Building on the King’s Speech and NPPF consultation, the government has unveiled its “New Homes Accelerator”, a bold plan to speed up blocked housing developments across England.

Setting a target to unlock 300,000 new homes across 200 large sites, the Accelerator is a bold step towards the government’s pledge to deliver 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament.

The announcement revealed a joint team across the Ministry of Housing and Homes England will work collaboratively with the government to spot and resolve obstacles, providing additional support to local authorities and developers to get construction underway.

The industry has widely welcomed the plans as a promising move to cut through red tape and overcome hurdles holding back delivery. However, how much horsepower the accelerator will have in tackling the deep-rooted problems holding back development is yet to be seen.

The accelerator’s core mission is clear – to deliver homes at pace – and says it’ll unblock sites by focusing on key areas, which include:

1. Establishing a new expert group: made up of government agencies, local planning departments and housebuilders, who will collaborate to resolve local issues that stall developments, ensuring a joined-up approach to unblock sites.
2. Calling for more sites: the government is urging developers and councils to submit details of large-scale housing projects that could benefit from immediate intervention.
3. Targeting specific stalled sites: immediate action will focus on three key sites, with Stretton Hall, Biggleswade Garden Community and Tendring mentioned, where more than 10,000 homes could be built.
4. Promoting public-private collaboration: the plans will encourage greater cooperation between local authorities, planning departments and developers to overcome site-specific challenges.
5. Boosting local planning capacity: in addition to the previous announcement to deploy 300 new planning officers, the government will allocate more resources to enhance local planning capabilities and speed up decision-making.

While the ambition is clear, how we’ll get there is another matter.

The industry has broadly welcomed the initiatives as a much-needed response to the housing crisis, but the true impact will depend on their ability to address the complex reasons why developments are stalled in the first place.

The proof, as they say, will be in the pudding.

Whilst the accelerator will no doubt help when it comes to overcoming sclerosis from local politics, significant challenges will remain. These include ecological concerns, inadequate infrastructure, grid connectivity, skills shortages and land availability – not to mention the estimated 100,000 homes currently blocked due to nutrient neutrality.

These more systemic hurdles will be harder to tackle and require nuanced solutions to overcome. These issues take time and close collaboration between private and public sectors to navigate, as we’ve seen in our support of the Hertfordshire Infrastructure Development Board. The forum has the primary aim of working in partnership to tackle these obstacles head-on, delivering sustainable economic growth and high-quality placemaking in Hertfordshire.

The speed of delivery – and success of the accelerator – will hinge on its ability to navigate similar complexities without compromising quality, environmental standards or community interests.

For the latter, the government and industry must prepare for a looming backlash from local authorities and the public, especially in areas facing increased housing targets or Green Belt reviews.

Top-down policy changes alone will not suffice. Without a shift in public perception, Starmer’s plans ‘to build a new Britain’ and ‘bulldoze’ a path through the planning system risks being perceived as a diktat and undermined by local opposition.

As an industry, we have a crucial role in reshaping these perceptions and demonstrating the need and appetite for homes.

Firstly, we must continue to prioritise close engagement with communities, demonstrating how best-practice placemaking can lead to real improvements in local quality of life.

The narrative must resonate and align with the lived experiences and aspirations of residents, reframing the built environment as a progressive and essential response to both the climate emergency and the housing crisis.

If Starmer is to realise his pledge to “fix the country’s foundations”, we’ll need to start at the bottom by reframing the debate on housing. We must demonstrate how the new homes brought in by the Accelerator aren’t rushed through as a knee-jerk necessity to tackle the housing crisis.

Instead, these new homes must be high quality, respond to the climate crisis and deliver meaningful social impact. And as an industry, we must ensure they’re planned with the community’s interests first.