Industry calls for ministers to recognise success

Housebuilders will today call on ministers to recognise the achievements of the industry in delivering the government’s housing commitments and meeting their challenges.

They will say that the industry is on target to deliver the million homes that the government challenged it to – there were 217,000 net additions in the year to April 2017, the third highest number since the early 1970s and up 74% in the past four years. But housebuilders will highlight the risk of negative rhetoric about new housing supply which they say “provides cover for NIMBYs and energises anti-housebuilder campaigners” while damaging attempts to address the skills shortage.

Customer satisfaction scores released today will also show that build quality is improving at the same time that output increases, including a 2% increase (86%) in the key “Would you recommend your builder to a friend?” question.

Speaking at the annual HBF Policy conference today, Stewart Baseley, HBF executive chairman, will tell ministers: “Government has quite rightly recognised the social and political need for them to address the chronic housing shortage we face. Housebuilders have risen to the challenge and delivered huge increases in supply, whilst providing increasing contributions to local infrastructure, …