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What is stopping consented housing sites from being built?

ended 18. August 2026

Bridging Loan Directory is examining why some residential developments do not progress, or are delayed, after planning permission has been secured.

The new National Planning Policy Framework says consented land should be developed without unnecessary delay, while recognising that build-out depends partly on local market conditions and sales absorption rates.

We would like to hear from SME developers, development finance lenders, brokers, planning consultants, land agents and new-build sales professionals with recent first-hand experience.

Please explain:

  • what type of scheme was involved and when consent was obtained;
  • what prevented or delayed construction;
  • whether buyer demand, sales rates, finance, build costs, infrastructure, planning conditions, labour or another issue was responsible;
  • whether the site has subsequently progressed; and
  • what would need to change for construction to begin.

Recent anonymised examples are welcome. Concise responses of approximately 100–200 words would be ideal.

After Bridging Loan Directory publishes the story, Newspage will adapt it for a wider consumer audience and distribute it to national and consumer media.

1 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Samuel Mather-Holgate
Managing Director & IFA at Mather and Murray Financial
This is another example of why UK housing policy is so dysfunctional. Getting planning permission is often treated as the finish line, when for many SME developers it is only the start of the obstacle course. A viable site can quickly become unviable if build costs rise, lenders tighten, planning conditions drag on, utilities are delayed or local sales values no longer support the original appraisal. The result is consented land sitting idle while politicians blame developers for “land banking”. In reality, many smaller builders would rather build and recycle their capital than sit on dead sites. What needs to change is delivery certainty: faster discharge of conditions, realistic infrastructure timelines, proportionate contributions and a finance environment that recognises SME developers are essential to supply. Britain does not have a shortage of housing targets. It has a shortage of schemes that can actually be built.