Why SME builders matter – and how manufacturers can support them. Jenny Smith-Andrews of aircrete manufacturer H+H gives a view on support for the smaller players in the housebuilding sector.

Our aircrete blocks are a staple of UK housebuilding. We supply the major housebuilders but we also support regional and smaller businesses. This gives us a good perspective across the working habits of different housebuilding enterprises – there are some stark differences.

The volume housebuilders are just that: Volume. This gives them huge power in the market but, strangely, their success also seems to entrench working practices that build in risk for the industry as a whole.We can see for example, that it’s typically the smaller companies that invest in building skills for the future. According to the Federation of Master Builders, SME enterprises train 8 out of 10 construction apprentices.

Innovation and the SME

In our experience, it also tends to be the SMEs who are more likely to try new methods, prepared to investigate innovations that change the very traditional ways that homes are currently built.

Although at first sight H+H is rooted in traditional building, we have repeatedly introduced innovative methods that could transform the speed and efficiency with which new homes are constructed. Typically it has been the smaller companies who are prepared to work with our technical teams and our on-site training support to investigate how these innovations could be employed.

Our most recent introduction is the Vertical Wall Panel. It’s still aircrete, with all the performance advantages that we advocate, but in storey-high panel form. Used with pre-fabricated floors and roof structures, these panels allow for the structural shell of a house to be completed on site in less than one week.

We saw this innovation as being perfect for the volume housebuilder – able to build standard house designs quickly. We thought it would be particularly appealing for their Section 106 homes, where speed of build is not driven by off-plan private purchases.

While we are making inroads into the volume housebuilders with this product, we have found the smaller housebuilders to be more immediately receptive to the concept of changing their construction model.

A volume solution working for a regional builder

An example of this is Karm Homes, a regional housebuilder typically completing around 15 units per year. Director, Martin Keenes is always looking for ways to build more efficiently and cost-effectively and was impressed by the degree of prefabrication provided by the VWPs. He has recently used them in a project of just two chalet-style homes on a small site in Dorset.

For this site, the panels were supplied as part of a complete i-House system through Roofspace Solutions. In this model, the entire fabric package, including walls floors and roof structure is provided and assembled on site. It’s super-fast and takes a lot of the risk away from the developer, who can concentrate on the internal design and external façade of the structure.

Martin Keenes, Director of Karm. Homes, says his team enjoys building with the Vertical Wall Panels, and feels it is an ideal system for smaller housebuilders developing niche sites. Where they can, they ensure the floorplate of each home is designed around the 600mm width of the Vertical Wall Panels, which allows them to reduce cuts, wastage, and time.

“We have looked at other MMC systems, such as SIPs, but found them to be more expensive than this masonry solution, plus the increased fire risk and insurance premiums associated with a timber build.

“We use local architects to design our houses. When we suggest H+H Vertical Wall Panels to them, they’re sometimes unaware of the option. However, once they’ve seen the system in action, they’re completely converted. We can’t understand why more companies are not using this solution.”

In our experience this is not an atypical reaction, and very welcome. Any manufacturer will need receptive customers to support the introduction of technical innovations. It’s partly about testing the model and partly about ensuring that production volume can grow in line with demand. It’s down to us to support the innovative customers prepared to try new ideas.

Support where it’s needed

In our case this support is about providing technical expertise. On-site training of operatives is a no-brainer, while helping customers with challenging regulatory changes is also important. For example, meeting the thermal performance standards of the current Approved Document L and the imminent Future Homes Standard.

For these standards, the thermal performance of external walls is a fundamental requirement, but the way such performance is measured and evaluated changes, requiring complex calculations to demonstrate that the chosen design meets the standard. An issue in this regard is the calculation of thermal linear bridging, typically characterised by heat loss at junctions.

Our response to this challenge is to produce literally hundreds of heat loss calculations to cover a comprehensive range of design and material choices. These calculations are available for free download from our website.

