Govt needs to do more to help development of new properties

Developers have called for the government to be a help rather than a hindrance when it comes to new homes.

The Build to Rent sector has been called a beacon of hope for the rental market across the UK in the last few months, especially with the way the government has sought to make the market a harder and more expensive place for lone landlords to operate.

However, while there is a real intention from Build to Rent companies and other developers to bring more much needed homes to the industry, they have called on the government to help make it easier for them to do so rather than being a roadblock to their plans and their ability to ramp up activity.

According to Knight Frank's House Building Report 2016, more than half of British based developers are planning to increase property starts and completions over the coming 12 months, indicating that the market remains strong and that there is a real appetite for new properties within the industry.

And this comes at a time when home building is still thriving, with data from Knight Frank showing that there was a 12 per cent increase in the number of completions this year when compared to the 2014/2015 period. There are also now 60 per cent more homes on average being built per year than there were in 2010.

However, the survey also showed the need for government support to keep this positive moving forward. Some 56 per cent of developers indicated that in the next three years they have plans to increase the number of skilled workers in their companies. But this comes at a time when as many as 73 per cent of developers believe that the cost and availability of labour will become an issue in the coming years thanks to political factors.

Should it become harder for people to find skilled workers in the sector, then the development of new housing will more than likely suffer. It lands with the government then to make sure companies can afford to train and hire skilled employees to keep building ticking over and ensure that development grows in coming years.

And it's not just in the employment of skilled workers where developers want to see the government make changes. Over the last 12 months, there have been substantial updates to planning restrictions, mostly surrounding the allocation of public land for development.

However, developers still believe the government must do more to make the process of applying for planning permission easier. In the Knight Frank survey, some 30 per cent said a more streamlined process for applying would significantly boost off plan property investment moving forward.

What's clear at present is that the appetite for building really is there, and all that's needed is a little help from official channels to really help the industry boost demand over the course of the next few years.

This article has been provided by Experience Invest.