The TrustedLand Advocacy Toolkit: A 10-Year Roadmap for UK Property Development

Could the UK construction industry improve thanks to the SME developer:?We have a deep ecosystem of local builders, specialist contractors, and agile developers who just aren’t building at the moment. This is why we have launched the TrustedLand Advocacy Toolkit. It isn’t just a document; it is a guide to politicians across the country on what could be done to unlock growth.

The “SME Potential”: The opportunity to HElp

SMEs tell us that the following prevent them from investing into more projects.

Prohibitive Planning Costs: The financial burden of preparing a planning application is mcuh greater per plot for 5 units as it is for 50.
Funding Gaps: Traditional lenders have retreated, leaving smaller firms to navigate a complex web of alternative finance.
Supply Chain Vulnerability: Without a steady pipeline of small sites, local sub-contractors and merchants lose the consistent work they need to grow.

The 10-Year Roadmap: Start with the Short-Term Wins

We don’t need to wait a decade to improve delivery. The most important part of the TrustedLand Advocacy Toolkit for construction leaders and policymakers is the 0–12 month action plan: practical changes that can unlock stalled sites, reduce delivery risk, and get local building activity moving again.

Short Term (0–12 Months): The Fastest Route to Delivery

1. Unlock Small‑Site Opportunities

Incentivise Local Authorities and SMEs to collaborate on small and brownfield sites through streamlined consents and modest financial support.
Teach Local Authority use of small‑site land disposal toolkits and SME engagement models, supported by training on viability and proportionality.
Enable councils to bring forward publicly owned sites under one hectare through clearer, more consistent SME‑focused disposal processes.

2. Introduce Proportional Planning for Small Sites

Update the NPPF to establish a clearer presumption in favour of small, brownfield, and appropriate grey‑belt sites where identified housing needs are met.
Ensure planning obligations, viability requirements, and supporting evidence are proportionate to scheme size.
Introduce a nationally consistent affordable housing threshold for small schemes to reduce delay and unnecessary viability assessments.

3. Improve Decision‑Making and Accountability

Strengthen minimum and annual training requirements for Planning Committee members, including viability and proportionality.
Expand delegated decision‑making for smaller schemes to reduce delay, inconsistency, and non‑planning objections.
Reform appeal cost rules to allow recovery of reasonable costs where schemes are unreasonably refused against officer recommendation.

4. Clarify Environmental and Regulatory Requirements

Provide urgent clarity on Environmental Delivery Plans and the Nature Restoration Fund to reduce uncertainty and delay for small developments.
Accelerate Biodiversity Net Gain reforms to ensure requirements are proportionate and deliverable for small and medium‑scale schemes.

5. Targeted Financial and Tax Measures

Remove Stamp Duty for first time buyers to stimulate demand, and improve the health and welfare of young families and future generations.
Remove Stamp Duty for Retirees who wish to downsize, their main residence, freeing up multitudes of spare bedrooms, and larger properties for growing families, stimulating demand and improving the health and welfare of retirees
Provide market-based incentives to prospective and first-time buyers to drive demand and strengthen the pipeline for future homeownership.
Introduce targeted tax reliefs and fee waivers for SMEs delivering housing in authorities failing to meet housing targets.
Apply 0% VAT to retrofit and conversion projects to accelerate brownfield delivery.

Why these quick wins matter right now

If you want faster delivery, you need to make smaller schemes easier to start.

These short-term actions can:

Accelerate delivery: Small sites can move from planning to site start far quicker than major strategic schemes.
Reduce risk for SMEs: Lower planning costs, fewer delays, and clearer requirements give smaller developers room to operate with confidence.
Support local economies immediately: More active small sites mean more work for local consultants, contractors, merchants, and trades.

For policymakers, this is a practical way to increase output without waiting years for large allocations to come forward. For construction industry leaders, it is a route to a stronger pipeline, healthier supply chains, and more resilient regional markets.

The message to industry and government

The short-term section of the toolkit is deliberately action-oriented. It is about doing now, not debating forever.

If government wants to back growth, and if local authorities want to improve delivery, the first move is clear:

Open up more small sites
Apply proportional planning rules
Make decisions faster

That is how you create momentum in the next 12 months. And that is how you give SMEs, local authorities, and the wider construction sector a framework they can actually use.

We host regular events where these themes are explored in detail. Our recent May 2026 Breakfast Launch was just the beginning.

We will be hosting a Webinar in the Summer to invite our network to provide their feedback and to continue to engage with local and central policiticians.

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