Our breakfast roundtable focused on how we can unlock the full potential of SME Builders in the East of England, allowing them to help deliver on the governments 1.5 million new homes ambition and meet the new homes challenge across the East of England.

A range of issues and key actions points were discussed in the session, but one can through most strongly: SME developers can move housing delivery from complex and difficult sites into real results for places across the East.

Our roundtable also focused on the fact that housing needs are changing and developing, with urban and rural communities requiring different approaches. There was strong consensus that SME developers are best placed to meet the varying approaches required to accelerate delivery.

The debate also made clear how devolution could be a gamechanger for SME developers in the East. With section 106 often favouring larger developers with greater capital and resources, there was strong agreement that further devolved powers could unlock complex sites through new planning, funding and regional development powers.

Key action points

• National housebuilders come as an organisation with an expansive administrative cost - SME developers don't have that, and so can outcompete especially in smaller, more local projects

• Community wealth building lines up well with SME growth builders, and also involves the community so they don't feel like housing development is being done to them but rather for them

• We need to promote what we do and the impact that we have in terms of creating safe, healthy places for people to live that create better life outcomes

• Mayoralty can offer a layer of stability - it doesn’t have to be boom or bust, the skills will come you just have to give SMEs the platform and stability to invest

• Pace of change for SMEs can be a problem; lack of education on legislation changes, there needs to be dots connected by the sector to communicate and work with SME builders and developers