The Dispatches programme, presented by Andrew Gilligan, claimed that developers were helping to inflate property prices by restricting the number of affordable homes built and storing up massive landbanks which could provide hundreds of thousands of homes.
It also claimed that developers were manipulating the planning system by donating money to local councils to get planning permission and influencing policy so that it favours the developers, rather than the public.
However, industry commentators were not fully convinced by Gilligan’s argument.
Mark Sismey-Durrant, chief executive of Heritable Bank, commented: “The planning process is so complicated and has so much importance attached to it, in terms of the types of property built, I can understand that the system could be open to interpretation. For developers, an increase in affordable housing can make the difference between making a profit or a loss. I think government policy on affordable housing is commendable but can be complicated for developers at times.”
Neil Johnson, head of PR and policy at the Building Societies Association, added: “Government policy actually encourages the building of one and two-bedroom flats so that’s why so many are being built, even though they aren’t selling in many places. Developers, in an ideal world, want to build affordable homes but they haven’t so that’s why prices have increased like they have. Landbanking is an old criticism but it’s often very difficult to get planning permission and they need to have a supply of land for the future.”
get the daily news delivered to your inbox
find the latest industry jobs
Find out more about this weeks industry news
