The UK’s large housing associations are in the ‘best position’ to save the thousands of SME builders who say they are concerned about land shortages and restrictions on planning.
That’s according to Gerraint Oakley, Executive Director of Growth and Development at Platform Housing, who says the financial stability of housing associations means they can help provide the pipeline guarantees to stop builders going out of business.
This comes after the Federation of Master Builders reported that the majority of their members reported strong concerns about shortage of land, materials and skills shortages and constraints from planning regulations.
“The key to success is for us to work collaboratively because we have a pipeline. We want to build 2,000 homes a year and 12,000 by 2026.
“Competition for land combined with the other issues the building sector faces right now means it’s hard for SME’s to compete in bidding for land, winning that bid and being able to afford to wait for planning to be granted, building to start and finally seeing return on the investment.
“I think allowing large entities like Platform, who have the financial capability to win those land bids, to take the lead and then be there to complete the build part makes sense.”
Platform recently received the maximum grant funding from Homes England when they were announced as a strategic partner and part of that agreement involves local, SME’s being part of the development process.
They followed that up with a successful sustainability bond issue, raising another £250m for the greener builds that are part of their long term strategy.
“Sourcing through the local supply chains by working with local SME’s will go a long way towards achieving our sustainability goals.”
Author: Mark