“The news that the government is pledging to spend an extra £150 million on infrastructure for new housing developments has been welcomed by the housebuilding industry.
He said: “The Barker Review, published earlier this year, highlighted the problem of housing supply in this country, estimating that an additional 140,000 new homes will be needed each year to meet increasing demand, stabilise house price rises and reduce problems of homelessness, affordability and social division. We warned the Government at that time that unless they take action to help put the report’s recommendations into practice, it would amount to nothing more than hot air.
“Housebuilders are ready and willing to build more new homes, however they are facing the barriers of local authority planning regulations, limited infrastructure and restrictions on development in many areas.
“This investment in infrastructure is the first step towards enabling housebuilders to develop in areas where people are going to want to live. The government now needs to work on resolving the remaining issues that are restricting housebuilders, starting with the archaic planning system and the delays it causes.”
