The government will continue to consult on the most appropriate way to ‘address the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private estates’ and bring forward a new consumer code for housebuilders as part of it’s response to a Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation and plans to build 1.5m new homes in this Parliamentary term.
The CMA’s final report into housebuilding in the UK was published in February 2024 with the body finding the ‘complex and unpredictable planning system, together with the limitations of speculative private development, is responsible for the persistent under delivery of new homes.’ Addressing what it described as ‘fundamental concerns’, the CMA said issues with planning rules, speculative private development, land banking by the major house builders, estate management charges, and quality were responsible for the persistent under delivery of homes and consumer issues.
The government has now formally responded to the recommendations with Housing and Planning Minister, Matthew Pennycook saying:
“The Government has committed to delivering 1.5 million homes in this Parliament, including the biggest increase in social and affordable housing in a generation.
“The CMA was right to highlight areas for improvement in the housebuilding market. That is why we will empower homeowners to challenge developers over poor quality new homes and bad service, and we will consider the best way to address the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private estates to bring unfair costs to an end.
“Alongside this, our updated National Planning Policy Framework and the reinstatement of mandatory housing targets for councils will ensure communities have the homes and necessary infrastructure to thrive.”
The government have confirmed it will bring forward a new consumer code for housebuilders and a New Homes Ombudsman service which will ’empower’ homeowners to challenge developers for any quality issues they face in their home. Other measures include greater protections for households living under private management arrangements; fully implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Act 2024, and pointed to mandatory housing targets for councils and the release of low quality ‘grey belt’ land under the National Planning Policy Framework as evidence of progress; adding the Planning and Infrastructure Bill will ‘modernise’ the planning system and ‘turbocharge’ housebuilding
In response to the CMA’s recommendations, Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA said:
“We welcome the government’s response to our recommendations on housebuilding, which we put forward to get people better protections and open the door to delivering more good quality homes.
“Housing is an essential area for consumers and driving economic growth, so we will assist government as they take forward our solutions, alongside progressing our wider housing work.”
One Response
All well and good, they have not addressed the issue that developers like those areas to remain in private ownership. There is no paperwork or certification handed over to the management companies (especially if they are intended to hand over to residents). Poorly built infrastructure is a real problem and no amount of “Codes” are going to do anything as it is voluntary not mandatory by law. What is being done about developers building sub-standard homes? Nada unless you have deep pockets to pursue litigation. So sad that there is no immediate redress for homeowners without having to go to court. The codes cover the home, not infrastructure for common areas.