x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.

There's bad news for Britain's politicians who are using house-building targets as policy objectives in the election - over two thirds of UK housebuilders believe many of the targets are simply undeliverable.

A survey by high end agency Knight Frank says delivering more than 180,000 new homes a year is unachievable according to 67 per cent of builders. Only nine per cent say it is possible to build more than 200,000 residential units a year.

Although the Conservatives have not publically stated an official nationwide housebuilding target, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and UKIP have all pledged to build at least 200,000 new homes a year or more, recognising the need to address the shortfall in housebuilding across the country.

More than half of all developers and housebuilders in the Knight Frank survey say a rise in the delivery of affordable homes over the next year is unlikely, even if there there may be a rise in the number of total housing starts and completions.

In addition the survey shows that:

- some 78 per cent of housebuilders expect new-build prices to rise over the next 12 months, with many expecting rises of up to five per cent;

- no fewer than 91 per cent expect a rise in construction costs amidst the continued pressure on housebuilders;

- greenfield land prices will rise, according to two-thirds; and

- some 58 per cent claim the Community Infrastructure Levy is leading to a drop on development volumes.

Comments

  • icon

    Excuses, excuses. We managed it in the past, we can manage it now. If the government really took a lead on this - denying property developers the chance to sit on land they've bought to make a profit, cancelling any notion of Right to Buy, encouraging more people into the construction industry - then it could be done.

    Why not take all those people reconstructing Battersea Power Station to turn it into luxury, insanely expensive flats, and get them to go and build houses where they're actually needed.

    • 28 April 2015 08:09 AM
MovePal MovePal MovePal