In the same vein we provide standard robust details to help with calculations of acoustic performance (relating to part E) and our Environmental Product Declarations now give embodied carbon calculations to help builders provide the whole life carbon figures increasingly required by clients.

The biggest housebuilders have theresources and the in-house teams to cover much of this work, but we see the value in a more diverse industry and are happy to work with the smaller developers, providing technical support where necessary.

Government support for SMEs

It is from this position that we welcomed the recent Government announcements around more support for smaller housebuilders. Streamlining of planning, exemptions from Building Safety Act levy and biodiversity net gain requirements, alongside measures to help with access to funding and credit are all welcome. However, the smaller developers will need more than this – and genuine collaboration with manufacturers is one step that could make a material difference.

For more on H+H visit www.rdr.link/dbf035

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Award-winning SME housebuilder calls for fast implementation of reforms

Sophie Horgan, director of Midland-based Horgan Homes, gave a cautious welcome to June’s planning and building announcements – but says the Government’s track record means timing might be an issue.

“These proposals are a welcome step in the right direction. But when you look at the devastating decline in small, regional builders – from 12,000 in the late 1980s to fewer than 2,500 today – the Government needs to move faster than the current planning system does! “The true test will be in the delivery. We need more than good intentions – we need a fundamental shift in how local and national government approach housebuilding, with SMEs recognised as essential partners in solving the housing crisis”

For more information go to www.rdr.link/dbe006

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The Government has announced a package of proposals to directly help small and medium sized builders (SMEs) and they include a ‘Medium’ sized site definition to enable more proportionate planning requirements, streamlined planning for ‘Minor’ sized sites and more targeted support for access to land and finance.

Richard Beresford, Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “This is a huge win for the NFB. I am immensely proud of our housebuilding members and staff for never giving up on their campaign for a ‘Medium’ sized site definition of between ten and 49 homes.”

To read the full article visit www.rdr.link/dbe010

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Navigating planning reforms: Insights from Krishna Mistry, Head of Planning at Newett Homes

December 2024 was a busy month in the planning industry, badged as Planning Reform month. Following the publication of the revised NPPF in December 2024, we quickly saw several ministerial announcements and reform papers emerging. It was encouraging to see the

Government bolster its commitment in placing housing at the top of their agenda to address the housing crisis and kick start growth in the economy.

As a regional SME housebuilder operating in Yorkshire, we’ve established a presence in the local housing market, focusing on residential development and actively contributing to the area’s housing supply. We engage with local planning authorities and communities as a core part of our development process and welcome these changes, which promise more transparent and efficient planning.

The Government’s introduction of a standard methodology for calculating housing need across the country is a significant step forward. This approach removes lengthy debates, protracted timescales and costly consultant fees in a bid to challenge housing numbers. As an SME, we haven’t had the spending power to challenge housing numbers given the burdensome costs and timescales compared to volume housebuilders with perhaps a deeper pocket.

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill was published on 10 March, setting out the return of strategic planning. Many will remember this structure in the form of Regional Assemblies and Regional Spatial Strategies (15-20 years ago). Bringing back strategic planning focuses on cross boundary collaboration, joining the dots on matters such as infrastructure planning, the distribution of housing and nature recovery. It’s an exciting time to see Planning and Infrastructure growth taking centre stage and breaking down barriers between local authorities – after all development shouldn’t just stop at local authority boundaries, particularly given the level of housing growth envisaged across our region, and on edge of settlements.

Regionally, we saw local mayors sign the White Rose Agreement, with the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin and Mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard – it feels like we’re finally on the cusp of collaborative delivery through devolution, and really delivering on the Northern Powerhouse engine, and creating connections regionally! As an SME housebuilder, we can see opportunities to benefit from increased demand for housing and development projects driven by this economic growth.

The Bill seeks to streamline planning decisions through a national scheme of delegation, setting out that only the most important schemes go to committee, and the requirement for Members to undertake mandatory certified training.

