Abri considers the future of housebuilding after placing 17th in Inside Housing’s Top 50 Biggest Builders

This financial year has seen Abri continue to make good headway with over 1,000 new homes identified for delivery, building on the 1,600 delivered in the last two years – the majority of which are affordable housing.

Although, while we’re demonstrating good progress we’re also well aware of the challenges that continue to face the housebuilding sector.

One of these challenges is the much-discussed issue of achieving planning permission in the face of ‘nutrient neutrality’ to control levels of nitrates and phosphates in our water systems, primarily across the south of England. We need to protect this most valuable of our natural resources, but it’s an issue that is a blocker to development across dozens of planning authorities and we need to work together to resolve it quickly. One possible solution would be the introduction of a levy on new developments, paid by developers, which could help provide the resources needed to fund the reduction of phosphates in protected sites.

In addition to this environmental and planning challenge, the shortage of materials and labour continues to be a problem, exacerbated somewhat by rising inflation and interest rates.

But I don’t want to be too negative at a time when we’re celebrating the progress we’ve all made this year in creating homes for the people who need them most. There are plenty of reasons to be positive and looking at it from Abri’s perspective, we’re somewhat insulated from some of these challenges.

For example, having our own in-house housebuilding team, which we’re growing all the time, is allowing us to rise above some of these issues and still deliver high quality homes more efficiently using our own resources.

We’ve also found that an innovative mindset, coupled with greater collaboration with our strategic partners, helps mitigate current challenges and safeguard against future ones. We’re keen to continue the strong partnerships we’ve already built and we remain on the lookout for new ones.

Take, for instance, our continuing strategic partnership with Homes England – and also Wayfarer, a consortium of 17 affordable housing providers, including five local authorities, drawn together to help unlock vital sources of grant funding. Being able to lean on others’ experience and expertise to develop quality homes is invaluable. In terms of Wayfarer, we look forward to growing the partnership and helping members access more vital funds that will allow them to deliver the next generation of new homes.

Looking to the future – innovation is essential. I know this word is grossly overused but in the years to come we’re planning to really ramp up how many new homes we deliver using Modern Methods of Construction and that really is an example of innovating how we go about building.

For Abri, at the heart of all this there remains a simply and clear objective: building quality homes and creating safe, comfortable communities where people can thrive. This closely aligns with Homes England’s own placemaking approach to housing and is central to what’s set out in the recently published Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill.

A key part of this will be ensuring homes are as efficient and economical to live in as possible. The current energy and cost of living crises have really shone a light on this. That’s why we’re working hard to make sure all the homes we deliver meet the FutureHomes standard ahead of the government’s 2025 target.

The need for more homes remains stark and meeting England’s unmet need for housing is a generational challenge. But we’re firm believers that, with close collaboration and an innovative mindset, it can be achieved. We look forward to continuing to contribute over the next year and for many years to come.