A coalition of SME experts, including a parliamentary group, has called for SME developers to be given regulatory exemptions to help them compete with the big players.
They could be given an exemption from Biodiversity Net Gain and Section 106 requirements could be simplified, the group said.
It costs small developers £60,000 more to build a home for first-time buyers in high-demand areas of London compared to large Prime Central London developers.
Paul Rickard, chief executive of Pocket Living, said: “With the volume builders struggling to deliver the homes we need due a combination of regulatory delays and a softening sales climate for large-phase developments, in part driven by the dearth of support for first-time buyers, there is a golden opportunity for SMEs to step in and take up the slack.”
The plan, dubbed The Road to a Proportionate System, is backed by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for SME Housebuilders, whose chair Sarah Edwards MP has thrown her support behind the recommendations, calling the SME housebuilding sector “vital” to getting the housebuilding sector delivering again.
Contributors include Nicholas Boys Smith MBE, former chair of the Government’s Office for Place, and Jack Airey, former No.10 Special Adviser on housing.
