The UK government has announced a series of reforms aimed at accelerating the construction of thousands of homes, particularly on smaller sites, to benefit small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) builders.
These changes are designed to streamline complex planning rules, ease regulatory burdens, and provide financial support to increase the market share of domestic SME builders, which has declined since the 1980s.
The proposed reforms include expedited planning decisions for minor developments of up to nine homes, a new ‘medium site’ category for ten to 49 homes with simpler rules and fewer costs, and more land and financing options for SMEs.
Housing regeneration agency Homes England will release more of its land exclusively to SMEs, and a new National Housing Delivery Fund will support long-term finance options, with full details to be confirmed at the government’s spending review.
A new pilot, the Small Sites Aggregator, will bring together small brownfield sites for development, with the support of regional authorities in Bristol, Sheffield, and the London Borough of Lewisham.
This initiative aims to address the country’s housing shortage and create local jobs, building on a model developed by Lloyds Banking Group’s Social Housing Initiative.
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By GlobalDataUK Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said: “Smaller house builders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder.
“Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost-effective, so smaller house builders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.”
The modernisation of planning committees will also allow elected councillors to focus on significant proposals and larger developments while expert-trained planners make faster decisions on projects.
This is expected to both accelerate homebuilding and save council planning departments time and money, the government stated.
Additional support for local builders includes £100m ($135.3m) in SME Accelerator Loans, which are intended to facilitate the expansion and investment of smaller companies, utilising a portion of the £700m expansion to the Home Building Fund that was disclosed in December 2024.
Moreover, £10m for councils to fund environmental assessment specialists and a £1.2m PropTech Innovation Fund to support innovation in small site delivery have been announced.
These efforts are said to be part of the government’s Plan for Change aim of building 1.5 million homes, specifically aimed at increasing homeownership for working families and young people.
The government’s planning overhaul aims to drive homebuilding to its highest level in over 40 years and add £6.8bn to the economy by 2030.
