The housing market hits a snag
The housing market is facing significant challenges, as highlighted by a recent report by the UK competition regulator. While the focus of the report is on larger scale housing developments in the context of the government pledge to deliver 1.5 million homes over the current parliament, the findings are also pertinent for homeowners, landlords and individual property developers.
The report of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) sheds light on several critical issues that centre around excessive bureaucracy, costs, and challenges with delivery for the homebuyers and builders. These include:
A complex and unpredictable planning system causing frustrating delays.
Persistent under-delivery of new homes, especially in high-demand areas.
Opaque and often high estate management charges.
Increasing reports of snagging issues and quality concerns.
The most pertinent of these issues for our audience are quality and regulation. It is clear from the report that the incentives to compete on quality and offer a great and long lasting product are not there. Added to which how thin the margins are for contractors with spiralling costs of materials and lack of skilled workers. Nor are there sufficient or clear routes to redress when quality issues arise. The examples given in the report are the rise of snagging issues and the rise of serious issues such as collapsing staircases and ceilings.
In response to these issues, the CMA has put forward several recommendations, including streamlining the planning system to accelerate project commencement, establishing an Ombudsman with a single consumer code, and introducing new consumer protections. The government now has to consider what action it will take, which may include providing better access to project work for smaller builders to increase diversity and increase competition in the market.
With ClearBuild you can get ahead of these issues:
Snagging issues are easy to capture, track and address via our platform, with easy mapping back to contract requirements so it’s fair for everyone.
Costs transparency is built in so you can see exactly where you are and keep a handle on changes.
The communications elements of our tool make it easy to collaborate, share information and keep relationships on track when the pressure is on.
Updates and suggestions from the platform help you keep track of compliance requirements and know regulatory requirements are taken care of.
Looking ahead, the trajectory in the industry is towards greater collaboration, quality and transparency in the building industry. Whether you are embarking on your dream home build, a landlord handling estate management, or a builder or developer delivering projects, ClearBuild helps you transform your approach.
Book a demo today and join us in building the future.