Planning reform for small builders: how to build more homes with less delay

00:00 — Cold Open: Scrapping Planning Permission for Small Builders

Gideon: Why don't we look at whether we could create an ability for small builders to build houses without planning permission at all — in the same way you can build an extension without planning permission? Why not be able to build a couple of houses without permission, provided you stick within the same kind of rules?

We all come across people who've been let down by cowboy builders — those who will close down a company on Friday and open a new one on Monday. It's absolutely shocking that just over £3 billion of the apprenticeship levy was handed back to the Treasury because it wasn't used between 2020 and 2023.

00:50 — Introduction: Meet Gideon Amos MP

Iona: Hello, and welcome to our episode of Build Up from the Basement, here at the Federation of Master Builders. I'm delighted to say we have Gideon Amos, our first Lib Dem MP guest. Hello, Gideon, how are you?

Gideon: Absolutely fine — pleasure to be invited, thank you.

Iona: Gideon is the housing and communities spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, MP for Taunton and Wellington, and previously CEO of the Town and Country Planning Association. You've had a long career in planning and architecture — what drew you to that world?

Gideon: I grew up working on building sites in my school holidays. My dad was an architect and a planner, so I gravitated toward buildings and places through my own interest. I went into architecture, but moved quickly into planning and consenting — that became my main career.

01:50 — From Planning Career to Parliament

Iona: So what made you switch from that career to becoming an MP?

Gideon: I've always been a liberal, really. I was a councillor in my 20s, then career options meant politics wasn't really viable for a number of years. In 2015–16 I didn't like the way things were going in the country and thought, "If I don't do something now, I never will." I stood in 2017 and 2019, and won in 2024.

02:32 — Shaping Housing Policy from a Planning Background

Iona: How has your professional background shaped your policy ideas on housing and planning?

Gideon: I think it's important to recognize development can be a good thing for people and communities — that sometimes gets lost. My background at the Town and Country Planning Association, an unusual charity, believes development done right is a solution to a lot of our problems, rather than the enemy many communities see it as.

As an MP, part of my role is mediating that debate with local constituents and community groups. I hope my background brings a sense of what can be achieved — though it isn't always achieved, and we know some development projects aren't great. I hope a sense of idealism underlies my interest in housing and development, and how we can make it a force for good.

03:47 — Local Development in Taunton and Wellington

Iona: Is there anything in your own patch you'd point to?

Gideon: Sure — I've opposed the odd development, like one at the foot of the Wellington Monument, which I feel should be a protected area. But I've also supported thousands of new homes in Taunton and Wellington. We had higher-than-average population growth between the last two censuses — nearly 7%, about 3–4% above the national average. So it's a town that's had a lot of development, and generally been accepting of it, with protests thrown in too — that's communities' right, and it's important they have that voice.

I take a selective approach and generally don't get stuck into local applications — I recognize the need for new housing, but occasionally I'll object if something isn't right.

05:05 — Can Infrastructure Cope With More Housing?

Iona: Your patch is taking on a lot more housing — can infrastructure cope?

Gideon: That's the huge thing people are concerned about. They see new housing going up, yet they can't get a GP appointment. We just had a GP surgery close in Wellington, and yet thousands of new houses are proposed.

There's also a question of scale. The new government's NPPF means Somerset Council has to find a 41% increase in new housing plots — that's 75,000 new homes in the next planned period for the county, with our share around Taunton at 15,000–20,000. These are big numbers, and frankly I'm not convinced about how the planning numbers are shaking down with the new standard method. We do need housing, but the scale of the new metrics isn't actually helping the debate.

06:14 — 1.5 Million Homes: Is the Government's Target Achievable?

Iona: The government wants 1.5 million new homes, and there's a lot of criticism they won't do it. Where are they going wrong, and how would you do it differently?

Gideon: Our manifesto recognizes the need for around 380,000 homes a year — the level experts say we need — but it's very clear on a community-led approach. We'd argue for that increase at local level, in town halls and public meetings, and get decisions made locally. I don't think pulling a lever in Whitehall and removing powers from local communities is ultimately going to be successful — especially when you overlay the new standard method numbers with the fact Somerset has 13,000 unbuilt housing permissions.

I understand builders need a pipeline, but 13,000 unbuilt homes is a lot when you're asking for another 75,000 planning permissions. The ambition is there, but we need that debate with communities so they have a say. We're building homes for communities and for people — they shouldn't be seen as the obstacle in this debate. I think that's where the government's going wrong.

Iona: So more community voice and conversation?

Gideon: More community voice — though that can make permissions harder to get through. But we live in a democracy, and if you take things too far to the centre, eventually the pendulum swings the other way and you get a government going in the opposite direction.

08:14 — Helping Small Builders Compete With the "Big Boys"

Iona: Our members are small building companies doing local work — they used to build a lot more houses, now only about 10%. How can we get small builders prioritized over the big developers for land?

