Mr. Pratt says the housing industry is experiencing «probably the worst relationship with government» in his entire life. Photo: Andrew Fox
Housing has become a «political football» and ministers should not be allowed to get close to it, according to the head of Redrow.
Matthew Pratt, chief executive of one of the largest British housing developers, is annoyed by the sclerotic the state of the planning system and the constant fluctuations of government policy ministers.
“Everything I do, I invest for a very long time,” says Pratt.
“But for now you just don't have it. Instead, we have a government that is focused on short-term politics — and it just doesn't help.
“One minute you do one thing, the next minute you do something else. Housing has become a political football.”
He is particularly disappointed by the events of the past year, from by-elections in which the Conservatives criticized their own housing goals to proposals that critics say will lead to a sharp drop in new construction. .
However, Pratt's solution may seem even more controversial to some. He believes that it is necessary to create an independent body, similar to the Migration Advisory Committee, to calculate our housing needs. This, he says, could help ease political tensions on the issue.
“The reality is that when you look at our population, the number of houses we build should not be determined by a government committee. ”, says Pratt.
“The decision must be made taking into account population growth, immigration and everything else.”
“People have the right to asylum. Therefore, in my opinion, if you want to radically change the situation, then it should be an independent agency that actually decides how many houses we need, and not a government that is concerned about whether it upsets someone.
It's not that we don't like [goals] because some parts of the country are tired of building too many houses. It has nothing to do with it – it's about giving people housing.”
0706 Housing construction is falling sharply
His proposal will provide food for thought ahead of the next general election, with housing expected to be the main dividing line between the parties.
Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have called for a «Medici model» focused on cities condensing. and Sir Keir Starmer's Labor Party, sensing an opportunity to win the votes of young families, promised to support «builders, not blockers» and allow construction in the Green Belt.
Pratt, who rose through the ranks at Redrow to become CEO in 2020, believes the current planning system places too much weight on the opinions of existing homeowners while ignoring ambitious homeowners who can only dream of owning a home.
< p>The CEO has even come across Redrow clients who, having just bought their new home, wanted to stop building similar properties nearby.
“A person without a home has no voice, while those with homes do, so all you hear is people living in the area saying, 'We don't want that,'” he says. .
By almost any measure, Britain's housing shortage is acute.
Because the British have been building too little for decades, the City Center has determined that there is a 4.3 million backlog in UK housing construction houses — a shortage that could take half a century.
1506 income from repayment of mortgage loans
As a result, the average worker in England now pays eight times their annual wage for a house, up from 3.5 times in the 1990s, when the problem is most acute in the South East.
Meanwhile , rising interest rates have made mortgages as affordable as they were in the 1980s, and the average age of a first-time homebuyer has risen to 33.4 years from 29 years in the 1990s.
Push Down David Cameron's coalition government to increase the number of homeowners did bring some success. Buy Assistance loans offered support to home hunters if they were buying new homes, while changes in planning policy put pressure on councils to secure land for development — with the decisions in their hands if they didn't. made a local plan.
Ministers also pledged to build 200,000 homes a year, a target raised to 300,000 by Theresa May when she became prime minister.
Pratt says reforms show that concerted efforts can bring results: In the year to June, 181,900 new homes were built in England in 2021, the highest figure in two decades, according to government figures.
However, the push to build more homes has also sparked a fierce backlash in rural areas, with communities turning down giant projects being placed on the outskirts of small towns and villages—often with scarce additional local services such as doctors' offices, schools, or new roads to make up for it. .
2,207 houses
The government also failed to reach its annual goal of building houses. And there are fears that the numbers will now reverse after Michael Gove, the housing secretary, eased commitments last year.
In the face of an uprising of Conservative MPs, Gove promised changes that would allow councils to ignore national targets. if they want.
More than 50 of them have already stopped working on their development plans — despite the fact that the proposals have not yet gone into effect.
At the same time, the situation is exacerbated by rising mortgage rates, which makes it even more difficult to climb the ladder for first-time homebuyers, as well as issues such as the power grid. restrictions and «nutrient neutrality» regulations are holding back the construction of hundreds of thousands of new buildings across the country.
Gove himself acknowledged the need for «radical action» to build «much more houses». But the Minister for Upgrading has repeatedly clashed with builders over how it should be done.
The animosity began early in his tenure, when he demanded that British companies pay for repairs to buildings containing fire traps. delighted apartment owners, but angered house builders, who claimed they were being blamed for high-rise buildings built by foreign firms.
At times, Gove seemed to revel in this feud. He called the industry a «cartel» in a speech last year, and recently drew more criticism by denying permission for a «sample» development near Tunbridge Wells.
At times, Level Up Minister Michael Gove seemed to revel in the feud with homebuilders. Credit: Leon Neal/Getty Images Europe
«I think this is probably the worst relationship we [the industry] have had with government in my life,» says Pratt.
“If you joined the business and went in tomorrow, would you kick down the doors?” and tell everyone that they're not very good, that this is a cartel, and that you're doing everything wrong without trying to get to the bottom of the problems?
“The thing is, you can't just sit down and talk.”< /p>
He is also skeptical that Gove's vision of «beautiful» design matches what buyers really want, noting that the Secretary of State's favorite development — King's Poundbury Estate in Dorchester — discourages people from parking cars in front of the houses.
However, despite his strong views, Pratt admits that he does not envy Gove and his colleagues.
“I feel sorry for them,” he says. «Who the hell would want to be a politician?»
Opposing new developments in your area may be just human nature, the leader admits.
«This is a political argument that you will never win. But at some point, no matter what, we will have to come to terms with it.
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