Most recently we have seen a reserved matters applications overturned by Members, despite collaboratively working with Officers to agree a policy compliant, suitable scheme. We are now left with progressing an appeal, incurring delays, further costs and impacts on our delivery programme. We look forward to further details on how modernising committees will support our ambitious growth plans, within an arena where we have seen the collapse of SME’s in the industry. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill has also set out the ability to empower Local Planning Authorities to vary or set planning application fees, and ringfencing them to planning departments to help resource LPAs. This is a first (ringfencing), and whilst it comes at higher cost to us – these are promising changes which will directly enhance the efficiency and quality of the local planning process we will experience.

We have seen confidence in the recruitment market with local planning authorities attracting new talent and planning departments slowly beginning to fill seats. We’re also seeing the Government actively use its intervention powers, where Members in South Tyneside on two occasions, voted against the submission of the local plan for examination. It sends a powerful message to the industry that the

Government means business in delivering growth. We’re pleased to see the Governments acknowledgement within national policy that SME’s can make an important contribution to meeting the housing requirement and are often built out relatively quickly.

Despite these positive changes, we continue to face several challenges, around the growing cost of delivering new homes, the forthcoming Building Safety Levy, recent changes to flood risk mapping and delays in the planning process – which continue to push us back. The HBF report – State of Play:

Challenges and Opportunities facing SME home builders, highlights that over half of SME house builders reported waiting over a year to obtain planning permission. This is certainly our experience.

However, the speed of planning reform is encouraging, the second reading of the Infrastructure Bill took place on 25 March 2025 – and the real test lies with making these changes in good time to be effectively before the end of the Government’s current term. As we navigate these reforms, we remain optimistic about a faster, more efficient planning system. However, we must ensure that the construction industry and market can keep pace with these changes. More needs to be done to ensure we have a skilled workforce ready to build new homes.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

Visit Newett Homes to learn more about their developments at www.rdr.link/dbc022

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Turnaround in Confidence Amongst Construction Firms as 30% Secure Funding for Growth and Development, Q2 2024

July 2024: More builders and SME construction firms applied for finance to support growth and development in Quarter 2 2024 than at any other time in the past 18 months, according to the latest analysis by Purbeck Insurance Services – the UK’s only provider of personal guarantee insurance for small business loans.

30% of business owners in building and construction securing personal guarantee backed loans in Q2 were doing so for investment in growth initiatives and development, while loans secured for ‘Working Capital’ fell to 34% from 54% in Q1 2024.  Although ‘Working Capital’ is still the main reason for securing finance and applying for Personal Guarantee Insurance, there has been a steady drop in construction firms needing finance for this reason since Q3 2021, based on Purbeck’s analysis.

This represents a big turnaround for the sector – two years ago in Q2 2022, just 16% of loans were for growth and development and over half (53%) were for working capital to keep the business going.

Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Insurance Services said: “As the Government pledges to build 1.5mn homes in England over the next five years to “get Britain building again”, our data suggests renewed confidence amongst businesses in the sector, despite major challenges around skills availability. With fresh Government impetus, it will be interesting to see if the demand for finance to support growth and development continues on an upward trajectory.  We must not forget that the owners of these businesses are signing a personal guarantee to secure the funding they need. Our analysis shows how Personal Guarantee Insurance is providing many with the confidence to take that vital step.”

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SME housing developers who are struggling to navigate the complexities of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS) legislation need look no further than BioScapes

You might think that soil and the grass that grows through it are basic commodities but we’ve always pushed the boundaries of performance and innovation,” enthuses Terry Smithson, Head of Nature Based Solutions at BioScapes – part of the Rolawn Group. “At the same time we want to deliver easily adoptable and very practical solutions for our housebuilder clients.” It’s an attitude which positions the ecology and horticultural specialists as the perfect partner in a new and often unfamiliar legislative landscape.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) as a concept has been a long time coming but that doesn’t mean that the confusion around compliance has abated, especially amongst smaller developers. In January of 2024, legislation was introduced to compel housebuilders who were constructing 10 or more units to make a 10 per cent improvement in BNG, with some local authorities asking for as much as 20 per cent. In April 2024, that requirement was extended to smaller new build schemes of one house and upwards. In effect, there are now very few exemptions.

