Building homes in a changing business environment
A report published by the Home Builders Federation (HBF), ‘Building Homes in a Changing Business Environment’, has identified 12 new taxes, levies and regulations estimated to cost the home building industry ￡4.5billion per year.
The forecasted charges would add more than ￡20,000 to the estimated cost of building a new home in England, therefore posing a serious challenge to industry’s ability to deliver against Government’s housing aspirations.
The country’s housing supply has doubled in the last 9 years, as home builders have responded to positive policy changes aimed at reversing several decades of undersupply and addressing the housing affordability crisis. Despite a broadly positive business environment over this period, many smaller builders continue to struggle, and industry-wide challenges are increasingly exacerbated by isolated intervention from Government agencies.
While the industry is supportive of the need to adapt to new social, economic and environmental circumstances, serious consideration must be given to the cumulative financial burden these changes present to builders and the resulting impact on their ability to deliver against ambitious targets.
Of the new charges, two are new industry-specific taxes. One will be used to fund more than ï¿¡11million of remediation works on buildings developed by foreign organisations, public bodies or untraceable companies. The other to support new regulations under the Future Homes Standard set to come into force in 2025, which will necessitate changes to heating systems in new homes and electric vehicle charging points among other things. Added to these are a slew of new taxes unofficially imposed by Natural England.
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As the voice of the home building industry, HBF is calling on Government to carefully consider the impact of the report’s findings. In particular, it is calling for a review of the free reign afforded to Natural England to impose restrictions on the industry due to nutrient pollution, despite it being principally caused by agricultural runoff. The disproportionate sanctions on developers have resulted in delays to housing developments across a third of England, blocking much-needed homes from being built and limiting the social and economic benefits development brings.
HBF is also urging government to address the impact of hitting the sector with a second industry-specific tax to cover remediation works of buildings constructed by other actors. The ï¿¡3bn Building Safety Levy Despite follows the introduction of the Building Safety Pledge, which is estimated to be worth more than ï¿¡2bn, and the 4% Corporation Tax surcharge on UK home builders which took effect in April 2022.
The full report is available on the Home Builders Federation website.
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2 年Perhaps there is a need for what you call ‘red tape’ given that thousands of flat owners are unable to sell their homes with many of those living outside London facing bills of up to ￡10.000 because some of your members have failed to agree to fix building safety defects for which they are responsible.? The building industry must be held to account and you should be encouraging all of your members to do the right thing.