‘Get on and Build’ Deputy Prime Minister urges housebuilders

Thousands of new homes promised to communities will be delivered faster, thanks to major changes to make sure developers deliver on their commitments and do not leave sites half-finished for years. 

For the first time, under new government proposals announced today, housebuilders will have to commit to delivery timeframes before they get planning permission, making sure they play their part to accelerate housebuilding and tackle the housing crisis head on to deliver security for working people.

Under new rules, housebuilders will also have to submit annual reports showing their progress to councils to keep them on track. While most developers want to get on and build, those who consistently fail to build out consented sites and those who secure planning permissions simply to trade land speculatively could also face a ‘Delayed Homes Penalty’ worth thousands per unbuilt home, paid directly to local planning authorities.

Those deliberately sitting on vital land, without building the homes promised, could see their sites acquired by councils where there is a case in the public interest and stripped of future planning permissions, showing the government’s Plan for Change means business to deliver 1.5 million new homes.  

Large housing sites, producing over 2,000 homes, can take at least 14 years to build, meaning working families and young people spend years deprived of homeownership or the ability to rent an affordable home. 

But where more than 40% of homes are affordable, build-out is twice as fast. The government is therefore also testing a new requirement for large sites to be mixed tenure by default – helping to build more homes, including more affordable homes, faster. 

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner said:

“This government has taken radical steps to overhaul the planning system to get Britain building again after years of inaction. In the name of delivering security for working people, we are backing the builders not the blockers. Now it’s time for developers to roll up their sleeves and play their part.

“We’re going even further to get the homes we need. No more sites with planning permission gathering dust for decades while a generation struggle to get on the housing ladder. Through our Plan for Change, we will deliver 1.5 million homes, fix the housing crisis and make the dream of home ownership a reality for working people.”  

These decisive changes will support housebuilders to adapt to build more, and faster, by incentivising a model that works for developers and communities.

When major reforms to streamline the planning system were introduced last summer, the industry pledged to work with the government to build out as quickly as possible.  

They now need to make good on that promise. The government continues to back the industry with the tools and support it needs—but in return, the Deputy Prime Minister’s message to housebuilders is they need to get on and build. 

These reforms play a key part of the government’s Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes this Parliament and deliver the biggest boost in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation.  

Work is already underway through the new pro-growth National Planning Policy Framework, including mandatory housing targets for councils, which will drive UK housebuilding to its highest level in over 40 years and add £6.8 billion to the UK economy by 2029/30.  

This is on top of seismic planning reforms through the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill to make it quicker and easier to build 1.5 million homes and boost the economy by up to £7.5 billion over the next decade. 

Housing spokesperson for the Local Government Association, Cllr Adam Hug said:

“We are pleased the Government has acted on the LGA’s call for it to be easier for councils to penalise developers and acquire stalled housing sites or sites which have not been built out to timescales contractually agreed, ideally with the recovery being made at pre-planning gain prices. 

“Local government shares ambitions to boost housebuilding and work hard with communities and developers to deliver new sites. Too often they are frustrated when developers do not build the homes they have approved. While intervention of this sort is a last resort, this move is crucial to help ensure meaningful build out of sites. 

“The ability to apply a ’Delayed Homes Penalty’ is a power that councils have been asking for and means that local taxpayers are not missing out on lost income due to slow developers, but it must be set at a level that incentivises build out. 

“Private developers have a key role in solving our chronic housing shortage but they cannot build the homes needed each year on their own. Ahead of the Spending Review, we have also set out the measures needed to empower councils to also be able to build more affordable, good quality homes quickly and at scale.”

Further information

The government is publishing a Planning Reform Working Paper entitled ‘Speeding Up Build Out’. This is alongside publishing a technical consultation on requiring transparency and accountability measures for build out rates on housing sites. 

The technical consultation sets out proposals to require developers of 50 or more homes utilising powers introduced in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 to provide:  

• a build out statement with their planning application;   

• a commencement notice when they commence their development; and  

• an annual progress report tracking build out progress,   

The Working Paper on ‘Speeding Up Build Out’ makes proposals for discussion with the sector. This includes: 

• An overall strategy to speed up build out, drawing on the best available evidence of the causes of slow build out.  

• A new proposal on a Delayed Homes Penalty, which would be a last resort measure available for local authorities where a developer has agreed a build out schedule in their planning permission but falls materially (10% or more) behind it, without a good reason. This will require primary legislation and only apply to future planning permissions. 

• Confirmation the government will implement a new power introduced by the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 relating to the compulsory purchase of land which will remove risks to the use of compulsory purchase orders on stalled sites.  

• Confirmation the government will implement the reforms to completion notices in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 which local planning authorities can issue if development is unlikely to be completed within a reasonable period.