The Homes and Communities Agency‘s announcement of its new delivery partner panel to build homes on publicly-owned land has caused controversy in the industry. The panel, a mix of housebuilders and contractors, has been chosen from applications received from firms keen to be on the list of preferred developers for the government’s public land initiative. In this, the HCA, and other public bodies that so choose, will contribute land to projects but only charge developers for it when homes have been built and sold. Thus the land cost moves from the start to the end, reducing developers’ risk. But some well known housebuilders – notably Bellway and Redrow – are not included on the list. <br> <br> The managing director of one housebuilder expressed disappointment. “We are not very happy about the whole thing. We are a contractor/ developer you would recognise as experienced in this area. I am bemused by it and have asked for a debrief. “How come there are so few firms there with development experience? I can’t build schools and hospitals like Laing O’Rourke and Skanska can, but can they build what I build?” However the HCA says the selection process was robust and the criteria …