The Labour administration must continue to prioritise new build as a policy, urges the FMB

Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, commented: “The Government made a promising start, following the General Election, with pledges to build 1.5 million homes and implement significant planning reforms welcomed by the construction industry.

However, the FMB have continued to make the case that these goals will simply not be deliverable without a focus on tackling the construction skills crisis; diversifying the housing market from a small number of volume housebuilders; and ensuring changes to planning policy actually deliver for small builders.”

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The Labour Government has ushered in another new era for housebuilding in the UK, and at a time when addressing the housing shortage has never been more in the spotlight. Here, Andrew Carpenter, Chief Executive of the Structural Timber Association (STA), delves deeper into the government’s commitments, and how timber frame can support them.

Housing was a key part of the pledge that Keir Starmer and the Labour Party made to the UK, going as far as to declare themselves as the ‘party of ownership’, promising to build 1.5 million homes at the rate of at least 300,000 homes per year. In addition, in her opening speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves further bolstered the Government’s commitment to housing, announcing that it will reinstate mandatory housing targets for Local Planning Authorities (LPA).

Similarly, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner ascertained that in line with housing targets, local authorities must consider, ‘how to deliver new homes, not whether to’, which leads to the important conclusion that houses must be built quickly and with sustainability in mind. If UK home seekers and housebuilders are to truly benefit from the opportunity of more homes built more sustainably, then the use of structural timber is crucial. From a lower carbon footprint to lower energy use, faster build, and enhanced quality, there are many valid reasons to switch.

While a fundamental change is required, the existing manufacturing infrastructure is well established with structural timber manufacturers across the UK investing and evolving for growth. The sector can deliver 100,000 homes per year at current capacity, a third of the Government’s target of 300,000 annually. Large housebuilders like Vistry, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Developments, Cala Homes and Avant Homes have also invested in either their timber frame factories or partnerships with existing manufacturers. Ultimately, there is a demand for structural timber as the wider industry realises the benefits it brings.

As manufacturing in other industries has evolved to automation, quality controls, speed and increased capacity, so too has structural timber manufacturing. Automation has led the way to precisionengineered, high-quality products, delivered just in time to the site, ready to erect with little or no waste. The faster build improves overall project timescales and costs while reducing the need for additional skilled labour on site. At a time when bricklayers are at a premium, a structural timber build enables two homes to be completed with the same bricklaying resource that one masonry house requires. The UK has a key opportunity to change the face of housebuilding for the future, delivering 1.5 million homes and doing so in a way that will help us achieve net zero. The message to any housebuilders not yet utilising timber is to not waste any more time. Structural timber manufacturers and SME supply chains are already well equipped to deliver 100,000 timber frame homes a year, and the demand is even greater than that. The STA exists to serve the timber industry and its members, providing insight, guidance, advice and information on every aspect of the process.

We urge the Government to renew the commitment to increasing the use of timber in the Timber in Construction Policy Roadmap, published by DEFRA in December last year – some important progress has already been made and we must continue this momentum.

For information and guidance on transitioning to building in timber frame, speak to the STA

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Labour has announced five ‘golden rules’ for green belt housebuilding, including a commitment to free up “poor quality” ‘grey belt’ parts of the belt, while upping the amount of affordable housing each site should bear to 50%. The term grey belt refers to neglected areas such as poor quality wastelands and disused car parks that are in the green belt.

The rules are designed to defeat suggestions that the green belt is at risk from a potential Labour government as the General Election looms this year or early next.

Labour’s five ‘golden rules’ for the green belt are:

“1. Brownfield first: Within the green belt, any brownfield land must be prioritised for development.

2. Grey belt second: “Poor-quality and ugly areas of the green belt should be clearly prioritised over environmentally valuable land in the green belt Poor-quality and ugly areas of the Green Belt should be clearly prioritised over nature-rich, environmentally valuable land in the green belt. At present, beyond the existing brownfield category the system doesn’t differentiate between them. This category will be distinct to brownfield with a wider definition.
3. Affordable homes: Plans must target at least 50% affordable housing delivery when land is released.
4. Boost public services and infrastructure: Plans must improve public services and local infrastructure, including more school places and new health centres.
5. Improve genuine green spaces: Labour rules out building on genuine nature spots and requires plans to include improvements to existing green spaces, making them accessible to the public, with new woodland, parks and playing fields. Plans should meet high environmental standards.”

Reaction to the grey belt approach has been mixed. The National Federation of Builders says the policy is “A win for all parties which is why we support it,” while CPRE, formerly known as the Campaign to Protect Rural England, reckons “There are enough ‘shovel-ready’ brownfield sites in the UK for 1.2 million new homes – this is where we should start.

“We must also abandon the existing piecemeal approach and look at the Green Belt as a whole. The Green Belt needs to deliver affordable homes on brownfield sites, while today’s scrubland can become the woodlands and wetlands of tomorrow.”

Scrubland was identified as a particular opportunity for development by Lisa Nandy in June 2023.

