‘Phantom homes’ rap
Greedy builders sitting on land
HOUSEBUILDERS have been accused of profiting from a ‘phantom homes’ scandal to drive up property prices.
A report by housing charity Shelter says nearly one in three homes in England given planning permission in the past five years are unbuilt.
The charity claims the current system encourages developers to sit on land and slowly move towards building properties to keep prices high.
According to Shelter, profits at the UK’s top five housebuilders have soared by 388% over past five years and stood at a combined £3.3billion in 2016.
The damning claim comes amid a chronic home drought across Britain.
Shelter says the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the difficulty in rehousing residents, has shone a light on how serious the shortage of affordable homes has become.
Anne Baxendale, head of communications, policy and campaigns at Shelter, said: “While people across the country struggle with eye-wateringly high housing costs, developers’ profits are soaring into the billions. “Time and again we hear the red tape of the planning system being blamed, but the real problem is a system where developers make more profit sitting on land than they would by building homes.
“It’s clear our housebuilding system has failed the nation.
“But the Government can turn things around by supporting a whole new approach.”
The report follows criticism that developers have used so-called land banking to amass large swathes of building land to prevent rivals getting hold of it.