We can solve the UK’s housing crisis by protecting smaller builders
The backbone of postwar Britain’s vast housebuilding drive, small builders now face extinction as regulatory barriers and policy layering make it ever harder for them to compete, build and survive. Hugo Owen has some solutions
How housebuilders can take a sustainable approach to placemaking
Sustainability in housebuilding encompasses everything from construction to placemaking to future skills requirements. Keepmoat’s John Bowden says housebuilders must integrate all these elements in their projects – with placemaking at the centre
Can Steve Reed save Christmas with his planning reforms?
The fact that measures to standardise planning decisions will be made non-statutory is disappointing, but planning reform can still be a valuable gift, writes Paul Smith
Why it’s so important to change the public perception of new towns
Only large-scale developments can offer enough investment for the major new infrastructure that people want and need, but we must work hard to take those people with us, writes Brian Yates at Stantec
Regeneration of overlooked communities alongside new towns will be vital if UK is to hit homebuilding target
Only by adopting an ambitious, long-term mindset and working in partnership will we manage to build those 1.5 million homes, writes Sir Michael Lyons, chair of the New Towns Taskforce
How to find out what people really think about new homes
Councils should seek the views of a representative sample of the local population, rather than a minority with vested interests, argues Paul Smith
Building safety reform was essential, but there’s lots more work still to do
It was supposed to act as an enabler of safer housing, not an unintended barrier to progress. Here’s how we can make the Building Safety Act work better, says Lee Powell
The government must be brutal in reducing planning burdens to help SME housebuilders deliver
There is no chance of meeting the 1.5 million homes target without smaller firms delivering. This government should be bolder in reforming planning to help them do it, argues Paul Smith
Streamlining gateway 2: time to take a two-tiered approach to building safety approvals?
It cannot have been the intention of the Building Safety Act to create delays to development - it’s time for a fresh approach, argues Bhavini Patel
A year after the general election, what progress are we making towards 1.5 million homes?
Today (Friday) marks a year since Labour won a historic landslide in the general election. Paul Smith assesses how the government has fared against its key housing delivery pledge
