Put builders on war footing to reach target of 1.5 million new homes in five years, industry experts say

British housebuilders must go “on a war footing” if the industry is to have any hope of developing the 1.5 million new homes targeted by the Labor Party within five years, according to industry experts. .

Obstacles to reaching the “extremely optimistic” target set by Keir Starmer include staff shortages, high interest rates, bankruptcy of small builders and a lack of materials.

Labor has promised to dismantle the “broken” planning system in the biggest shake-up of the rules in a generation, so that 300,000 homes can be built every year in this Parliament.

Deputy First Minister Angela Rayner has revealed plans to allow more housing to be built on green belt land and impose mandatory targets on councils. But the reform has faced a backlash from activists and local authorities, who said the numbers were not achievable.

And industry experts say planning rules are not the only big challenge.

The UK housebuilding sector has endured a turbulent year as high interest rates deterred buyers. Stocks across the industry have fallen in recent months as hopes for a construction boom fade.

Vistry, owner of Bovis Homes, which issued a third profit warning in three months on Christmas Eve following a major accounting error, is down more than 60 per cent. And luxury developer Octagon raised alarm bells last month when the 45-year-old company filed an administrative notice.

Richard Donnell, head of research at property website Zoopla, said: “When we don’t build enough houses, people are quick to blame the planning system.” That’s not the only thing we have to solve.

Ian Fletcher, chief executive of the British Property Federation, said: ‘I support the Government being ambitious. But I’m also realistic about the challenges. It will take a real estate sector on a war footing to generate those kinds of numbers.

“You need to get things going in terms of the approach the government takes to planning, building skills, materials, tenure – you need to be a champion of private renting, ownership and social renting.”

Paul Rickard, director of London developer Pocket Living, said a decline in the number of small and medium-sized homebuilders would put the target of 1.5 million homes at risk.

‘This sector continues to die. “The government will need a continued and committed approach to save the SME sector,” he said. “If you do all those things, you might have a good chance of reaching 1.5m.”

In 1988, SMEs built 39 percent of new homes, a figure that has fallen to 10 percent. In September, construction firms accounted for 17 per cent of insolvencies in England and Wales, making it the worst affected industry.