BNP Paribas says penalise public sector landholders for land banking25th September 2013

In response to Labour leader Ed Miliband’s promise to build 200,000 homes, as announced yesterday in a speech in Brighton, Samuel Blake, Director of Development and Residential Consulting at BNP Paribas Real Estate, said:

“Any attention on the undersupplied housing market is to be welcomed, but the current Government policies, as well as economic recovery, are already making house building more attractive. On the ground, housebuilders are increasingly keen to step up production, with the main barrier now the lengthy planning process.

Local authorities are already being encouraged to release land for housing, but more creative policies could accelerate this. Why not, rather than penalise developers for perceived 'land banking' (which Labour have also proposed), do this for public sector landholders? Or more palatably, reward them for releasing the land by topping up their receipts per plot delivered.”