CMA publishes final report on housebuilding market

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has today published its final report on the housebuilding market in Great Britain.

It finds that “the complex and unpredictable planning system, together with the limitations of speculative private development, is responsible for the persistent under delivery of new homes.” The CMA believes that a substantial intervention in the housebuilding market is necessary to address the issues that its market study has identified.

The CMA also says that it has found evidence indicating some housebuilders may be sharing commercially sensitive information with their competitors, which could be influencing the build-out of sites and the prices of new homes. It has therefore launched an investigation under the Competition Act 1998 into Barratt, Bellway, Berkeley, Bloor Homes, Persimmon, Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, and Vistry. The CMA has not reached any conclusions at this stage as to whether or not competition law has been infringed.

The CMA report today highlights key areas of concern:

• Planning Rules: planning takes a protracted amount of time for builders to navigate before construction can start. Many planning departments are under resourced, some do not have up to date local plans, or clear targets or strong incentives to …