The Intermediary – May 2025 - Flipbook - Page 42
RESIDENTIAL
Opinion
The industry needs
he UK Government’s
ambitious plan to
deliver 1.5 million new
homes during this
Parliament will mean
that understanding the
evolving nature of new-build risk will
be more important than ever.
The location, tenure, build type and
density will pose different challenges
of lenders who will be keen to manage
their exposures carefully. The issues
are, in some respects, standalone, but
how they interact and impact each
other will also be crucial. It’s why we
have invested so much in the data,
systems and bespoke team that make
up our new-build proposition.
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The Intermediary | May 2025
The direction of travel is clear
enough. In March, Chancellor Rachel
Reeves and Deputy Prime Minister
Angela Rayner announced a £2bn
injection of Government investment
into funding the building of up to
18,000 new social and affordable
homes by 2030.
The majority of this funding will
fall in 2026/27, but a ‘tail of funding’
will cover completions of homes aer
this. All projects funded through this
£2bn will need to start by March 2027,
and finish by June 2029.
While there are practical challenges
in the delivery of these policy
initiatives, lenders are rightly hugely
supportive of the objectives established
under Labour.
Charlie Nunn, chief executive
at Lloyds Banking Group, Britain’s
biggest mortgage lender, stood behind
them publicly, saying he welcomed the
STEVE GOODALL
is managing director at e.surv
boost to building “much-needed social
and affordable homes.”
Another change worth bearing in
mind comes in the form of updated
wording in the National Planning
Policy Framework, which stipulates
that any green-belt development must
include the provision that 50% of
homes are affordable.
There are also build density
viability requirements, which may
well have the unintended consequence
of incentivising the construction of
smaller homes.
