'Red tape has stopped people building the homes our area needs,' says mayor Richard Parker as Government announces millions for small builders

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner tonight (TUE) announced a series of measures which she said would allow thousands of homes to be built faster on smaller sites across the country.

Complex planning rules would be streamlined, onerous regulatory burdens eased, and financial support provided to small and mid-sized building firms.

The announcement has been welcomed by Richard :Parker, elected mayor for the West Midlands.

Mrs Rayner said the present system made it far too difficult for smaller builders to 'get spades in the ground', with a small site of 10 homes facing similar planning hurdles to one with 100 or more.

She said smaller firms, which provide local jobs and train eight out of 10 construction apprentices, had seen their market share shrink since the 1980s, when they built 40 per cent of the country’s homes.

She said the changes would change, driving up competition across the sector and making it easier for working families and young people to achieve the dream of home ownership.

“Smaller housebuilders 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," she said.  

“For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field.

“We’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.” 

She said further details will be set out tomorrow for the modernisation of planning committees, which would ensure elected councillors focused on the most significant proposals and larger developments rather than small-scale projects or niche technical details.

Mrs Rayner pledged an extra £10 million funding for council planners, enabling faster decisions.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Local Government and Communities said that once a development had been agreed in principle, there would be no need for technical details to keep going back and forth to committees. This would speed up the process, and save council planning departments time and money.

A £100 million fund will be created to provide loans to smaller developers, while a further £1.2 million would be set aside for a 'PropTech Innovation Fund', to support innovation in developing small building sites, such as through use of new data tools. 

Mr Parker said the announcement would make a considerable difference. 

“In the West Midlands, our local builders play a vital role creating jobs, training the next generation of tradespeople and breathing life into communities," he said.

“These changes are a welcome step towards breaking down the barriers that have held back small housebuilders for too long. Red tape and bureaucracy has stopped people building the homes our region desperately needs."