Lack of sites and finance biggest problem for developers

Lack of sites and finance biggest problem for developers

A lack of available small sites and development finance top the list of barriers to delivering new homes, according to the House Builders’ Survey 2017.

The survey by the Federation of Master Builders has found that 54% of small builders say accessing finance is a major barrier to their ability to build more homes.

Noel Meredith, executive director of United Trust Bank, said: “As someone who leads the development finance division of a successful specialist bank which provides millions of pounds of funding to SME house builders, I find this frustrating.

“If SME house builders look beyond the high street, or approach one of the many professional brokers helping developers to find and secure competitive funding solutions, I believe they will be surprised at how much choice they have.

“SME housebuilders are not building in the volumes they should be and initiatives such as those outlined in the Mayor of London’s recent Housing Strategy for London consultation document, should help them to play a bigger role in contributing to the hundreds of thousands of new homes we need to build in the UK over the next few years.”