The report — entitled The Road to a Proportionate System — is backed by an all-parliamentary group for SME housebuilders.

The chair of this group, MP Sarah Edwards, has thrown her support behind this.

Contributors to the report include Nicholas Boys Smith MBE, former chair of the government’s Office for Place, and Jack Airey, former No.10 special adviser on housing.

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The nine points are as follows:

1. Redefine “medium-sized” sites in London as 10–150 homes to reflect real-world delivery patterns and unlock thousands of SME-led homes. Use National Development Management Policies (NDMPs) to embed proportionality in four areas: tenure flexibility, presumption in favour, viability exemptions, and streamlined validation.

2. Endorse national S106 templates through planning guidance to cut delays, legal costs, and negotiation burdens for SME developers.

3. Introduce “brownfield passports” via NDMPs and Local Development Orders to legalise predictable, low-risk intensification and boost SME-led delivery.

4. Amend the Planning & Infrastructure Bill to introduce tiered, cost-neutral planning fees and capped PPAs, reducing disproportionate burdens on SMEs.

5. Set national planning validation requirements proportionate to scheme size, cutting delays and unlocking SME-led infill and small site delivery.

6. Introduce a clear NDMP granting automatic approval for brownfield housing schemes under 0.5 hectares.

7. Reform post-crisis mortgage rules, raising caps and fixing the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme to reflect modern affordability and support SME delivery.

8. Exempt or simplify BNG requirements for small brownfield schemes and SMEs to enable delivery without undermining ecology.

9. Give retirement housing schemes on small town-centre brownfield sites a presumption in favour and cost exemptions to boost SME delivery and local economic vitality.

“With the volume builders struggling to deliver the homes we need due a combination of regulatory delays and a softening sales climate for large-phase developments, in part driven by the dearth of support for first-time buyers, there is a golden opportunity for SMEs to step in and take up the slack,” said Paul Rickard, CEO at Pocket Living which is part of the coalition.

“Our nine-point plan would unlock a wave of sector growth not seen since the 1970s, reversing decades of decline and unlocking the full potential of SME-led delivery.”