One of my New Years Resolutions is to share some of the excellent content covered at our events with you – and where better to start than the Housing & Build to Rent Conference which took place virtually on the 13th January 2021.

A whole hole of industry names were both speaking and in attending – Greystar, Transport for London Property, Grainger, Taylor Wimpey, Berkeley Group, Homes England, Abri, Springfield Properties, Network Homes…etc.

Here are some of my key outputs from the event:

  1. The Government’s Planning reform is an important change to outdated legislation and needs to streamline the planning system allowing for a more efficient and ultimately quicker planning process.
  2. Collaboration in the property sector was one of the reasons why the sector continued to operate successfully in 2020 and remains the cornerstone to success in 2021. The lack of funding available in the public sector also presents further opportunities for joint ventures, partnering and a closer working relationship moving forward.
  3. BtR and PRS continues to grow with the market developing at all levels. Mid level and lower budget development schemes are now providing different options to the customer. Internal designs have been largely unaffected by Covid 19 but the service levels have changed to reflect the life style changes that are being made.
  4. Affordable Housing remains a significant challenge for the sector whether it be affordable hosing for sale or for rent. Section 106 and CIL as funding sources are not effective when applied in isolation and the viability of these homes is nearly always a challenge. The appropriate % of affordable homes differs significantly between the North and South despite the fact that the North requires a greater %. Action is required in order to apply the Government’s ‘levelling up’ strategy in this area to ensure that sufficient numbers are completed in the NE and NW.
  5. The pandemic and lockdown experience has changed significantly what new home customers are looking for and the provision of a study / spare room option is now very popular in addition to a greater desire for garden space.
  6. Building zero carbon homes at scale is very much on the agenda for the national house builders who are already looking at the zero carbon options and also the necessary design changes when the move away from gas boilers becomes policy in 2025. Biodiversity net gain is also a priority.
  7. The Housing crisis as an expression is losing it’s appeal; its been a crisis for too long and therefore is no longer a valid way of describing the state of the sector. The Government needs to address this in order to re-energise the sector and provoke appropriate change.
  8. The major challenges faced in terms of housing delivery in the UK are:
  • Availability of Land
  • Planning
  • Funding
  • Build costs
  • Supply chain capability

Another great event and hopefully we’ll see you at the next Housing & Build to Rent Conference: https://www.built-environment-networking.com/event/housing-build-to-rent-conference/