NHBC's response to the publication of the Lyons Review

“NHBC welcomes the comprehensive nature of the Lyons Review and the commitment by Labour to put housing at the top of the policy agenda. The UK still has a chronic shortage of new homes so we warmly support measures that will help support the delivery of more high quality homes.

"In particular, we support Labour's proposal to make housing a capital spending priority and the commitment to help small builders to grow and prosper. Recent research, carried out by the NHBC Foundation, has found that small house builders and developers in the UK face serious barriers to growth with planning, access to finance and land availability highlighted as the biggest challenges for small companies. For example, one third of small builders said that that the planning application process and conditions attached to planning represented a major challenge to their business.

"It is critical that any new policies do not impose unnecessary bureaucratic burdens on the UK house building industry at a time when we need to build on encouraging levels of growth over recent years.

"We look forward to reviewing the Lyons review in more detail and to working with all the main parties in the run-up to the general election to ensure that the UK is building the high quality homes we need."