SME4Labour, Federation of Master Builders and CPRE Fringe: Ending the Monopoly: reviving rural communities through small house builders

This panel discussion, chaired by Ibrahim Dogus, took place at the Labour Party Conference and focused on the challenges and potential solutions for small and medium-sized builders in the UK housing market. The event featured a variety of perspectives on building quality homes, promoting sustainable development, and addressing the housing crisis.

Panel Highlights and Key Topics

1. Introduction and Context:

   • Mike Reader MP (Northampton South) opened with positive remarks on the cross-party consensus supporting housebuilders. He drew on his construction experience, emphasizing the importance of diversity in the supply chain to drive delivery speed, competition, and resilience in the housing market.

2. Addressing Housing Challenges:

   • Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), highlighted the significant drop in small builders' contributions to new homes—from 40% in the 1980s to around 10% today. He stressed the need to involve local housebuilders to address the long-standing housing crisis, pointing to planning as the main barrier to small builders. He supported Labour's ambitious target of 1.5 million new homes but warned that achieving this without focusing on quality and small-scale building could be detrimental.

3. Role of Sustainable and Quality Design:

   • Muyiwa Oki, President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), emphasized the need to prioritize good design in housing to address safety, accessibility, and aesthetic standards. He advocated for stronger building standards that support the net-zero agenda, emphasizing the RIBA-led UK Net Zero Carbon Building Standard. He also highlighted the importance of collaboration between government and the built environment sector to achieve sustainable outcomes.

4. Promoting Diverse Housing Solutions:

   • Roger Mortlock, CEO of CPRE, the Countryside Charity, discussed the unique challenges in rural housing, highlighting the growing problem of rural homelessness. He advocated for diversifying the housebuilding market by embracing disruptors like small builders, community land trusts, and modular building. Mortlock pushed for a focus on brownfield development and challenged the current market tendency towards greenfield development, calling for Brownfield targets and truly affordable housing.

5. Political Support and Rural Housing Perspective:

   • Steve Witherden MP (Rural Constituency) reinforced the urgency of building more homes, particularly in rural areas where housing availability and affordability are significant challenges. He pointed to the shocking increase in rural homelessness over the past decade and emphasized the need to take local communities' concerns into account during housing developments.

6. Quality Over Quantity:

   • Throughout the discussion, the panelists underscored the importance of not just meeting housing targets but ensuring that the homes built are of high quality, sustainable, and support community needs. This involved calls for including small builders in planning strategies, promoting retrofit and refurbishment, and setting policies that prioritize design quality.

7. Skills Gap and Construction Workforce:

   • A major theme was the need for workforce development in the construction industry. Panelists addressed the current skills shortage, calling for high-quality apprenticeships and better training to bring more people into construction trades. It was noted that merely increasing numbers without attention to skills and quality would lead to substandard housing development.

8. Questions and Audience Engagement:

   • The Q&A session involved discussions around policy engagement with small builders, barriers posed by skills shortages, and the potential role of new towns and urban extensions in addressing the housing crisis. The need for clear standards to enable sustainable building within carbon budgets and avoiding car dependency in new developments was also raised.

9. Final Remarks and Political Advocacy:

   • Harpreet Uppal MP (Huddersfield) joined towards the end, emphasizing the Labour Party's focus on quality in housing. She acknowledged the importance of small builders in diversifying supply and urged attendees to contribute to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation. Uppal reiterated Labour’s commitment to sustainability and quality in housing, as well as reinvigorating town centers through brownfield development.

Conclusion The panelists collectively emphasized that addressing the UK housing crisis requires more than just meeting construction targets; it necessitates building quality homes that are sustainable, affordable, and support diverse community needs. Ensuring small and medium-sized builders are central to the housing strategy, addressing workforce skills gaps, and fostering sustainable development practices were highlighted as key to achieving these aims.

Panelists:

• Mike Reader MP – Member of Parliament for Northampton South

• Brian Berry – Chief Executive, Federation of Master Builders

• Muyiwa Oki – President, Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)

• Roger Mortlock – CEO, CPRE, the Countryside Charity

• Steve Witherden MP – Member of Parliament for a rural constituency

• Harpreet Uppal MP – Member of Parliament for Huddersfield

Chair: Ibrahim Dogus