L&Q has a seat at the table in housebuilding discussion with Prime Minister

Theresa May has met with L&Q Chief Executive David Montague and other representatives from across the housing industry to discuss what can be done to accelerate the delivery of new homes.

In February, the Government published a white paper, ‘Fixing our broken housing market’, which shared proposals of how they sought to tackle the significant housing crisis facing the UK. This has been followed by a number of recent housing announcements such as the extension of Help to Buy, a £2billion funding boost for affordable housing, and a paper on social housing reform which will be published early next year.

Theresa May used Tuesday’s round table – which brought together senior figures from across the housebuilding spectrum, including L&Q, the G15, private developers, and local government – to challenge the housing industry to build more homes, more quickly.

May shared her plans to increase housing supply and spoke with developers, housing associations and local authorities about boosting their own housebuilding efforts. She also asked the group about the legislative challenges they face, and how the Government can reduce these challenges to facilitate the delivery of homes.

David Montague, L&Q Chief Executive, said:

“It was an honest discussion about what needs to be done, what the barriers were, and how we can work together to overcome those barriers. We talked about the importance of flexibility and partnership as well as investment in skills and delivering land.

“We’re speaking a common language now and that hasn’t always been the way. There is an understanding that home ownership is an important part of what the Government wants to achieve, however we’ve got to invest in all tenures to ensure everyone has a quality home they can afford.

“As an industry we are ready to step up. L&Q has an ambitious plan to enable the delivery of 100,000 homes over the next 10 years and I look forward to working with the Government and partners across the industry to boost supply and tackle the housing crisis head on.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said:

“At the meeting, the Prime Minister emphasised the government’s ambition to tackle one of the biggest challenges facing our country today – fixing the broken housing market. For too many people, home ownership has moved increasingly out of reach, and people are finding themselves spending longer in insecure private rented accommodation that is becoming ever more expensive.

“It was a positive and collaborative meeting which needs to signal a step change in house building if we are to build a country that truly works for everyone.”