{"id":155973,"date":"2025-10-10T11:06:23","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=155973"},"modified":"2025-10-10T11:06:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T10:06:23","slug":"uk-sme-housebuilders-facing-too-many-challenges-say-hbf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/uk-sme-housebuilders-facing-too-many-challenges-say-hbf\/155973\/","title":{"rendered":"UK SME housebuilders facing too many challenges, say HBF"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new report by the Home Builders Federation (HBF), Planning for Small Sites, finds that the barriers for Small- and Medium- Enterprise housebuilders are growing, worsening the housing shortage<\/h2>\n

UK SME housebuilders are increasingly struggling with delivering houses, as in 2024, only 17,000 homes were approved on small sites, well below the average of 35,000.<\/p>\n

Total planning permissions granted on sites of 150 units or fewer has dropped from nearly 20% in 2008 to 6-8% now.<\/p>\n

A variety of factors are affecting UK SME housebuilders<\/h3>\n

The HBF report highlights that planning delays, increasing costs, and complex regulations are making many small schemes unviable for builders. This in turn is exacerbating or preventing progress in the housing crisis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, a staggering 94% of applications miss the statutory determination deadline, with an average of 30 weeks to get a committee decision, and another 21 weeks to secure formal permission. On average, applications decided at committee take an average of 53 weeks, 10 weeks longer than delegated decisions.<\/p>\n

13% of sites took longer than two years to secure permission, and five schemes took more than three years. Planning fees and obligations reach approximately \u00a32m per site.<\/p>\n

SMEs are in danger of \u201cbeing unable to stay in business\u201d<\/h3>\n

The report further found:<\/p>\n