HBF chief executive Stewart Baseley has taken the unprecedented step of writing to the prime minister to express grave concern that the government’s housebuilding targets are being rendered unachievable as a consequence of the growing regulatory burden on the industry, which is killing off the viability of vast swathes of potential development land. <br><br>The move highlights the growing mood of frustration in the industry as ministers continue to heap new regulations and requirements onto developers, all of which comes at a significant cost, in the face of clear signs that the market is deteriorating. In the past few weeks, industry has been told by government that lifetime homes standards, which require major changes to floorplans and dwelling structures, are set to become mandatory for all new homes (see feature on pages 40 to 41) – an announcement that came without warning. <br><br>In addition, all new homes are now to be assessed under the code for sustainable homes from May, a move which will increase the cost and time burden on construction programmes. On top of this, the forthcoming community infrastructure levy (CIL) looks set to make further claims on housebuilders’ balance sheets, alongside their already significant affordable housing contributions, which …