With a pledge to build 1.6 million homes over the next parliament, or 320,000 per year, numerous policies have been included around housing and development.

Here, experts across the development industry have their say:

Paul Rickard, managing director at property developer Pocket Living

“We were hoping for a suite of bolder and more ambitious policies to tackle the root cause of the housing crisis – the shortage of supply. Our planning system needs urgent intervention and resourcing, especially with regards to streamlining the process for unlocking small brownfield sites.

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"Our SME housebuilders have never been fewer in number than they are today. Our ability to build new homes and the supporting infrastructure has never been under greater strain.”

Brian Berry, CEO of the Federation of Master Builders

“The plan to build 1.6 million homes over the next five years, delivered through increased building on urban brownfield land, is positive, however it will remain insufficient to tackle the scale of the crisis the UK faces.

"The next government will need to go much further in delivering the homes that Britain needs.” 

Sav Patel, associate director at planning consultancy Lanpro Services
 
“The mechanisms set out to achieve [the 1.6 million house building target] are unbalanced. There is an emphasis on major urban areas, with faster planning permissions for brownfield sites, higher densities in London and more urban development corporations — bringing forward this type of development is often complex and lengthy.

"There is no encouragement for higher delivery rates in the rest of the country." 

DFT will deliver a further analysis of these policies once all major parties’ manifestos have been published.