The Letwin Review rejects criticisms of land-banking and welcomes calls from industry bodies to diversify the housing market and speed up house building on large sites.

Small and medium-sized (SME) house builders have previously told the Government on repeated occasions that large sites which deliver standardised design, do not lead to good master planning and sustainable property sales.

The Review states the need to build on sites of all sizes, as well as identifying the lack of skilled workers as a major barrier to house building.

Letwin has made the following recommendations, suggesting they come into force in 2021:

• introducing new planning and funding rules for large sites in high housing demand areas;
• forming a national expert committee to adjudicate disputes;
• creation of a ‘flash’ skills programme to be delivered by major house builders;
• increasing compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers.

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) welcomes the Letwin Review’s conclusion on the skills challenge, the benefit of splitting large sites, and the importance of small sites. Richard Beresford, chief executive at the NFB, said: “The Letwin Review recognises that developers would rather build and sell, than not build at all. Its recommendations will help build sites more quickly. It also needs fine tuning to build the right homes and train skilled workers in the right places.”