Our Residential Development Sentiment Survey encapsulates the opinions of over 130 of the UK’s leading house builders, investors, developers, landowners, professional services and public sector bodies, together with our own to provide a definitive view of the state of the UK’s residential development market.

The survey's aim was to identify the areas of greatest concern within the residential sector and where the potential routes to full recovery may lie.

Key findings:

• Government-backed mortgage intervention schemes such as Help To Buy appear to be supporting housing delivery while increasing confidence among developers and financiers. Detractors, however, warn of an unsustainable housing market bubble.
• PRS may help to alleviate latent demand in small areas of the UK, but it will not address the long-term lack of affordable housing.
• The complex nature of the planning system - in particular, issues surrounding release of land for development, planning gain and, more specifically, affordable housing - are affecting the viability of new developments.
• The power of local communities and lack of robust local planning guidance has led to tensions within local communities and a return of the planning by appeal culture seen in the early 2000’s.

Read the full findings in our report >>

View the full press release >> 

Daniel Bolton, Associate Director and Residential Specialist at LSH, said: “The findings of our survey recommend the government considers a total review of the housing market in favour of a more coherent strategy, one which extends beyond party political boundaries and above short-term populist policies.”

Round table debate

The findings from our survey will fuel a series of round table discussions, providing a platform for debate around what can be done to solve the current housing shortage.

If you are interested in securing a place at one of our round tables, please contact ebamber@lsh.co.uk for more information.