Gideon: This is genuinely one of the reasons I was happy to come on your podcast — I think small firms are absolutely key. Some of the government's planning reforms are right, and there's a consensus the planning system has become very difficult for small builders, which is one of the factors squeezing them out of the market and making it hard for new entrants.

The older generation is retiring and new ones aren't coming in, and we should turn that around, because local builders are rooted in their communities. If people see local jobs and local people involved in projects, they're much more willing to be supportive of them.

I'm actually exploring an idea to expand permitted development rights. I worked on small projects early in my career, and the difference between planning and building regs regimes is stark — building regs is relatively straightforward: you meet the standard, you can build it, it's mostly about quality. Planning is an unknown; it can go on for months, sometimes years — often due to a lack of resources in planning departments.

10:40 — The Proposal: Scrap Planning Permission for Small-Scale Builds

Gideon: Why don't we look at creating an ability for small builders to build houses without planning permission at all — the same way you can build an extension without it? Why not build a couple of houses without permission, provided you stick within the same rules? I'd be really interested in exploring how we free up that sector from planning control. They could still meet the same standards, and if there's an infrastructure levy to pay, they could pay it — we don't necessarily need the full planning process for small developments.

Iona: That's a really good point. But if you gave that much freedom, shouldn't you also regulate the small builders sector? Look at the "Warmer Homes" plan rollout, done by some dodgy builders — aren't you at risk of the same problem?

Gideon: (laughs) I see what you did there — great link to the whole question of licensing.

12:23 — Licensing Builders to Tackle Rogue Traders

Gideon: The licensing of builders is a really interesting proposal, I believe from the FMB, and I'm actively looking at whether the Liberal Democrats could incorporate it as policy. We all come across people let down by cowboy builders — those who close a company on Friday and open a new one on Monday, a phoenix from the flames, who travel the country as unknown quantities, and those who are heavy-handed to get money out of people. It gives a shocking impression of the industry when we know most builders are working really hard.

The margins aren't big, and it's not easy work — when you hit 45 or 50, your back starts to hurt. It's really tough out there, and many of my friends in my own town are small builders, so I get the dilemma they're in.

Anything that gives both the industry and consumers a sense of assurance is really valuable. There are schemes out there already — Master Builders and others — and people do use them, so there's clear demand. I'm sympathetic to it, though we haven't debated it as a party yet — our members make policy at conference, so it hasn't gone through that process. But as spokesperson, I'm very sympathetic and will look at bringing it into our policy.

Iona: We've done research showing £14.3 billion has been lost over the last five years, and more recently £11.5 billion a year lost to the economy because of rogue builders.

Gideon: Really?

Iona: People have been losing money — and it feeds into perception of the industry. If it were regulated, do you think people would have more respect for it?

14:18 — Fixing the Industry's Image Problem to Attract New Talent

Iona: We also found that less than half of parents would recommend their child take up a career in construction. With AI changing the world, manual jobs are arguably becoming more important — AI likely can't build a house. How do we encourage people into the industry? It just wasn't on my radar at school.

Gideon: That's really interesting, and it pays quite well if you do it well. We've got huge projects near me — Hinkley Point, the biggest construction site in Europe, 12 miles from where I live, and the Agratas battery factory just outside my constituency. There's real demand for a workforce.

I think skills training isn't working the way it should to feed people into the industry, and schools aren't doing enough to present this as a real option — you could go to uni, or you could do an apprenticeship, train up, and be on a pretty good salary quite quickly. A lot of people don't realize that; they just think about working outside in winter. But the reward is there, and there's real camaraderie on a good site — it can be a great place to work.

Iona: Definitely — the banter too. But it is tough: long hours, demanding clients, and that's initially off-putting.

16:19 — Solving the Construction Skills Crisis

Iona: Moving to skills — we have a massive shortage and an ageing workforce, likely to get worse with material costs rising. What can be done to encourage small building companies to take on apprentices, especially when apprentices might leave after a year, and with NI going up too? How do we solve the skills crisis?

Gideon: It's skills and workforce — and you'd expect me to say this as a Lib Dem, but 200,000 EU workers left UK construction since 2019. If that doesn't underline what a disaster Brexit has been for our country, I don't know what does. We've drained away a huge number of workers. We absolutely need to train up our UK workforce — though a lot of them apparently don't want to do it.

To be honest, we're always going to need both — UK workforce and flexibility in the labour market, given how projects like Hinkley come in waves. That's why we want to see at least rejoining the customs union, which would help with materials costs, which massively went through the roof in 2021–22 — most building materials are UK-based, but a substantial proportion aren't.

Coming back to skills — it's absolutely shocking that just over £3 billion of the apprenticeship levy was handed back to the Treasury because it wasn't used between 2020 and 2023.

Iona: What is that about — where's the money?

Gideon: I think what's happened is the link between the employer and the apprenticeship scheme has somehow gotten broken, and we're worried the new Skills England body has made that worse, because employers aren't in the driving seat. We'd put employers back in the driving seat of Skills England, and give each company a skills account showing both what they pay into the levy and what skills training colleges need to provide to meet that company's needs — so you can see what you're paying in and what you're getting out.

