Callcutt says improve industry links

John Callcutt’s wide-ranging green housing review will concentrate on improving cross-industry co-ordination. The ex-Crest Nicholson chief executive is expected to announce the terms of reference of his sustainable housing policy review tomorrow.

A source close to the review told Building that Callcutt would be seeking to streamline the housing development process by improving links between suppliers of green technology and house builders. “A lot of it will be on greater co-ordination across the industry,” he said.

Callcutt is also understood to be keen to find new mechanisms for bringing forward land and infrastructure so that housebuilders can concentrate on their core business of building and selling homes.

Callcutt, who left English Partnerships - where he was chief executive for six months - to lead the taskforce, has recruited former Housing Forum director Judith Harrison to work on the review.

Communities minister Ruth Kelly commissioned Callcutt before Christmas to carry out the exercise, which will seek to find out if increased housing provision can be achieved in an environmentally sustainable way.