A report was released today setting out a roadmap to achieve the construction of 200,000 new homes each year by 2020.

 

The long awaited report and roadmap was developed by Sir Michael Lyons and is expected to deliver around 230,000 new jobs, raising economic growth by 1.2%.


The report was commissioned by Labour to assist them in forming new housing policies to deal with the housing crisis ahead of next year’s general election.


The main suggestion of the report is to learn from the successes of the 2012’s Olympic Games, empowering local government to take the lead role in assembling land and fast-track developments, as well as in risk sharing and partnerships with developers to drive through the delivery of houses.


He estimates that these new bodies would deliver over 100,000 new homes a year, but in a move that would further strengthen the construction industry, Lyons recommends that small house builders need to be strengthened and freed up to build more houses, pointing out that 30 years ago two thirds of all homes were built by small builders whereas now they account for less than a third with the majority of new homes being built by a handful of major firms.


He also calls for a timetable for development, stating: “My report sets out a comprehensive plan to tackle the key problems that underpin our failure to build enough homes.


“This will require strong leadership from central government alongside the delegation of powers and responsibility so that every community provides the homes they need.


“The recommendations will make more land available for new homes; unlock investment in infrastructure; and ensure that new homes are built when and where they are needed in attractive, thriving places.


“We will need the industry to do more, get smaller house builders back into business, tap potential in the construction industry, attract new enterprise and unlock potential for Housing Associations to do more.


“This will reverse the shrinking capacity in a key UK industry and create 230,000 new jobs whilst adding 1.2% to GDP.”


There are a number of key points in the report by Sir Michaal Lyons that should be of benefit to the construction industry, in a time where the prices of building supplies are increasing and competition is decreasing due to the dominance of larger construction corps it’s good to see Lyons believes we need to address this as part of the strategy to build more homes.


Also, by empowering local authorities to drive forward the development of properties, we won’t have a developments dominated by maximising profits which has often lead to the wrong types of homes being built and far too many of them being built in the wrong places. Again this comes down to a lack of competition and the position of the smaller builders being squeezed out of the house building market.

 

Sir Micheal Lyons also appointed several other prominent figures with expertise in this area to advise him, they included:

 

  • Tom Bloxham, Chairman and Co-Founder, Urban Splash
  • Mark Clare, Group Chief Executive, Barratt Developments Plc.
  • Julia Evans, National Federation of Builders.
  • Kate Henderson, Chief Executive, Town and Country Planning Association.
  • Bill Hughes, Legal and General
  • Grainia Long, Chief Executive, Chartered Institute of Housing
  • Simon Marsh, Head of Planning Policy, RSPB
  • David Orr, Chief Executive, National Housing Federation
  • Richard Parker, Partner and Head of Housing, PwC
  • Malcolm Sharp, Immediate Past President, Planning Officers’ Society
  • Ed Turner, Deputy Leader, Oxford City Council
  • Prof. Cecilia Wong, Professor of Spatial Planning, University of Manchester