NaCSBA representatives met with Sir Oliver Letwin MP with regards his Independent Review of Build Out earlier this month to highlight the role that Custom and Self Build sector can play in increasing the quantity and capacity in the new build sector.
The Letwin Build Out review is looking into the gap between the number of planning permissions being granted and the number of homes actually being built. The meeting was followed by a Spring Statement, at which point Letwin produced a public letter setting out his preliminary update.
This confirmed Letwin’s focus on large sites. In his letter, Letwin noted that he was not persuaded that build out rates on large sites were limited by factors linked to the physical process of building, but rather by the rate the major house builders believes homes could be optimally sold without impacting price.
Letwin noted that the main reason the large builders can exercise control is the limited competition. This mirrors points made by NaCSBA in our discussions with him.
Letwin is keen to understand, among other points, if build out would be different if larger sites were packaged in ways that led to the presence of other types of housebuilder offering different products in terms of size, price point and tenure.
This could offers scope for increased opportunities for Custom and Self Build, and serviced plots.
Letwin plans to visit Germany and the Netherlands to examine build out rates in these countries.
NaCSBA has supplied information from the Netherlands showing how Self and Custom Build supports a higher build out rate. As part of his evidence gathering, Letwin has also made a visit to Graven Hill.
Letwin plans to publish further analysis in June and recommendations from the summer onwards.
NaCSBA has supplied data to support the analysis and we are expecting further engagement with Letwin before his recommendations are made. We hope that our meeting has helped to further convince Letwin of the role that our sector can play.
One of the ways to continue to do this is to showcase the progress being made and highlight investments being made in the sector to deliver more of the homes that are needed should the land and/or serviced plots become available.
Photo: The Rt Hon Oliver Letwin MP, Minister of State, Crown Copyright, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/
