Video Transcription
Tim:
Hello, I'm Tim Reid from NHBC.
And in a minute, we're going to hear from Max Abbott, Head of Delivery and Development at the West Midlands Combined Authority.
Max, very good afternoon to you.
Max:
Good to see you.
Tim:
First of all, your priorities for 2026 and what do you see as the role of a combined authority in unlocking housing?
Max:
Yeah. So very simply, build, build, build. Clearly that's our remit from government, to increase housing supply. And we're all under pressure to try and achieve that one and a half million unit target.
I think for us, clearly the financial environment that developers are working in at the moment is not great consequence of that being that it is hampering delivery.
So for us it's trying to navigate a path through that and bring together as many different partners as possible to achieve delivery.
Certainly, despite the difficulties within the market, supporting what we would consider to be that lower end of the market, so the small to medium sized the SMEs would be fantastic. In doing that, there's that wider benefit, that synergy that the chain that supports that as well.
Tim:
So, Max, you refer to "build, baby, build". You may not know, but at NHBC we also focus on "skill, baby, skill" as well as supporting "build, baby, build".
The short narrative there is that what we've seen historically is that as housing delivery gears up and numbers go up, often quality goes down.
So how do you ensure, as a combined authority, that whilst we're delivering those high numbers that you refer to, quality is maintained at the same time?
Max:
Yeah, so I think interestingly, the combined authority remit, or rather what we can deliver, is multifaceted.
I look after the housing team, but actually we've also got a team that looks after skills.
So there is a joined-up focus between the delivery of homes and making sure that we've got the skills there for the future.
And that's not just a case of looking at your brickies or your sparkies, but actually how we incorporate technology and look at the future and what that future may bring in terms of housebuilding.
Tim:
Linked to that, we've seen a welcome aspiration from government to deliver 300,000 homes per annum during this Parliament. How do you think the industry can deliver more homes and more affordable homes across the country?
Max:
Yeah, it's a tricky one because historically, if you look at delivery, it's been quite difficult to ever really get close to that 300,000-a-year target.
But clearly that's an aspiration that we all have.
If I answer the question from a combined authority perspective, using our position within the region as a convener, what we're able to do is provide a great platform to bring together financiers, developers and those holding housing stock, such as housing associations.
So in some respects, communication and convening are more important than ever to achieve that.
What we're able to do is not only understand the issues that are stopping delivery, but also create a two-way conversation between us and government.
We're able to report back and say that the challenges developers are having at the moment are X, Y and Z, and of course that's really important and useful.
So, looking forward, we remain very optimistic about our ability to support the region to deliver homes.
Tim:
Can you give us an example of where you've been that convener and what you did? Was it primarily providing grant funding?
Max:
Yeah, so all of our funding is brownfield-focused. It's predominantly grant rather than loan funding, and that's for brownfield residential-led schemes.
We have a number of schemes where we've acted in such a way that we've not only provided grant funding, but also brought together developers and occupiers.
Often that's through some sort of pension fund or institutional investor, and that's proved to be both useful and productive.
If you look at some of the bigger schemes and how they're being taken forward now, developers are looking to limit their risk to a certain extent.
How do they best do that? Well, that's by getting different sources of finance, but it's also about getting different occupiers involved.
So you might see one-third allocated to a housing association, one-third to build-to-rent and one-third to the open market.
That's becoming quite a popular delivery mechanism.
We're in a rather enviable position in that we can convene and bring together all of those different stakeholders to support projects.
Tim:
And finally, I couldn't let you escape today without asking about your levels of optimism.
On a scale of one to ten for the year ahead, and why, in relation to housing?
Max:
In relation to housing, I would say it's a 10 out of 10 for me.
Tim:
Why 10 out of 10?
Max:
I think because there's perhaps a tradition in the UK to be quite pessimistic. Actually, it's for people like myself in key roles to blow the trumpet and say that we can deliver. Great things happen in this region. We've evidenced that.
The focus should really be on how we deliver and how we deliver better. That's about communication. It's about getting out there and understanding what the needs of the region are. And as a combined authority, we're in a fantastic position to be able to do that.
Tim:
OK. Thank you, Max.
