Downsizers are helping to ease the housing crisis by putting an average of 343,000 bedrooms a year back onto the UK housing market, according to new data analysis from over-50’s property specialists, Quickmove Properties, Quickmove Properties has estimated how many property sales downsizers accounted for in the UK in 2023* and, using additional data collected in a recent downsizer survey commissioned by Quickmove Properties*, estimated exactly how many bedrooms this means downsizers relinquished last year. The data reveals that across the UK, 2023 saw a total of 718,127 home sales. It is estimated by Quickmove Properties that downsizers accounted for 32% of these 2023 transactions, which is equivalent to 229,621 sales. In a recent Quickmove Properties survey, 65.1% of downsizers say that they relinquished one bedroom while downsizing (eg, moved from a 4-bed to a 3-bed home); 24.7% relinquished two bedrooms; 7.4% relinquished three beds; four beds were given up by 1.4%; and the same percentage applies to downsizers who gave up five beds. By measuring these percentages against the total number of downsizer sales in 2023, it is estimated that downsizers put a total of 342,824 bedrooms back on the market in a single year, potentially making a huge contribution to providing young families and upsizers with the homes they need. In fact, the number of bedrooms that downsizers gave back to the market is sufficient to sleep the entire population of Wigan (339,174). On a regional level, South East downsizers put by far the most bedrooms back onto the market, totalling an estimated 52,993. This is followed by downsizers in the South West (36,754), East of England (35,213), North West (33,218), and Scotland (28,502). Sales Director at Quickmove Properties, Mark O’Dwyer, commented: “Downsizers play a huge part in the property ecosystem. The market needs older property owners to downsize their family homes – perhaps once their kids have fled the nest – so that these large properties can be made available for the young families who need them. This market churn keeps everything moving, and helps bring balance to the market. Whatsmore, the extra space that downsizers put back onto the market supports our battle to overcome the ever-present housing crisis. Of course, there needs to be suitable properties for downsizers to move into, such as the bungalow-style park homes for over 50’s offered by Quickmove in some stunning coastal, rural and semi-urban locations.” Data tables and sources Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Urgent regulatory reform required to support crucial sector in midst of national housing emergency   The challenges faced by small and medium sized home builders and the need for urgent regulatory reform to get this crucial part of the Scottish housing market growing again are being spotlighted this week with a range of activities including a special roundtable session with the Ministers for Housing and Public Finance. Other MSPs are undertaking visits to vitally important rural and brownfield housing developments being delivered by SMEs across the country. This dedicated “Awareness Week” follows recently published independent data review revealing an alarming reduction in Scotland’s SME home building sector.  According to representative body Homes for Scotland (HFS), the proportion of new homes sold by those building between three and 49 homes per annum has fallen from around 40 per cent in 2017 to 20 per cent in 2023.  It also shows a significant increase in the number of SME home builders being dissolved, with 2023 levels 45 per cent higher than in 2019. Speaking ahead of the Ministerial roundtable taking place on Wednesday (21 August), HFS Chief Executive Jane Wood said: “Our research is the first of its kind, quantifying and contextualising Scotland’s SME home building sector and filling a significant data gap.  Its findings paint a sobering picture of the impact barriers to growth are having on this vital group. “SMEs simply do not have the economies of scale available to larger developers to navigate what is an overly complex and under-resourced planning system. This, coupled with the high-risk upfront financial costs involved in residential development and an ever-increasing regulatory burden, is making many SME sites unviable. “With SMEs essential for building out rural and brownfield sites and the added context of a national housing emergency and a staggering 28% of Scottish households (693,000) identified as being in some form of housing need, what further evidence does the Scottish Government require to take action and introduce the regulatory reform required to facilitate the delivery of much-needed, warm and sustainable new homes? “We are grateful to the Ministers for Housing and Public Finance for joining us this Wednesday to hear first hand the challenges that only SME home builders themselves can provide.  HFS and its members are ready to work with them to ensure  Scotland has a positive regulatory environment which fosters housing growth rather than diminishing it. Eve McCurrich, Managing Director of Whiteburn Projects, this year’s HFS SME Home Builder of the Year, said: “SMEs are tremendously important to the diversity of new home delivery across Scotland. As demonstrated by the research, the decline in the number of SMEs is stark evidence of the loss of local house builders across Scotland. “A buoyant SME culture would not only see the creation of new businesses and new jobs, but importantly, it would provide new homes across the whole of Scotland. This would not only positively contribute to the national and local economies, but offer homes and jobs for people within their local communities. “I urge policy makers to take note of these findings, listen to what is needed to remove barriers, and help support the SME sector to flourish in Scotland, reaping these benefits for all.