Pocket Living launches plea to “save SMEs”

Pocket Living has launched a campaign, backed by large housebuilders, to save SMEs “from oblivion”.

Pocket Living’s Get SMEs Building Again report states ten policy recommendations to kickstart the dwindling SME housebuilder sector and support the government’s target of building 1.5 million homes, including creating up to 25 new bespoke Homes England “SME managers.”

These managers, SME Pocket Living explained, would provide dedicated support to SMEs, “acting as a single point of contact… ensuring clarity and efficiency in the funding process, working together to find solutions with a new Homes England tool kit”.

In another step to “empowering” Homes England, the London-based affordable homes developer calls for a metric within Homes England’s annual performance review which would require at least 15% of homes to be delivered by SMEs.

The campaign is in response to the new Labour government’s “Getting Britain Building Again” challenge and is supported by other SMES, major housebuilders and other organisations, including Barratt Developments, Berkeley Group, Churchill Living, Peabody, Allison Homes, Fairview New Homes, Woodstock Homes and LEXI Finance.

In its recommendations, Pocket Living says a small sites planning policy should be introduced through “minor tweaks” to paragraph 70 of the National Planning Policy …