regional house builders.”
Other benefits of self build over large scale developments include :
- The replacement of existing sub-standard housing, particularly the replacement of pre-war bungalows.
- Self build plots can be created on previously developed small sites in both urban and rural areas including existing garden land – sites which would be deemed uneconomical for developers.
- They also often employ the skills and labour force of small and medium sized builders who operate at a local level, below the scale utilised by the larger house builders.
Intermediaries can find out more about BuildLoan by visiting the website at www.buildloan.co.uk or by calling : 0870 870 9499.
