New taxes and rules add £4.5bn a year to developer costs, says HBF

New taxes, levies, regulations and policies will add £4.5bn to housing developer costs each year. A report by the Home Builders Federation has highlighted 12 changes to taxes and regulations in the three years from April this year, which it estimates will cost the industry approximately £20,000 per new home. The biggest single cost cited by the HBF comes from the Future Homes Standard, set to come into force in 2025. This requires that new homes have low-carbon heating and are highly energy efficient and could cost £1.9bn a year, according to the HBF. Developers already face estimated additional costs of more than £5,000 per home to meet stricter regulations on energy efficiency brought in this year, plus the recently introduced building safety levy. Tougher environmental rules to try to protect biodiversity and reduce pollution caused by development have also added costs. The HBF said it supports all of the measures “in concept” but that too little had been done to understand “the impacts that could be felt as a result, either for the speed and volume of housing supply or for the ongoing investment in public infrastructure and affordable housing”. The FT (£)