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Critical sector needs rebalancing: Andrew Lewer MP
The government’s Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill needs to focus on making housing more abundant and more affordable, argues Northampton MP Andrew Lewer, and home ownership should be put back in the hands of younger citizens and their families.
Housebuilding: A critical sector that needs rebalancing
Housebuilding in the UK faces a number of deep and problematic challenges as it enters 2023. Some of these are relatively recent, such as global supply chain issues following the various Covid lockdowns, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and of course the return of international inflationary pressures.
Others are more established and entrenched, causing very worrying trends. Supply is woefully not keeping up with demand and it is having devastating consequences.
House price growth has skyrocketed and has outstripped the growth in wages. In 2019, the median house price in England was around 7.8 times higher than the median annual earnings of a fulltime worker.
The ratio has increased from around 5.1 in 2002. In London, the ratio in 2019 was considerably higher at 12.8.
Homeownership has become increasingly out of reach for younger people. In 2003/04, 59 per cent of 25to 34-year-olds were homeowners. By 2020/21, this figure had dropped to 47pc. We are also seeing an overall general decline of homeownership.
Rental demand is up by 142pc when compared to the five-year average while supply is down by 46pc over the same period. Rents are soaring as a result and I imagine this will most certainly further increase homelessness numbers.
In short, we need to radically increase the supply of all types of housing to meet demand and put home ownership back into the hands of younger citizens and their families by making it affordable again and in plentiful supply.
The housing market is essentially broken and overdominated by a few major housing construction companies operating in a disproportionate and complex planning system which limits and distorts outputs. It is in this context that I vocally opposed the government dropping its critical housing targets commitment when the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill was passing the report stage in Parliament in December.
This will only increase the sludge on the supply path, making it much harder to get housebuilding through planning and further fuelling house prices to even more unreachable levels.
Another dangerous trend emanating from the housing market is the near extinction of the SME housebuilding sector. A good marketplace has a healthy and diverse number of suppliers offering a wide range of products.
SME housebuilders are an essential component of the nation’s construction industry. As smaller operators they tend to take more risks and be more competitive. They are more likely to be using and developing innovative technologies such as modern methods of construction as a means of attaining competitiveness in the marketplace.
Thirty five years ago, they were responsible for almost 40pc of all housebuilding. That has shrunk to about 10pc and the number of SME housebuilders declined by a whopping 80pc over the same time period.
This is why I tabled an amendment to the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Bill to introduce a Small Sites Planning Policy offering a more permissive approach to planning for those developing small sites which offer the majority of homes as affordable housing.
Sites still need to conform to more general development policies and must be designed in a manner that observes and adds to the existing character of the area but this would be a critical path to opening new opportunities to this declining but vital construction group and it would also help contribute to regeneration in urban neighbourhoods.
Housebuilding is a critical part of our national economic and social ecosystem. It is imperative we rebalance the sector, make it easier to build lots more homes and end the scandal of millions having their noses pressed up against the glass wall of the permanent, expensive world of renting.
Andrew Lewer (centre) says housing supply is failing to keep up with soaring demand
n Andrew Lewer is MP for Northampton South. He is a member of the Levelling Up, Housing and Committees Select committee in Parliament and chairs the All Party Parliamentary Groups for the Private Rented Sector and for SME Housebuilders.
New support hub is backing rural business
The Rural Ngage scheme aims to continue the work of the LEADER programme in delivering advice and support to rural businesses in Northamptonshire
IT’S NOT JUST A JOB.
Jennie Jahina is a specialist employment lawyer, helping all sizes and types of private sector business, and public sector organisations. Jennie deals with strategic projects (restructuring, compliance, business relocations and outsourcing/insourcing exercises), day-to-day operational and people management matters, and employment tribunal representation.
If you need help with employment issues, call Jennie on 0800 088 6004.
Anew scheme is under way to support rural businesses. Rural Ngage replaces the successful LEADER Programme, which has been backing countryside businesses for the past 30 years.
The new scheme aims to help rural businesses to access funding and to support their growth, innovation and diversification plans. Rural Ngage has set up a dedicated business hub at bbf. uk.com/rural-ngage which has details of support on offer from rural capital grant schemes, including the Rural England Prosperity Fund, which replaces the LEADER Programme and RDPE Growth Programme.
The LEADER scheme had been running in Northamptonshire since 2015. It had been launched in Buckinghamshire by Ngage Solutions in 2008.
Former LEADER programme manager Will Dallimore has become rural business development manager at Ngage Solutions and is leading the new scheme. He said: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with so many of our dedicated, innovative and supportive rural businesses over the course of my time on LEADER, and especially to see them develop and grow. I now look forward to continuing to provide rural business support, creating collaborations and maintaining the relationships we have developed in my new role.”
The LEADER programme closed at the end of last year. It had helped to create jobs, drive investment and support business growth in the local rural economy. It directly supported 253 rural organisations with grant funding, helping to create at least 400 new jobs in Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.
The programme supported the creation of more than 50 new businesses and generated more than £23 million investment in rural areas, with £8.8 million in grants awarded.
Ngage Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Buckinghamshire Business First group.
Mr Dallimore said: “Supporting businesses with LEADER grants throughout the programme has been hugely rewarding and has benefited the lives of many. It has been a privilege to see new businesses started, jobs created, and skills developed.
“LEADER funding has been game-changing in how businesses operate, improving productivity, enhancing animal health and welfare, and providing huge environmental gains in the process.
Jennie Jahina Head of Employment
0800 088 6004 enquiries@wilsonbrowne.co.uk wilsonbrowne.co.uk
