Ryan Johnson, Group Managing Director, Emplas
Ryan Johnson, Group Managing Director, Emplas
Featured

Open Letter

Labour is pressing ahead with its manifesto pledge to increase the annual housebuilding target, from 300,000 to 370,000 new homes. Ryan Johnson, Group Managing Director, Emplas, shares his thoughts on what it means for the window and door industry. 

So, we’ve seen the script before. A new Government, new commitments to build more new build homes.

Labour has committed to bump the housebuilding target up to 370,000 homes a year from the pre-existing 300,000 new home target.

The reality is that this still falls short of the throughput of new homes to rebalance decades of under delivery.

It is, however, important, in the sense that it is underpinned by a commitment to shake-up the planning system - something which successive administrations of all political flavours have failed to deliver on in the past.

Under Labour’s plans local authorities will have to incorporate government-set targets into their long-term plans to allocate housing for development. If they don’t, and targets for new homes aren’t met, then councils will see their ability to turn down planning applications curbed.

The reality is that planning applications can get stuck in the planning system for years. It increases costs and delays delivery at a time when new homes are desperately needed.

It also promises to generate significant opportunities for windows and door companies. National housebuilders, the Barratts, Persimmons, the Taylor Wimpeys, the Redrows - they are only part of the solution.

Smaller housebuilders which up until now have delivered around 10% of the UK’s new homes have a far bigger part to play under a revised planning system.

There are thousands of smaller sites dotted around our towns, cities and villages. The infrastructure, the roads and other utility networks pre-exist.

Yet these smaller sites are often the ones that are hardest to get through planning because they also come with ‘neighbours’ - and ‘neighbours’ can very soon drift into nimbyism. The reality is that none of us would by choice, want a new development at the end of our road, but we need to start to think differently.

Filling in undeveloped plots in and around the edges of urban and semi-urban areas is vital if we are to meet our housebuilding targets and rebalance the whole housing market. This creates opportunities for the around 2500 smaller and regional housebuilders in the UK - and generates opportunities for window and door companies to partner with them.

The opportunities increased investment in new build are obvious, but it is also important for the window industry as a whole. The majority of home improvements take place within the first 12-months after a house move. If the housing market is static because property prices are too high and out of reach because of under supply, recovery will be slower.

Building new homes and most importantly, affordable new homes, is consequently critical for our own industry in generating direct opportunities in new build but also driving them indirectly in retail, which remains the foundation for window and door sales as a whole.

For more information on Emplas visit www.emplas.co.uk , email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 01933 674880