So, how does that translate on the ground? Essentially, planning permission will be dependent on an assessment of the level of biodiversity on the land, both prior and post development. This can be achieved on the actual site of the new property, or it can be achieved off-site, whilst there’s a third option of purchasing statutory biodiversity credits.

For a smaller developer, who is invariably focused on a quality build rather than quantity, there are obvious benefits to the on-site approach, not least providing the homeowner with an aesthetically appealing installation through which they can enjoy the acknowledged well-being benefits that engaging with nature brings.

Attractive and creative biodiversity installations will equally offer the added selling point of diversifying a property from the competition.

Sustainable Urban Drainage (SuDS)
It’s not just BNG that needs to be taken into account either, because developments with more than one dwelling must now demonstrate that they are implementing Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). The rationale for their implementation including climate change, more frequent extreme weather events, with consequent water run-off and flooding – is well known, but it again begs the question what does it mean in practice?

“As a starting point, the four SuDS pillars are water attenuation, as well as the cleaning of water run-off from impermeable surfaces,” continues Terry. “It also needs to include amenity benefits, and promote biodiversity, with that final point feeding directly back into the BNG legislation.

“Whilst volume housebuilders are prepared for the new BNG and SuDS regimes it’s fair to say that there’s a distinct lack of awareness amongst SME developers,” Terry adds. “Even if they are mindful of what’s required, there’s still a knowledge gap of what solutions they need and where to source them.” Indeed, there has already been criticism from the National Audit Office and the FMB which has cited additional costs and a lack of preparedness on the part of some local authorities.

The message from BioScapes, however, is that it doesn’t have to be a complex or onerous process – and the company has the product range, and expertise, to prove it. “Our units are all-in one solutions that come together to address SuDS management and biodiversity requirements. They look good, promote wellbeing, can be comfortably introduced into relatively small spaces, and are easy to maintain.”

There’s a whole range of BioScapes products that will help housebuilders conform to BNG regulations and the same principles remain consistent throughout.

The most compact on offer is the WildPod Mini®, which brings together ten interconnected habitats in a 35 x 56 x 60cm wooden unit, with the addition of a unique rainwater catcher. Delivered in flat pack form, it’s easy to assemble and position, only requiring the addition of up to 80litres of topsoil and compost, 10litres of clay for the reservoir habitat, and 6litres of deadwood habitat materials. Once in place, you can watch the wildlife colonise a protected ecosystem where species will interact as they would naturally.

At the other end of the scale, the patented BioCube® can be as large as 4m2, is made from recycled steel and plastic, with a modular assembly that again makes for an easy build. This solution has a much longer lifespan and flexibility in terms of what can be added.

Habitats come together in a layered construction which will include a main planting area, zones to attract bee and butterflies, wet habitats and much more.

Between these two is the mid-sized NatureArk®, which is supplied with the habitat materials required, which means only plants need to be added.

“We want our BNG focused products to be plug and play,” continues Terry, “where it’s simply a matter of assembling the box and adding soil and plants. The same ethos is evident with our SuDS and BNG Unit, which is simply attached to the property’s downpipe and is sufficiently compact to be added to any individual home. Moreover, in addition to the products themselves, we can provide support and guidance to smaller developers in particular on exactly what they’ll need.”

“Aside from the regulatory requirements, there’s a real benefit here for the housebuilder,” concludes Terry. “Not only are you making a statement about your green credentials, you’re also welcoming them to their new home with outdoor features that will enhance the build quality.”

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