Government consults on scrapping housebuilding red tape
22 August 2013The government has launched a consultation process on the results of its recent review of Building Regulations and housing standards.
Communities minister Don Foster is proposing scrapping dozens of “unnecessary and confusing” measures imposed on housebuilders by councils and government in a bid to support growth in the housebuilding industry.
More than 100 standards that councils are free to apply locally are proposed to be reduced to fewer than 10, while the government wants more than 1,500 pages of guidance to reduce to fewer than 80. No changes are being made to planning rules.
The British Woodworking Federation said the standards review would affect the Lifetime Home Standards, Secured By Design and the Code for Sustainable Homes, aspects of which may be incorporated into Building Regulations, which could create additional requirements for accessibility, security and sustainability.
The UK’s largest builders group, the Federation of Master Builders welcomed the government’s move, saying the proliferation of standards had added complexity and cost to the housebuilding industry in recent decades.
“We would also welcome steps to incorporate any nationally described standards proposed by the review into Building Regulations in future,” it said.
