Public support for new house building is increasing and needs to be addressed if we are to tackle Britain’s growing housing crisis, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in response to new findings from the British Social Attitudes Survey.
The survey findings reveal that the number of people saying that they oppose new house building in their area has fallen from 46% in 2010 to 21% in 2014, and those supportive of new homes in their area has risen from 29% to 56% over the same period.
Commenting on the findings, Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “These shifts in public opinion suggest that recognition of the need for more new homes has risen significantly and continues to rise. This should be an encouragement to all concerned. The house building industry, government and local communities need to capitalise on this shift in public opinion and work together to deliver the homes people clearly want to see.”
Berry concluded: “Smaller local house builders in particular are ideally placed to engage with communities, to produce quality designs in keeping with the local area and to make use of smaller brownfield sites which people want to see built. In return, local planning authorities need to continue to enable them to build by minimising bureaucracy and delays, and making more of smaller sites for the delivery of housing. Local and national government between them also need to make sure that planning offices are sufficiently resourced so that the planning system can do its job speedily and efficiently to deliver more homes.”
For further information on the Federation of Master Builders visit www.fmb.org.uk
