Our new report – Procurement – the Price we pay, and the path to improvement – sets out how councils and housing associations are paying more than private developers to build new homes due to slow and overly complex procurement processes.
Based on input from our Costs Working Group, the report also identifies practical opportunities to reduce costs and increase delivery of new homes.
Key recommendations include:
- Standardise procurement processes – Standardised Employers’ Requirements, collaboratively maintained over time, create clarity.
- Shift mindsets from risk transfer to risk management – Early contractor involvement enables risks to be understood and mitigated earlier, rather than simply transferred. Simply seeking to transfer unmeasurable risks onto other parties will inevitably increase the costs they will quote for the work. Instead, feedback loops – where architects and contractors regularly test design decisions against cost – can ensure design ambition remains aligned with budget.
- Speed up procurement – Standardisation, parallel approvals and faster governance cycles can all help speed up procurement. This reduces exposure to inflation, reduces risks and therefore brings costs down.
The report builds on our 2024 research, The Cost of Building a House, which estimated the average construction cost of a standard UK home at £242,000 (excluding land). Since then, Housing Forum members report continued cost inflation and mounting challenges in bringing forward viable development schemes.
This new report argues that reforming procurement practices represents one of the quickest and most practical ways for councils and housing associations to improve delivery and reduce costs within their control.
Download the new report: Procurement – the price we pay, and the path to improvement.
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Read the full report for practical insights and analysis.
You can download it below.