The Labour party has announced a review of the supply of homes to be headed by Peter Redfern, the chief executive of builder Taylor Wimpey. It is not the first review of the issue: since 2004 several other large-scale projects have attempted to establish the problems with the housing market and how to fix them.
The Barker review of housing supply
When Published in March 2004 after a year of research. At that time, Nationwide building society put the average price of a property in the UK at £142,584.
Who Headed by Kate Barker, a member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee.
Who for The review was commissioned by the then chancellor Gordon Brown and deputy prime minister John Prescott. Barker was asked to look at what was behind the lack of supply of housing in the UK and why the housing market was not responding.
Main findings Over the previous 30 years, UK house prices had risen at double the average rate of increase in the EU. In real terms, prices increased by 2.4% a year compared with the EU average of 1.1%.
In 2002, only 37% of new households in England could afford to buy a house, compared with 46% in the late 80s.
A weak supply of housing meant a greater divide between “haves and have-nots”, those who could afford housing and those who could not. According to the review, in 2003 there were 93,000 households in temporary accommodation compared with 46,000 in 1995.
What happened next A National Housing and Planning Advice Unit was set up to help councils work out where building would have the biggest impact on affordability. It was scrapped in 2010 as part of the coalition government’s “bonfire of the quangos”.
The Callcutt review of housebuilding delivery
When Published in November 2007, the month after house prices reached their pre-crisis peak of £186,044.
Who John Callcutt, formerly a chairman of English Partnerships and chief executive of builder Crest Nicholson.
Who for The review was commissioned in December 2006 by the Labour secretary of state for communities and local government, Ruth Kelly. Callcutt was asked to examine how the supply of new homes was influenced by the nature and structure of the housebuilding industry, the business models and its supply chain, and how the government could meet a target of 240,000 new homes a year.
Main findings To achieve production of 240,000 new homes a year in England by 2016 would require the housebuilding industry to grow by 4.75% over the next nine years.
The review said that, given sufficient land and subject to its recommendations, the industry had the capacity to meet the government’s targets on the number of homes built and affordability. However, it said “the industry is answerable only to its investors and shareholders and not to the public interest”, so the government needed to put in place a framework of incentives and opportunities that would create a strong commercial motive for builders.
It found that the 21 biggest builders had about 387,000 units in their land banks at their last year-end, of which 46.7% had implementable planning permission.
Recommendations Much more previously developed land should be used and the proportion of greenfield development minimised. The government could encourage increased production by reducing the risks and increasing the opportunities for investors in the industry. While the government could specify outcomes, such as good quality or environmental performance, but should allow the industry to determine the best means.
It recommended that no general action should be taken to force builders to build-out land banks more quickly: “We are clear that this will put production at risk, not add to it.”
What happened next The financial crisis hit and building work slowed. After rising to 176,650 in 2007, the number of homes built in England fell to 106,720 in 2010.
The Lyons housing review
When Published in October 2014. After falling, the average UK house price had bounced back to an average of £189.333.
Who Sir Michael Lyons, a former chairman of the BBC.
Who for The Labour party.
Main findings At least 243,000 homes needed to be built each year to keep up with the number of new households being formed.
Some 130,000 homes with planning permission were either on hold or had been in the system for four years.
There was not enough land being brought forward to build new homes and the country’s capacity to build had shrunk drastically: during the 80s there was an average of 10,000 active SME builders (building 500 units or less) delivering around 57% of homes. By 2013 there were only 2,800 active small builders producing 27% of homes.
Recommendations The new government should set targets for building for the next 20 years. Planning permission should be reduced to two years and local and central government should have stronger powers to purchase land compulsorily so incentives for speculating on land were reduced.
A new generation of garden cities should be created.
Newly built homes should be made available to local people initially.
What happened next The Conservatives won the 2015 election.
Redfern review into the decline of homeownership
When Commissioned in October 2015 and launched in February 2016. The average UK house price has reached £196,807.
Who Peter Redfern, the chief executive of builder Taylor Wimpey.
Who for The Labour party. The review will look into the causes of falling homeownership and the future direction of homeownership trends. At the launch, the party said the number of young working-class households who own their own homes has declined by 20% since David Cameron came to power.