Shaping the future for SME housebuilders: Key takeaways from UKREiiF 2025 panel
Small and medium-sized housebuilders play a vital role in delivering high-quality, locally focused development. At this year’s UKREiiF, an expert panel gathered to discuss what the future looks like for SME builders in the current policy landscape, and what’s still holding them back.
Chaired by Daniel Joyce (Close Brothers Property Finance), the session included Sean Ellis (Fernham Homes), Nicola Curle (Birketts), Chris Thompson (CITU), and explored key challenges around planning, policy, and finance.
Here are the key takeaways, and how industry and government can better support SME-led delivery.
1. Policy intent is there, but practice is lagging
Sean Ellis highlighted a familiar frustration, despite the positive tone of planning reform, particularly around the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and “greybelt” amendments, SMEs aren’t yet seeing the impact in real-time decision-making.
“It’s a fantastic start, but we haven’t seen the changes filter through. The biggest challenge is cash flow. Despite industry noise, we aren’t banking sites, and we can’t afford to - we need immediate funding and visible policy action.”
SMEs often operate with lean teams and limited planning capacity, meaning that delays and technical back-and-forths have outsized consequences.
2. Planning still feels ‘brutal’, especially for SMEs
All speakers agreed, while there are pockets of good practice, the planning process can feel inconsistent and overwhelming.
Chris Thompson pointed to brownfield, medium-density developments as essential to sustainable communities, but also among the hardest to unlock due to complexity and technical barriers.
“Planning is a brutal process on both sides. Some minor technical details have taken us three years to resolve.”
Nicola Curle echoed the challenge of certainty, especially at detailed consent stage. Even with officer support and extensive consultation, refusals still happen, disincentivising early investment.
At TerraQuest, our land finding services are designed to help developers better understand constraints and policy risks at the outset. These insights are increasingly important in a world where pre-application discussions, clarity, and certainty are essential to unlocking value.
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3. Resourcing in local authorities is a real barrier
SMEs thrive on local knowledge, relationships, and agility. But when under-resourced planning teams slow decisions or vary in their interpretation of policy, the system becomes a lottery.
“There’s a disconnect with local communities. We need trust, early engagement, and yes, the private sector should help fill that resource gap,” said Sean Ellis.
The panel supported proposals for ring-fenced planning resource and more training routes into the profession, echoing sentiments shared elsewhere at UKREiiF. There was broad agreement that public-private collaboration, underpinned by trust, could ease short-term blockages while structural changes are made.
Planning Portal’s user data shows increasing volumes of planning submissions in Q1 2025, a trend that signals opportunity but also strains existing local planning authority (LPA) capacity.
4. Confidence, certainty, and consumer demand must align
Developers can only build at the rate they can sell, and consumer confidence remains uneven. Nicola Curle noted that both large and small sites require similar planning input, but SMEs don’t always have the capacity to carry long-term risk without more certainty on planning outcomes or sales demand.
“We need government intervention to help stimulate market confidence, and we need planning certainty to match.”
5. It’s not just about quantity, it’s about quality and sustainability
Chris Thompson urged a focus beyond raw housing numbers.
“We’re not just building homes, we’re shaping sustainable communities. That means factoring in carbon, energy, and design from day one.”
Speakers called for more emphasis on placemaking, design reviews, and certainty in technical assessment standards, without unnecessary delay.
The takeaway: support must match ambition
94% of SME housebuilders are calling for more targeted support, and this panel made clear why, while policy is heading in the right direction, practical barriers around finance, planning certainty, land availability, and local authority capacity are still slowing the pace of delivery.
SMEs are agile, local, and focused on quality, but to deliver at scale, they need joined-up thinking between government, planners, and the private sector.
At Planning Portal and TerraQuest, we’re committed to supporting SME developers with the digital tools, data, and land intelligence they need to reduce risk, accelerate planning, and focus on building better places.
