UK to cut planning hurdles for small builders in housing push
The government is likely to fall about 25% short of the 300,000 homes it needs this year to meet its five-year target
[LONDON] The UK government said it would cut back planning hurdles faced by smaller housebuilders, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer seeks to deliver on his target of building 1.5 million new homes.
Minor developments of as many as nine homes will face simpler planning requirements and faster decision-making, while sites of between ten and 49 homes will also face lower costs, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said on Tuesday (May 27).
The announcement comes after Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner conceded that the 1.5 million target was “stretching”, as the real estate industry questions whether the government can meaningfully stimulate development without additional investment, incentives, deregulation and planning reform.
Since Labour came to power in July, UK building activity has contracted at the sharpest pace since the coronavirus pandemic, driven by factors including higher interest rates and a shortage of planning resources.
“We are taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost-effective,” Rayner said. The government wants to “fix the housing crisis we have inherited”, she said.
The government is likely to fall about 25 per cent short of the 300,000 homes it needs this year to meet its five-year target, Bloomberg News reported in March.
Meanwhile, some 92 per cent of councillors say the UK’s housing shortage remains a crisis or has worsened in 2025, according to a survey of over 200 local authorities published this month by communications firm SEC Newgate.
As part of its reforms for small builders, the government said it would offer £100 million (S$174 million) in “accelerator” loans, £10 million for councils to fund more specialists to speed up environmental assessments, and a £1.2 million innovation fund to improve delivery on small sites. BLOOMBERG
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