Last week, NaCSBA Chair Michael Holmes and I visited the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for an update meeting on self and custom building. Both continue to feature strongly in the Government’s plans to meet it’s new homes targets and the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review is focusing attention prior to an expected announcement in the Autumn Spending Review.
NaCSBA has already submitted a paper to the Treasury suggesting where efficiencies and improvements can be made, particularly in levelling the VAT and Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) taxation regime between self and custom build models. It’s too early to know what will be under consideration in the review and suggesting alterations to the tax regime are always a difficult thing to promote within government because ultimately, any decision is up to the Treasury, not DCLG.
Top of the list of our concerns was the recent ruling against government advice on S106 agreements – DCLG assured us that they were well aware of the implications and were appealing the decision, however, this could be a lengthy process.
Finally, it was interesting to hear that the Custom Build Serviced Plots Loan Fund – a £150m pot aimed at helping SME developers access the funding needed to create serviced building plots – has had a slow take up. Whether this is due to a lack of awareness or lack of interest is unknown, but the resource is there to be tapped and used. If not, the funding allocated may well be pulled and used elsewhere.
