Delivering Housing at Scale: Key Insights from the HBF AGM

We recently attended the Home Builders Federation Annual General Meeting, with our audit partner Giuseppe representing Goodman Jones. Set against the Government’s ambition to deliver 1.5 million new homes by the end of the current Parliament, the AGM provided a timely macro‑level view of the pressures shaping housing delivery across the UK.

The conversations reinforced a wider industry reality. While the ambition to build more homes is clear, delivery is increasingly constrained by structural, financial and regulatory pressures. Three interlinked themes dominated the discussion.

Development viability under sustained pressure

Development viability has become one of the defining challenges for the sector. Planning delays continue to undermine certainty and slow site progression, while the increasing complexity of regulatory requirements, particularly around Biodiversity Net Gain, is adding cost, risk and time at scheme level.

These pressures are being amplified by higher interest rates, build cost inflation and ongoing geopolitical instability, including the impacts of the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Together, these factors are reshaping scheme economics across the market.

From our work advising housebuilders across audit and advisory matters, we are seeing greater emphasis on detailed viability modelling, cashflow forecasting and sensitivity analysis. Robust financial information is becoming essential not only at planning stage, but throughout the lifecycle of a development, particularly when engaging with funders and other stakeholders.

Affordability and the importance of demand confidence

Alongside supply‑side pressures, affordability remains a major constraint on delivery. Transaction volumes remain fragile, particularly for first‑time buyers and lower to middle income households, and this is feeding directly into developer and lender confidence.

There was renewed debate at the AGM around whether the re‑introduction of Help to Buy, or a similar demand‑side intervention, could help stimulate activity. This would be particularly relevant for SME developers, whose schemes are often targeted at these buyer groups.

In practice, affordability impacts sales rates, funding structures and overall scheme momentum. As advisers, we continue to see how critical realistic sales assumptions and forward‑looking financial forecasting are in managing this risk in a more cautious market.

Section 106 and delays to delivery

Section 106 obligations remain a significant friction point in the planning process. The current approach was widely viewed as contributing to delays and uncertainty, often becoming disconnected from changing economic and viability conditions.

With devolution and change at local authority level under way, there is concern that inconsistency between councils could increase unless reform is prioritised. In our experience, clear and credible financial evidence plays a key role in supporting constructive discussions around obligations and deliverability.

Skills and long‑term capacity

While not a central agenda item, there were also discussions around the need to continue attracting apprentices and new entrants into the industry. Skills and capacity remain an underlying risk to long‑term delivery and one that will become more pronounced if housing output is expected to increase meaningfully.

Aligning ambition with delivery

The overriding message from the HBF AGM was that housing delivery is not constrained by ambition, but by how well policy, planning and commercial reality align.

As advisers working closely with the housebuilding industry, these themes strongly reflect what we see across our client base. If you would like to discuss how these challenges are affecting your developments, or how we support housebuilders through audit, advisory and funding considerations, our team would be pleased to have a conversation.

Author: Giuseppe Scozzaro