The Competition and Markets Authority’s interim report into the housebuilding sector found that landbanking by large housebuilders had increased over the last decade and said it was “concerned that competition may be being distorted if land is held for longer and in larger quantities than is necessary”, noting that some landbanking is unavoidable given the time taken to identify and procure land and then put it through planning.

The reality is that developers are not incentivised to landbank, but that delays to the building -out of permitted schemes are incurred for a host of reasons including slow planning procedures, labour or material shortages, high interest rates, a depressed housing market or the commercial unviability of the permitted scheme. All of that is in the context of Brexit, covid-related price inflation, legislative changes requiring energy efficiency, second staircases and so forth.

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