We'd also give tax credits for key sectors — and we've named construction as one of those — so you could offset training costs against corporation tax as an allowable expense. Pulling those things together, we hope it would give a real boost to construction and skills. Vince Cable, as our business secretary in government, presided over a massive increase in apprenticeships — that's what we need to get back to.

19:48 — Why Schools Steer Students Away From Trades

Iona: It's funny — a lot of guests blame Tony Blair for promoting university over apprenticeships. There's also an issue with career leads in schools not bringing in people from different sectors to sell those careers to students. If no one's doing that, there's a massive gap for GCSE leavers who don't want to go to college — the message just isn't getting across.

Gideon: I think there's a real opportunity — let's get kids onto some of these big sites and excite them about the innovative projects happening. I mentioned Hinkley and Agratas, the battery factory — one of the biggest in Europe. There are genuinely exciting, cutting-edge projects; we just need to excite people about it and make it easier for companies to train up and take on apprentices.

20:57 — On-Site Life: What Gideon Would Change Overnight

Iona: When you were working on-site, if you could change one thing overnight, what would it be?

Gideon: Better canteens.

Iona: (laughs) Better canteens — I thought you'd say something about the loos! Better loos, not those horrible public ones.

Gideon: No — I generally liked working on-site because you're close to the project. I think, actually, you touched on it earlier: respect for people working in construction. I don't think they get the respect they deserve — they're doing quite dangerous jobs, and safety's improved massively, though things are hugely safer than they used to be. Most builders spend a lot of time thinking about how to do things safely, as it should be — doesn't mean we don't need to keep improving. But they do take risks, and I don't think the public really appreciates that. Better public understanding could go a long way toward instilling more respect for the industry.

Iona: It's interesting — does the perception problem fall on industry or government? Really, it falls on everyone to change that perception and make it more attractive.

22:22 — "Use It or Lose It": Unlocking Empty Council Housing

Iona: Onto the Lib Dem "use it or lose it" policy — I really like this one. Council houses just sitting empty — how do you get those sorted and sold?

Gideon: That's a key question. Our problem with some of the planning reforms is they're all geared toward more permissions, which generally favours the big developers getting hundreds of unit permissions for sites they've promoted for years. Then we have this backlog — 13,000-plus unbuilt permissions. Cranking up the number of permissions isn't necessarily going to get a single extra house built.

From our point of view, there are two big things government needs to do to actually bring sites forward. One is bigger direct investment in council and social housing — we've never hit the house-building levels of the mid-20th century, around 300,000 a year, without a big contribution from council housing. The government's come up with £3.9 billion a year for social housing, which we welcome, but our manifesto called for £6 billion a year — a real step change in funding.

I'm also interested in getting more value for money — the social housing subsidy is around £100,000 per house, partly subsidizing rent, but we need to build more for our money. One route is the new law allowing councils to acquire land at existing-use value if it's for social housing, health, or public services — to be fair to the Conservatives, they put that into their LRA Act just before the election. Landowners always want top dollar, but existing-use value isn't a bad price to secure. We haven't seen councils take advantage of it yet, and we'd like to see that pushed forward — if councils can get land cheaply, they can more easily build the social housing we need.

The other lever is funding infrastructure. Sites get held back because a spine road hasn't been built or a GP surgery isn't funded, so there are objections. If you get the infrastructure in early, what community doesn't want a new GP surgery? In return, they're much more willing to accept housing around it. In Wellington, we've got a new railway station coming, which I've campaigned hard for and we recently got the green light for. There will be housing associated with that. So: fund social housing and fund infrastructure upfront — those two things would unlock a lot of stalled sites, more than simply cranking out more permissions on top of ones that haven't been built.

26:11 — Funding the Plan and Looking Ahead to the Local Elections

Iona: Where's the money for that £6 billion coming from?

Gideon: That's capital spending, costed in our manifesto — we see it as an investment in the future. We'll do another costing manifesto ahead of the next election.

Iona: How are you feeling about the local elections coming up?

Gideon: I think we're in a good place. We have sensible policies, prioritizing care in the NHS as our number one, alongside defence and cost of living — those are our key priorities, and I think the party will do pretty well. But let's see in a couple of weeks.

27:11 — Elevator Pitch: What the Lib Dems Offer Small Builders

Iona: Finally, since our members are small businesses — what's your elevator pitch for what you'll do for them?

Gideon: In terms of small builders specifically: more funding into building social housing, some of which could be directed at small builders and small sites by local councils and housing associations; more support for skills and training, including tax breaks for those companies; and, as I said earlier, exploring whether we can free up planning for small builders in particular.

Iona: Brilliant, Gideon — thank you so much. Is there anything else you'd like to add? Perfect. Thank you very much, and thank you everyone watching and listening — we'll catch up with you soon.