SMEs blocked by soaring costs and planning delays - HBF

A new report from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and Quantum Development Finance, using analysis from planning consultant Lichfields, reveals that small- and medium-sized (SME) home builders face mounting barriers, stalling delivery on smaller sites and intensifying the country’s housing shortage.

The report, Planning for Small Sites, finds that in 2024 just 17,000 homes were approved on small sites of three to nine units, down from an average of 35,000, with the proportion of total planning permissions granted on sites of 150 units or fewer plummeting from nearly 20% in 2008 to 6-8% today.

It finds that planning delays, rising costs and increasing regulatory complexity are combining to make many smaller schemes unviable despite their importance for fast, locally-supported housing delivery.

Timescales facing planning applications for small sites are “unreasonable and unmanageable”, with 94% of applications missing the statutory determination deadline. The report shows that it takes on average 30 weeks from application to committee decision and a further 21 weeks to secure formal permission. Applications decided at committee take 53 weeks on average, 10 weeks longer than delegated decisions. 13% of sites took more than two years to secure permission and five schemes took more …