A commitment to building 1.5 million homes during this parliament is a central Labour manifesto promise, and fast-tracking projects on previously-used urban land is a key feature of their approach. Views are currently being sought on proposals for a ‘brownfield passport’, meaning that developments on brownfield land could be given default planning approval.
Ensuring quality in rapid development
Increasing the supply of all tenures of home is vital to addressing the housing crisis, increasing affordability, and ensuring that a safe and secure home is available to everyone. However, a focus on building at speed risks prioritising quantity over quality.
Propertymark stresses the need for high-quality, sustainable homes that meet infrastructure and community needs. We are pleased to see this echoed by the UK Government with the sites chosen in places where people want to live and work, with funding to help to cover the cost of improving infrastructure such as internet, water and power.
To ensure that all new-build homeowners are protected, we urge the UK Government to implement provisions under the Building Safety Act to make membership of the New Homes Ombudsman mandatory for all developers. In August 2024, the Ombudsman reported that only 55% of new builds are, currently covered by its service.
Small-scale urban projects
Some of the projects earmarked to receive funding are 200 homes on a vacant brownfield site in Manchester, the transformation of a former industrial site in Eastbourne, including 80 affordable homes, and a former bus station in Northampton to build 72 new houses.
An additional £30 million will be invested by Homes England to help accelerate the transformation of the Riverside Sunderland area from a former industrial heartland into a thriving new place. The project aims to create around 1,000 new homes, new community infrastructure, and office space for up to 10,000 jobs.
Whilst urban sites often benefit from existing critical infrastructure like schools, transport, and healthcare, local authorities still play an important role in ensuring developments fit community needs and support sustainable growth.
Broader plans to change the housing landscape
Brownfield funding is part of an overall package of measures designed to accelerate housing development and achieve the ambition to build 1.5 million homes. Other work already announced by the UK Government includes an overhaul of the planning system through a consultation on reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework, including new mandatory housebuilding targets for councils, a New Homes Accelerator group to unblock thousands of new homes stuck in the planning system or partially built, and a New Towns Taskforce with a long-term vision to create communities of at least 10,000 new homes each.
Supporting residential sales agents
Agents have an important role in marketing and selling new-build homes on behalf of home builders, including maintaining high levels of customer service and ensuring compliance with the Consumer Code for Homebuilders.
Propertymark worked in partnership with the Code to produce a compliance starter kit, which is a useful tool to aid compliance, including model terms between agents and builders, links to useful resources, and a handy checklist to help make sure you have covered the Code’s requirements.
It’s positive to see the UK Government recognise the importance of taking a ‘brownfield first approach’ as they ramp up provision regarding their pledge of over 1.5 million new homes throughout the course of this parliamentary term.
With an ever-growing population, there must be consideration towards bringing prime vacant sites back into circulation before ever dipping into using greenbelt land as a remedy to ensure a strong flow of new housing stock reaches the marketplace where needed.
