Smaller housebuilders are struggling to build at scale because they have to submit more planning applications than the big players for the same number of homes.
That is according to agency body Propertymark, as smaller developers are likely to build on smaller sites than the major builders.
Propertymark encouraged the government to introduce a streamlined planning process for SMEs, thereby encouraging more building on brownfield sites, who could then contribute more housebuilding towards the government’s annual target.
Henry Griffith, policy and campaigns officer at Propertymark, said “Propertymark fully welcomes any efforts to help the UK government meet their ambitious target of constructing 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029, which is why helping SMEs is crucial if they are keen on hitting this ambitious aim in less than five years’ time. This can only be achieved via a streamlined planning process that boosts the number of properties being constructed, alongside other measures such as local councils investing in ecologists to help developers through planning applications, and by targeting the Building Safety Levy appropriately.”
The number of larger projects has increased in recent years, with massive projects of over 500 units representing 38% of new developments, a surge from only 8% from 25 years ago.
Propertymark added that there’s a need for more workers trained.
Meanwhile local councils need to be given the resources to invest in ecologists to help developers organise their own Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and other environmental needs, which are renowned for being rejected by local councils.
Finally, Propertymark said that the Building Safety Levy must be targeted to all industries responsible for installing dangerous cladding. As it stands developers who never installed unsafe cladding are being charged for an issue they did not create.
Propertymark was responding to the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government’s (MHCLG) Planning Reform Working Paper Reforming Site Thresholds consultation.
BSR reforms slowing housebuilding
Introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA), the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) is responsible for raising safety standards for all buildings, regulating the design and construction of higher-risk buildings, and helping professionals improve their competence in design, construction, and building control.
Delays with the Building Safety Regulator
The BSR is the Building Control Authority for higher-risk buildings in England. As at the time of writing, a higher-risk building (for the purposes of the design and construction stage) is a building which is at least 18 metres tall or seven storeys high, with two or more residential units or is a hospital or a care home.
Mounting delays to Gateway 2
Although long-awaited and widely supported given the circumstances of the Grenfell tragedy, the rollout of the building safety reforms has faced heavy criticism as delays continue to mount since the higher-risk building approval process was introduced. Most of these delays occur at Gateway 2, being the approval stage before construction can start. Whilst there may be a target time stated for assessment of new higher-risk buildings of 12 weeks (and for existing higher-risk buildings of 8 weeks) it is well known and reported that there have been significant delays by the BSR in processing Gateway 2 applications. In addition, a significant amount of applications have been rejected due to missing key information, suggesting that more needs to be done to ensure that the requirements are clear to applicants. Since Gateway 2 clearance is required before construction of high-rise residential buildings can commence, this bottleneck has stalled the progress of numerous housing projects. Given the UK Government’s recent pledge to build 1.5 million homes by 2029, these delays come at a critical juncture.
Reform to address bottlenecks and accelerate delivery
There is some hope on the horizon, as reforms introduced by the government, increased transparency, and new Gateway 2 guidance all aim to streamline the BSR and accelerate housebuilding.
The government’s reforms, introduced on 30 June 2025, include:
- The introduction of a fast-track process to facilitate the delivery of 1.5 million safe, high-quality homes. This will bring building inspector and engineer capacity directly into the BSR to enhance the processing and review of existing newbuild cases and remediation decisions.
- Leadership and structural changes, marking early steps towards establishing a single construction regulator. This includes the appointment of Andy Roe KFSM as a non-executive chair of a new board of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to take on the functions of the BSR from the Health and Safety Executive in due course.
- Increased investment, including the recruitment of over 100 new staff members.
These reforms follow an inquiry launched by the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee (the Committee) ‘to find out if the BSR has the skills and resources required to ensure the safety of all buildings and its residents in the process of approving applications for high-rise buildings.’ To collate this information, stakeholders in the industry are being encouraged to submit written contributions to the Committee’s inquiry by 31 August 2025.
The BSR is now also publishing Gateway 2 transparency data in England on a quarterly basis to show the number of applications received, decision outcomes, performance against statutory time limits and determination times. Industry stakeholders hope that this will improve accountability and allow them to better manage budget and timelines.
New guidance on Gateway 2 is also set to be released to help the construction industry navigate the Gateway 2 process. This was announced by Mark Reynolds, co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council, during a Parliamentary committee hearing on 8 July 2025 in which Mr Reynolds also stated the BSR aims to reduce Gateway 2 approval times to 5 weeks.