Planning reforms alone won’t guarantee the government will meet its house building targets.

That’s the message from Propertymark, which has issued a new position paper about the UK’s housing shortage. 

The agents’ trade body says that while planning reform is frequently cited as the primary solution to the shortage, it hasn’t historically worked.

Instead, Propertymark points out that even before current planning reforms, hundreds of thousands of homes were approved – but never actually built.

The position paper finds that despite improvements in the speed of planning approvals, the gap between permissions granted and homes actually built continues to widen. 

In some years, less than half of approved developments progressed to construction, underlining that planning alone is not the principal constraint on housing delivery.

Propertymark says three other critical issues must be addressed: 

• The small and reducing number of council houses;
• The failure of developers to deliver approved developments; and
• Severe skills shortages and low productivity in the construction industry.

The government is also warned against an over-reliance on large-scale developments, as they take longer to build.

They also often exclude small and medium-sized developers which could deliver homes more quickly on smaller sites.

Propertymark is calling on governments across the UK to adopt a more balanced approach.

This should support local authority-led development, incentivise smaller builders, address construction skills shortages, and ensures infrastructure is delivered alongside new homes.

Propertymark warns that without action across these areas, the UK will continue to fall short of its housing targets, regardless of how streamlined the planning system becomes.

The position paper can be read in full, here: Meeting UK house demand, moving beyond the planning system | Propertymark 

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