New Government Guidelines

During February the government released a white paper relating to the building sector that in their words looks to 'fix the broken housing market'. This white paper is significant for house builders all over the country as is outlines plan to relax planning restrictions, speed up the planning process, incentives for house builders to build more homes as well as a number of other measures to increase the number of houses across the country. The regulations regarding building on green field sites hasn't really changed but the current law in England and Wales enables councils to grant planning permission on green field sites where every other option has been explored and there doesn't appear to be another solution. This has resulted in some large scale developments going ahead around the country including a new satellite town being built on the outskirts of Birmingham which has attracted a lot of media attention.

The question is what is the likely impact to Skipton, Barnoldswick, Colne and the surrounding areas that we live in? We are likely to see a lot more houses being built in the coming years which will serve two purposes; provide more homes and help to slow the housing market making houses more affordable for first time buyers. For current homeowners there shouldn't be a huge change unless building developments are started close by, or if you want to move and you may find it easier to buy the house you want. In terms of house builders like ourselves, we expect the demand for our services and skills to increase exponentially. The changes by the government are being phased in with new housing targets being set immediately which if hit will see a sharp rise in the number of house built over the next 4 years.