Savills SME housebuilders report demonstrates huge potential

New research by Savills commissioned by LDS Sales Guarantees reveals there are more than 135,000 homes in the development pipeline on house-led sites for SME housebuilders in England and Wales, with a latent development value of around £40bn.

The proportion of homes built by SMEs has fallen from 39% to 10% since 1988.

The use of LDS Sales Guarantees enables SME housebuilders to treble or quadruple output, potentially returning to historic and required levels of supply.

This would mean SME housebuilders could deliver more than 55,000 additional new homes per year, adding £12.9bn per year in GVA, and supporting nearly 200,000 jobs in the construction industry.

Full Savills report and LDS summary at the bottom of the page.

Restoring SME housebuilding to historic levels could provide 55,000 extra homes and £12.9bn additional GVA each year

“Following the financial crash there was a huge decline in the number of SMEs operating in the market, with the industry becoming increasingly dependent on a small number of big housebuilders. Whilst these play an important role, they cannot construct the homes the country needs alone and their dominant position can result in reduced consumer choice and the slower build out of sites. This report illustrates why we’re determined to remove the barriers SMEs face; freeing them up to get building and creating a more resilient and competitive market.”

Rosemary Davenport, spokesperson at Homes England

“SME housebuilders have faced a number of challenges in recent decades, but there is positivity in the market. The potential is there for SMEs to increase their output, if more can be done to help them deliver the additional homes. Unblocking the finance barrier is a key step that will help enable this growth.”

Lucy Greenwood, Director of Residential Research and Consultancy at Savills

Contact info@LDSyoursite.com if you would like to receive a copy of the Savills report and LDS summary.