Four fifths of voters could be willing to support housebuilding

Expert suggests housebuilding sector must acknowledge need for new approach to development, offering more governmental clarity in defining standards and expectations

The government has received a boost in its plans to build 1.5m new homes during the current parliament.

YouGov polling of 12,000 people commissioned by the think-tank Labour Together suggests that only a hard core of 15-20% of British voters would “almost never” support housebuilding near to their homes, with the remainder willing to do so if certain conditions are met.

The findings come as the Home Builders Federation’s (HBF) latest Housing Pipeline Report show that the number of units and sites gaining planning approval continues to fall.

The HBF data found that the 12 months to June saw the fewest new home permissions granted for over a decade. Furthermore, the last time 300,000 homes were built in a single year was under Harold Wilson’s Labour government in 1969-70. 

Jack Shaw, a Senior Adviser at Labour Together remained bullish. He said: “Although the voices against housebuilding are vocal, our analysis is clear – only a small proportion of voters are wholly hostile to housebuilding.

“While specific details of local housebuilding projects will be contested, principled support for housebuilding should give the government confidence to pursue a laser-like focus on building 1.5m homes over the parliament.”

Reaction has been mixed, however. Under Labour’s plan, North Yorkshire will have to build 4,232 houses a year, an increase of more than 200% compared with the old methodology.

Carl Les, Leader of the Conservative Council said: “We are not anti-growth, we need housing in North Yorkshire, especially affordable housing, but these targets have to be fair. We’ve been given the largest increase in the total number of houses in the country and we’re not sure why.

“Sometimes the Nimby [‘not in my back yard’] argument is valid because it’s about infrastructure, we need to have the doctor’s surgery, the school, the roads that take the traffic away from the centre. Also, there isn’t the capacity – there aren’t enough plumbers, carpenters etc in rural areas.

“Another issue for us locally is second homes – if we were to build a new settlement of nice, modern houses out on the coast, a lot would be bought up for second homes and holiday lets.” 

“The sector must acknowledge the necessity of adopting a new approach to development over the current project-based models.”

Aaron Robertson, Research Lead for Housebuilding Innovations in Volume, Environment and Efficiency (HIVEE) at the University of Salford, called for greater clarity from the government.

“The YouGov poll shows public recognition of the need for more housing development, but they may not yet have trust in the current delivery methods.

“Research from HIVEE shows that governmental guidance, standards and appropriate conceptualisation of production from the sector are insufficient.” 

Robertson added, “The sector must acknowledge the necessity of adopting a new approach to development over the current project-based models. This will require greater governmental clarity in defining standards, technology requirements and the knowledge needed to support long-term production planning.

“The government and housebuilders need to reach consensus on these standards and expectations urgently. To build 1.5 million homes in five years is an ambitious target and scaling the sector to the necessary capacity will require significant time.”