Commenting on the statistical release from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government showing the number of completed homes in England rising above 160,000 for the first time since 2007, Paul Willmott, Managing Partner, Planning, at Bidwells said:

“Despite the still positive statistics, government needs to take a serious look at what it’s doing to boost supply: regardless of Brexit and affordability, we are not building enough homes.

“The recent Letwin Review said we need to concentrate on multi-tenure solutions to increase housebuilding on large sites – rental or social properties to go alongside housing for sale – nowhere is this more true than in the Oxbridge corridor, where a number of allocated large sites and new schemes can seriously ease demand, but could take decades to be delivered.

“We need to keep building, even during a slowdown, and the way to do that is through encouraging more multi tenure developments, greater diversity in housing typologies and supporting delivery through a range of providers.”

The Bidwells planning team is among the largest in the UK and includes a number of specialist consultants covering retail, housing needs, economic impact assessments, heritage and strategic development. It is currently working on a residential pipeline of development worth £3bn and has over 20,000 homes in planning. Clients range from major house builders to universities and leisure organisations housing associations to private investors.