When Polypipe Building Products brought together SME housebuilders and those who work closely with them at its first roundtable of the year, one theme quickly became apparent: while demand for housing remains strong, the confidence around delivering these homes is more of a mixed picture.
The discussion was hosted in Manchester and chaired by Elaine Middleton, co-host of The Social Housing Roundtable. It explored the realities of delivering homes in today’s challenging climate at a time when SME housebuilders and developers are facing growing pressures to meet the UK’s ambitious housebuilding targets.
This is the first of our three-part series, which dives into the debate and key insights that came out of our first roundtable of 2026. In this blog, we’ll explore the current state of SME housebuilding and, frankly, why confidence remains fragile despite clear, sustained demand.
A strong market held back by uncertainty
To open the discussion, Elaine put a simple question to attendees: how confident are SME housebuilders about the next 12 to 24 months? The response from the room painted a cautious picture when it came to shorter term outlook, shaped mostly by uncertainty.
Sarah Snape, Managing Director at Rise Homes, said:
“It’s not a demand issue, as we clearly need housing. It’s about delivering it as quickly as possible. Working in a closer, collaborative way with others is absolutely key to delivering at a pace which keeps up with demand.”
While the demand for new homes was undisputed, attendees generally agreed that delivery was being constrained by a combination of affordability challenges, geopolitical tensions and factors outside of the sector’s control. Some attendees shared that, to keep operations viable, diversifying their scope and remit in the sector was necessary.
Commenting on this, Adrian Rooney, Managing Director at J. Greenwood Builders, added:
“Over the last couple of years, we’ve had to look into other areas like education, refurbishment, industrial and commercial. Given today’s market, branching out into the other sectors is now business critical when it comes to risk avoidance.”
This reflects a broader change in mindset across the sector, that growth is often not the primary objective for developers – stability and risk management are.
Systemic barriers stand in the way of delivery
Demand aside, attendees were clear that the largest constraints on delivery are not market-led. Instead, they’re systemic and ingrained within the planning process.
On a local level, planning delays and inconsistent decision-making were cited as major obstacles to delivery, with long timelines for approvals and the discharge of conditions creating uncertainty at each stage of developments.
Harry Randhawa, Director at Triangle Architects, commented:
“The primary issue is that we can’t get stuff done quickly enough on-site. This is the systemic issue with planning. So many blockers exist which prevent us from moving at pace, even once we have a feasibility scheme which is ready to go.”
Beyond delays, it was also agreed that infrastructure constraints and the skills shortages were also contributing to slower delivery and increasing risk. For SMEs in particular, the reality is that these all have a disproportionate impact by tying up capital, delaying programmes and, ultimately, reducing viability.
Changing policy is adding to complexity
Alongside other challenges, rapid and unpredictable regulatory change is only adding another layer of complexity. From the Building Safety Act and extended liability to low-carbon requirements under the expected Future Homes Standard, developers are navigating an increasingly confusing compliance landscape.
The government’s plans to build on underutilised land, e.g., the grey belt, as part of its housing push was similarly discussed. Whilst ambitious in principle, in practice, who benefits from this policy change was questioned and pointed towards a widening gap between SMEs and volume housebuilders.
Ben Townend, Design and Technical Lead at Great Places Housing Group, said:
“The tier ones [national housebuilders] are starting to creep into the SME market to fill in gaps. It’s really concerning.”
Collaboration has now become a tool for viability
Beyond demand, planning and regulation, the discussion revealed that SMEs are becoming increasingly reliant on partnerships and stronger relationships across the supply chain to guarantee competitiveness. With uncertainty in skills, materials and approvals, working more closely with consultants and suppliers throughout is now key to mitigating risk and keeping projects on track.
Katie Dyson, Senior Project Manager at Motion Projects, commented:
“From our point of view, we’ve got a really good supply chain of M&E contractors, roofers, cladders, etc. Those people and their expertise are so important for us when we’re trying to bring value to any project which we work on, whether it be housing, apartments or education.”
Adding to this, Michael Orgill, Managing Director at Prospect Homes, said:
“There aren’t many sites nowadays which come with no challenges. We’ve got to get smarter at how we deliver, develop, design and build, and this comes right back to clients and their vision, consultants and back to manufacturers. Everybody’s got a part to play in this.”
So, what does this mean for SME housebuilding in the UK?
The roundtable made one thing clear – while the UK’s housing need is undeniable, the system for delivering it is placing an increasing strain on developers.
Without greater certainty, consistency and support, there is an apparent risk that SME housebuilders, who are already operating under pressure, will continue to scale back. As the industry looks ahead, improving confidence will be critical.
Not just confidence in demand, but confidence in the systems, processes and partnerships which enable homes to be delivered in the first place.
A huge thanks to all our roundtable participants for their insights and contributions to this discussion, including:
· Elaine Middleton
· Harry Randhawa
· Sarah Snape
· Katie Dyson
· Adrian Rooney
· Michael Orgill
· Ben Townend
· Shahir Mahmood
· Alex Fogg
· Andrew Carver