The golden rules form part of a pledge by Labour to build 1.5 million homes over the five-year term of the next Parliament should it come to power. This is identical to the 300,000 homes a year target the Conservatives set themselves and have yet to meet.

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Since the new Labour government was elected in early July, one phrase has been circulating more than any – grey belt.

As promised during the election campaign, Labour has hit the ground running with its focus on housing and an overhaul of the planning system – and by introducing ‘grey belt’ hopes to hit its ambitious 1.5m homes target.

However, for any project to succeed, a developer needs to know a proposed scheme will work – and to do this the industry must have clarity on what grey belt land is, says Paul Davis, co-founder of site-finding platform Nimbus.

“We need to understand how grey belt will be defined. Only then, can we identify which sites fall within that definition to establish the viability of the proposals.

Paul said: “Grey belt is a term that has invoked mixed reactions since it was first coined. It involves taking poor quality and neglected spaces within green belt and turning the disused wasteland into communities with vital housing provisions. However, the controversy lies in the fact that at its core, it still involves building on green belt, which covers roughly 13% of England and has historically been protected.

“Currently, the main confusion across the industry are the parameters for grey belt: what will be classified under it, how the planning process will work and how it will differ from current green belt and brownfield regulations. Without these details, it’s just a name.

“Knight Frank has reported that 100,000 to 200,000 new homes could be built on grey belt sites, and others have produced similar findings showing just how valuable this land can be in meeting housing targets. However, knowing the specifics of each of these sites will be the key to unlocking the housing potential there. Through examining our data, we can see not only the plots that could fit the grey belt criteria but also the feasibility of those sites from a planning and financial point of view, so that they can be unlocked as opportunities.

“For example, Cobham in Surrey sits in the London commuter belt and as such is a highly desirable location. Currently, there are 20 sites within the small village that fit grey belt criteria as we understand it, and based on minimum standards each of these plots could yield at least six flats. That’s a minimum of 120 additional dwellings.

“Access to data insights such as these will not only speed up developing on these grey belt areas but will also add some much-needed clarity to the potential that grey belt offers. Equally, other information will give insight into historical uses or planning information to further inform the bigger picture. The government, developers and the rest of the supply chain need to work in partnership to gather these insights and deliver housing targets – it’s not enough to work in isolation anymore if we want to collectively make change.”

“Grey belt is not without its challenges and critics, but the data doesn’t lie. If housing is our top priority as an industry and for the government, this seems like a very viable route. It holds the promise of new homes and revitalised communities but also poses questions about environmental standards and economic viability – and, if Labour is to reach its targets, likely, the green belt itself will have to be reimagined.

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“Labour’s housebuilding targets and planning reforms are welcomed, but pace, along with funding or incentives, will be needed to encourage SME developers to build on grey belt.”

These insights come from Richard Nowell, Senior Relationship Director at Secure Trust Bank Real Estate Finance, a leading provider of finance for property development and investment. He hails the government’s ambitions as positive but believes one of the five ‘golden rules’ for developing on grey belt land may lock SME housebuilders out of being able to regenerate these sites.

The grey belt refers to brownfield sites such as disused car parks and wasteland within parts of protected green belt land. Specifically, Richard says the aim to ensure 50% of the homes built on grey belt land are affordable housing will make it extremely difficult for local and regional developers to justify developing on these plots.

Richard said: “If I were to sum up the events since Labour won the election in three words, those would be ambitious, pace, and delivery. The reinstatement of housebuilding targets and intent to reform planning is ambitious from Rachel Reeves, and we now need pace from the Chancellor and our new Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner, to deliver on these plans.

“One of the key challenges I see is enabling small-to-medium sized housebuilders to rejuvenate these sites which include old car parks and petrol stations on the borders of our countryside. The costs of development are already sky high, and to effectively demolish existing structures for redevelopment will be another significant outlay that impacts the viability of a scheme. To then have 50% of the properties as affordable housing will further impact the feasibility and profitability for small to medium sized housebuilders, which may ultimately restrict grey belt development solely to larger or national developers.”

To overcome this, Richard believes funding and support are required from the government to subsidise construction costs for SME developers. He suggests that Labour’s ‘Freedom to Buy’ scheme, which sees the government act as a guarantor, needs to get off the ground as soon as possible to keep the property market moving.

“Funding and support will, I suspect, be required. This is especially the case for smaller enterprises which have lost substantial time and money from not being able to get their projects off the ground because of ever-trickier planning processes. Meanwhile, more people must be able to realise that dream of being homeowners so that the market stays buoyant. For that to happen, first time buyers also need help. The Freedom to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme is a great initiative, and we trust that details will soon be coming out soon about how this will be implemented.

“At Secure Trust Bank Real Estate Finance, we have years of experience working on grey belt schemes. One recent scheme saw us provide a £2m property development loan to Larkvale Homes, which turned an old, disused petrol station into a development that now houses nine luxury homes in the village of Cockfield in Suffolk. As property finance specialists, we stand ready to support developers with their real estate projects, and this wider movement from the government.”

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