Berkeley Group has endorsed the Government’s target to deliver 1.5 million new homes during this Parliament, announcing plans to start an additional 10,000 private and affordable homes over the next five years.
This move would represent a major increase in Berkeley’s output, with the company delivering over 3,900 homes across all tenures in the last financial year.
In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, Berkeley Group’s Chief Executive Rob Perrins outlined the five key actions to achieve this “ambitious expansion”:
- Invest more working capital into existing long-term projects to accelerate production
- Bring new sites into production by securing deliverable planning and statutory approvals for a further 10 major regeneration projects including Bromley by Bow Gasworks, and the potentially transformative Ladywood regeneration in Birmingham
- Deploy over £1 billion of fresh investment capital into a new 4,000 home Build to Rent programme
- Reopen Berkeley’s land investment programme, having not bought a significant new site in more than two and a half years
- Maintain a commitment to education and training by ensuring at least 5% of the workforce is engaged with these areas as the company expands
Rob Perrins, CEO of Berkeley Group said, “Berkeley is determined to play its full part in supporting the mission to deliver 1.5 million new homes. Our ambition to start an additional 10,000 private and affordable homes is stretching, but with a truly collaborative approach it is achievable.
“Success depends on being able to successfully work in partnership across all levels of government, with key regulators like the Building Safety Regulator, and with statutory consultees of all kinds to work through the practical and economic challenges of each project to find a solution which serves the local community and gets homes built.
“This is a moment where we can collectively raise our ambitions and work together to better address the national housing emergency. By consistently prioritising the delivery of homes, and focusing on directly delivering the amenities people want to see for their communities, we can build far more of the good green homes we all want to see.”