Skip to main content

On the real land banking problem

"Are 'speculative developers' the new bankers?" I asked in this previous piece. Well there is mounting evidence that they might be because, fresh from an assault on wealth and 'irresponsible' business at the Labour party conference Ed Miliband used a party political broadcast to attack "the power of the big developers" on the basis that "they’re sitting on hundreds of thousands of places for homes with planning permission and not building because they’re waiting for it to accumulate in value."
 
The HBF, amongst others, (here) have highlighted the three independent studies in the last decade that have all concluded that house builders do not land bank. Why would they?
 
  • If land has been purchased with a planning permission in place then the housebuilder will want to start selling homes as soon as possible; 
  • If planning permission is granted on land promoted by a housebuilder under option from a landowner then that typically triggers a requirement to purchase the land. Having purchased the land (and funded the cost of promotion) the housebuilder will want to start selling homes as soon as possible; or
  • If planning permission is granted on land promoted by a promoter under a kind of 'planning promotion agreement' with a landowner then that typically triggers a requirement to sell the land. Having purchased it, for the same reasons as above, the housebuilder will want to start selling homes as soon as possible.
The greater issue, to my mind, is the amount of land that is actually available to build houses on. To get anywhere near building the amount of homes that the country needs the planning system needs to deliver more land, which, as this NLP Planning report highlights it simply is not doing. This is most telling:
 
"Of the 126 Local Plans (outside London) that have been submitted since the NPPF a third are currently ‘in the system’ having been submitted and either awaiting or undergoing examination. A third of those 43 Plans that have been submitted and are either awaiting or undergoing examination require further evidence of objectively assessed housing need. The need for further evidence, and subsequent modifications, has drawn out the examination process for 17 (40%) of the ongoing plans for over a year."
 
If, therefore, there is a land banking problem in this country it is not 'big developers sitting on hundreds of thousands of places for homes', but a planning system sitting on sites with draft allocations waiting to be adopted.

(Updated 7 April 2015)

Comments

  1. Amita Patel23 November 2025 at 09:50

    Upgrade your facility with a high-performance powder coating line in West Midlands. Efficient, durable, and tailored to industrial needs.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Mansion Spa1 December 2025 at 07:38

    Relax, refresh, and rejuvenate with an authentic sauna experience in Birmingham, UK. Our saunas are designed to promote deep relaxation, improve circulation, ease muscle tension, and detoxify the body. Whether you’re looking for stress relief after a busy day or a wellness boost for your health, our modern sauna facilities provide the perfect escape.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life on the Front Line

I like it when people get in touch with me to suggest topics for 50 Shades of Planning Podcast episodes because, firstly, it means that people are listening to it and also, and most importantly, it means I do not have to come up with ideas myself. I found this message from a team leader at a local authority striking and sobering though. In a subsequent conversation the person that sent this confided in me that their team is virtually in crisis mode. It is probably fair to say that the planning system is in crisis, but then it is also probably fair to say that the planning system is always in crisis… There is, of course, the issue of resources. Whilst according to a Planning magazine survey slightly more LPAs are predicting growth in planning department budgets (25%) rather than a contraction (22%), this has to be seen in the context of a 38% real-terms fall in net current expenditure on planning functions between 2010–11 and 2017–18. Beyond resources though the current crisis feels m...
137 comments
Read more

50 Shades of Planning T-Shirts!

If you have listened to Episode 45 of the 50 Shades of Planning Podcast you will have heard Clive Betts say that... 'In the Netherlands planning is seen as part of the solution. In the UK, too often, planning is seen as part of the problem'. I said in reply that that would look good on a t-shirt so I have made a few and it does! They are available in black or white (in S, M and L sizes) and are £15 if there is a chance that I'll be able to deliver one to you or £20 if you will need it posting. Please email samstafford@hotmail.com if you would like one. Planning might not be black and white, but the 50 Shades t-shirts are...
113 comments
Read more

YIMBYs and NIMBYs. Is planning becoming a new front in the culture war?

Prepare the barricades, fellow planners; dig out a shelter at the bottom of your garden (if you are lucky enough to have a garden…); and stock up on tins of non-perishable food. There might be a culture war coming and a good planner always spots trouble before it arrives... Given broader cultural, media and political trends it was perhaps only a matter of time before the built environment was subject to the same us versus them, progressive versus regressive factionalism that mars other aspects of public policy and debate. Twitter, of course, is not representative of public opinion, but it can be representative of the cultural, media and political influencers that are shaping it and I spotted this image on there recently. As far as I could tell it was a Brit that posted it and so it is not one of those unseemly intellectual skirmishes breezily dismissed as something our crazy, madcap cousins on the other side of the Atlantic occupy themselves with. Stereotypes are sometimes funny and so...
45 comments
Read more