<p>Land supply shortages, planning delays and policy uncertainty are the top barriers to delivery for housebuilders, according to research from Knight Frank, with more than 50% of respondents expressing concerns over land supply.</p> <p><span>The global property consultancy surveyed almost 50 volume and SME housebuilders based in England as part of its Residential Development Land index for Q1 2021. Its research showed that more than 50% of respondents said residential land supply was “limited”. Only 2% of respondents thought land was “abundant”.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>Knight Frank said limited residential land supply was “creating fierce competition among UK housebuilders”.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>For </span><span>Q1</span><b>,</b><span> a third of housebuilders surveyed cited “planning delays” as a challenging issue during the period and 21% pointed to “availability of land”. Only 7% said the UK’s medium-to-long-term economic outlook had been a concern.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>Looking to the next three months, 21% selected “availability of land” as the most pressing issue, with 18% choosing “planning reforms and policy uncertainty” and 15% “supply chain delays”.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>According to Knight Frank’s survey, 19% of larger housebuilders saw the new Help to Buy as another key focus for Q2, alongside availability of land and planning reform.</span></p><p></p> <p><span>Knight Frank said that land supply shortages were leading to an expectation …