Berkeley warns over-regulation a drag on planning reform gains

House builder joins calls for urgent Gateway 2 building safety regulator reform  

House builder Berkeley has warned that building safety regulatory changes are placing significant pressure on the delivery of new homes and threaten to overshadow the upside benefits of recent Government planning reforms.

In a trading statement this morning, the firm said it had seen a modest improvement in demand. But it highlighted that for this to continue and sales rates to return closer to the levels of three years ago, there needed to be greater confidence in the trajectory of interest rate reductions and wider economic stability.

The house builder said it welcomed long overdue reforms to planning but warned that the gains risked being undermined by creeping regulatory reform around building safety.

“We remain hugely encouraged by the change in mind-set over planning, brought about by the Government’s planning reforms and housing delivery ambitions which we fully support,” said the developer.

Berkeley said this had help it to make good progress, securing important amendments on 10 of its long-term regeneration sites.

“We are now working with our local authority partners to finalise the Section 106 agreements and clear conditions on a number of these so they can be implemented. We are also actively appraising a number of opportunities in the land market.

“Nonetheless, Berkeley remains concerned by the impact of the extent and pace of regulatory changes of recent years, as we now await details of the new Building Safety Levy.

“Taken together, these incremental changes place significant pressure on the delivery of new homes. 

“We are also working hard in preparing the Building Safety cases required under the pre-start on site Gateway 2 approval process implemented by the new Building Safety Regulator.

“Alongside the rest of the industry, including the G15 group of Housing Associations, we believe a review of this process is necessary to ensure it meets its objectives without incurring further delays to delivery, and thereby supports the Government’s housing ambitions.”

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