The Government has recently announced that £3 million of the Housing Infrastructure fund will be invested in the West of England to unlock major developments.

The new £3 million funding pot will help to support the local economy and could deliver nearly double the number of affordable homes, increasing from around 4,000 to 7,500 new homes per year.

The West of England Combined Authority is an area which covers Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire. It has been recognised as an area with particularly high housing demand.

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) strongly believes that regional contractors and SMEs could play a much greater role in tackling the housing crisis, if more is done to facilitate access to finance and open up smaller sites. In order to tackle the affordable housing crisis in this region, supply must be diversified.

The Government needs to do more in order to enable local authorities to significantly tackle the issue of housing affordability across the region. By removing the borrowing cap on local planning, authorities would go a long way towards stimulating councils to build more homes.

Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB commented:

“Overhauling the planning system is vital to building more homes and ultimately solving the housing crisis across the country. It is imperative that SMEs and regional contractors are able to compete on a level playing field alongside larger house builders to help deliver affordable housing.

“They understand the needs of their local communities, can build homes quickly, and play a pivotal role in delivering housing according to local needs.”