Leading volume housebuilder Weston Homes welcomes the Labour Government’s Planning, Housing and Infrastructure Bill laid out in the King’s Speech to Parliament. Providing the biggest boost to the UK housebuilding sector in generations the new initiatives aim to get “Britain Building” through planning reforms, including “modernising” planning committees, simplifying the consent process for major projects and improving National Policy Statements, alongside driving up construction apprenticeship numbers and skills training.
The Labour party has promised to get 1.5 million new homes built in their first five-year term in government and to reintroduce local authority new homes targets, with more housing to be encouraged in ‘grey belt’ locations and the planning of a series of new towns.
Bob Weston, Chairman of Weston Homes says: “Weston Homes welcomes the focus on planning, housing and infrastructure in the King’s Speech. It is the first time in decades that an incoming government has made the housebuilding industry a priority. The new Labour Government’s significant majority in Houses of Parliament has provided the property industry with welcome political stability and the new administration has provided immediate evidence of their housing-centric approach and recognition of the industry’s vital importance to the UK – which is music to our ears!”Bob Weston says: “We especially welcome the Government’s aim to streamline the planning system. Under the previous Conservative Government Weston Homes was forced to cancel plans to redevelop an 11.5 acre site in Norwich city centre after eight years, which was set to deliver up to 1,100 new homes, with some £7.5 million of capital expenditure written off. The new government is like a breath of fresh air for the property industry.”
“Weston Homes also welcome Labour’s devolution agenda, in particular their proposal to grant regional Mayors new powers over spatial planning. We hope this leads to faster, more strategic delivery of homes across England.”
Bob Weston adds: “It is our hope that the new administration will also deliver on its election proposals to launch a government mortgage guarantee scheme which promises to offer first-time buyers loans of up to 95% of a property’s value. One of the best ways of supplying more affordable housing is by increasing the number of new properties available for private sale. As a general rule, the private housing sector can deliver around one affordable home for every two private dwellings built, which, if done at the same time as offering financial products to help first time buyers such as the proposed Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, the market can respond very positively – it’s a virtuous cycle. We look forward to seeing the detail on these various policies.”
Weston Homes is particularly well-placed to help deliver the volume, efficiency and speed the new Government’s proposals require since the group has its British Offsite MMC products, manufactured in the two British Offsite Essex factories, which are supplied to both Weston Homes and the wider industry. Weston Homes has now delivered over 2,000 new homes using their patented UNisystem produced by British Offsite, including all of the housebuilder’s newly-built homes this year, as well as using other pre-fabricated fitout components.
All the UNisystem components are either manufactured in the UK (such as the British-made steel, from the TATA Port Talbot plant) or sourced via UK-based businesses. Adaptable to any design vision, British Offsite’s UNisystem can be used for housebuilding, low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise developments and for the construction of commercial and public buildings.
Weston Homes is committed to all of its housing developments being delivered in an environmentally sustainable and responsible manner which is why the housebuilder is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions across the business by 2040, a full ten years earlier than Britain’s net zero target date of 2050.
During 2024 Weston Homes has successfully achieved planning consent for four new projects, with a combined GDV of £770.5 million providing 1,982 new homes, and has launched six new residential projects, with a combined GDV of £210 million, providing 615 new homes in London and the South East.
In addition to the group’s core build-to-sell business Weston Homes is now expanding its activities so that the housebuilding division now focuses on three areas of activity. Alongside build-to-sell the group are launching a new Build-To-Rent operation and a Partnerships business, the latter engaging in private-public partnerships with local authorities and Social Housing Providers.