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has expressed support for Government’s steps to tackle the constraints of housing delivery in an industry statement published recently. The statement, which has been signed by more than 30 home builders, comes in response to the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Raynor’s statement in the House of Commons outlining proposed planning reforms, including the reintroduction of mandatory local housing targets and releasing of ‘grey belt’ land. In the statement, the home building industry says it ‘stands ready to’ deliver high-quality and affordable homes at pace, provide skilled jobs and contribute to economic growth. The statement also makes clear that a range of different actors, including mortgage lenders, housing associations and councils will need to come to together and support the government’s very ambitious housing targets. Setting out the scale of the challenge, signatories point to the headwinds affecting housing supply today, including a lack of affordable mortgage finance for prospective first-time buyers, nutrient neutrality restrictions holding up the delivery of 160,000 new homes and a lack of capacity in the housing association sector which is making it increasingly difficult for to find providers to acquire and manage new social and affordable homes. Neil Jefferson, Chief Executive at the Home Builders Federation says: “Today represents the first and most important step ministers have taken in addressing the barriers to delivering new homes. “The scale of the government’s housing ambition has given hope to the home building industry that stands ready to increase supply and tackle the country’s housing shortage. “The planning system has long failed to provide the amount of land needed to address affordability pressures, but in recent years the elimination of housing targets has led to housing supply plummeting. A reformed, more progressive planning system that requires local authorities to meet their communities’ housing needs is a major step forward to address the barriers to delivery. “The housing market is complex and bringing more land through the planning system will help to turn around ailing housing supply provided affordable mortgage finance can be accessed and buyers are able to purchase new homes.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

DCN, LGA, and Crisis demand five urgent measures to support people in danger of homelessness and protect council finance The Government has been urged to take swift and decisive action to stem the temporary accommodation crisis in a letter by five of the biggest organisations campaigning on the issue. The letter from the District Councils’ Network (DCN), Local Government Association (LGA), Crisis, the County Councils Network and the East of England Local Government Association comes as official figures reveal further alarming growth in temporary accommodation use. Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government data released today reveal an alarming increase in the number of households in temporary accommodation, rising by 12.3% over the year to March to 117,450 households. There was also a 14.7% increase in families with children living in temporary accommodation, now totalling 74,530 households.  District council spending on temporary accommodation has increased by 200% in just five years and now takes up to half of some councils’ budgets. Councils would rather invest in new high-quality, permanent housing which enables people to put down roots in their communities than spend such vast sums dealing with the consequences of homelessness. In response to the newly published figures, the five organisations issued an open letter to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, calling for immediate action to tackle the root causes of homelessness and alleviate the unsustainable pressure on local councils. You can read details of the five actions we seek in the letter attached. The collaboration brings together the on-the-ground expertise of district councils, the broader local government perspective of the LGA, county councils’ social care specialism, and the specialised knowledge of Crisis to tackle this critical issue. Cllr Hannah Dalton, District Councils’ Network housing spokesperson, said: “High use of temporary accommodation is the result of national policy failure which forces councils to expensively deal with the consequences of homelessness rather than prevent it in the first place. We seek extra powers to ensure sufficient affordable, good quality, secure homes are built in the first place, so we’re no longer reliant on often low-quality, high-cost temporary accommodation. “Temporary accommodation prevents people from putting roots down in their community and it leads to the disruption of education as children end up moving from school to school. It’s also financially crippling councils, taking up to 30% of some districts’ budgets and using up money we’d far rather spend on supporting people to avoid homelessness. “Councils are not receiving the funding they need to cover temporary accommodation costs – we urge ministers to unfreeze the Housing Benefit subsidy cap so it reflects the cost of providing accommodation today. However, our focus needs to be on finding longer-term solutions. “We need action to lift the barriers which prevent councils from building and retaining council housing, and which thwart us from ensuring that homes affordable for everyone in our community are built. “Overcoming homelessness once and for all would dramatically reduce the ill-health, low school attainment and lack of productivity associated with homelessness, reducing the burden on other public services and improving people’s lives.” Matt Downie, Chief Executive at Crisis, said: “Our housing and homelessness system are broken, and councils are paying a hefty price for years of inaction. It’s unacceptable that we have hundreds of thousands of children growing up having never known a home of their own home. Their young lives wracked by uncertainty and insecurity which risks untold damage to their health, education and life chances. “Councils are in between a rock and a hard place as they try to support families but without adequate levels of social housing, and proper investment, many are being pushed towards financial ruin. To pull councils back from the brink, the Autumn Budget must contain increased funding so they can continue to help people who need it most. But if we’re going to tackle the root cause of this crisis, it’s critical that alongside the positive steps on social housing the Westminster Government establishes a Unit for Ending Homelessness which is focused on ensuring we become a place where everyone has a safe place to call home.”  Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals