The Competition and Markets Authority has published two working papers on whether landbanks and planning rules hurt “competition and how new homes are delivered”.   

The regulator points out that over a million plots in the UK are held in landbanks and in most local areas they are held by several different builders.   

It adds that it is seeking feedback on “whether local competition is being negatively impacted in the small number of areas where large amounts of developable land are controlled by a small number of housebuilders”.  

The watchdog says it will “examine the size of landbanks overall, recognising that housebuilders need to hold a pipeline of land as sites pass through the planning system”.  

The working paper on planning looks at:  

• Whether zoning, or a rules-based approach to development, will improve competition between housebuilders and boost new homes  
• Requiring councils to only consult statutory stakeholders, rather than a wider group, as they assess planning applications. Late responses to developments may be ignored  
• An effective housing target that reflects the needs of specific areas, and improving the ways government ensure all councils have “a proper local plan in place”  

The papers are part of a wider report the watchdog is preparing on the UK’s housing market.  

Last week, the body published a working paper on estate management charges.  

CMA director of markets Dan Turnbull says: “As we’ve progressed our work, we’ve heard concerns that the way large housebuilders use landbanks and complex planning rules may be harming competition and holds up the building of new homes.  

“The market study is looking at all the options available which could increase the numbers of homes being built for the people who need them — this includes probing the issues around landbanks and planning rules further.  

“We now want to get feedback on these working papers from the key people in the industry — be that council planning departments, builders or landowners — before we publish our findings early next year.”  

The regulator says its feedback period on this pair of working papers closes on 6 December.