Neil Jefferson is Chief Executive of the Home Builders Federation. Here, he tells Housing View and Brookbanks about the intiatives he’s most proud of, lobbying government for change, and keeping positive
by Ben Wakeling
This article accompanies a podcast hosted by Brookbanks – watch the whole conversation now.
Neil Jefferson is trying to remain optimistic, which is why he pauses for a few seconds when I ask him to describe the current UK house building industry in three words.
Optimism is an important part of Jefferson’s job. Since becoming Chief Executive of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) in 2024, following four years as Managing Director, he has represented an industry responsible for delivering over 80% of new homes in England and Wales. His role is not only to communicate the sector’s concerns to government, but also to highlight its potential.
“I think as an industry we’re ready, we’re willing, but we’re frustrated,” he says. “I think we had quite high hopes at the beginning of the year, facing into 2026. We were expecting there to be some rate cuts this year, perhaps a bounce in the market.”
Jefferson acknowledges, however, that despite the industry working with a government which is “undoubtedly pro-development”, geopolitical events can derail even the most positive of intentions. We are speaking at a time when conflict in the Middle East is driving up energy prices and adding further build cost, making development viability even more fragile.
I ask Jefferson about the industry being ‘ready’, in his words. Even if the shackles were released, and the market buoyant, do we have enough skilled workers to actually reach the government’s 1.5 million homes target?
“To be fair to the government, they’ve done quite a lot of work in the creation of Skills England, restructuring around the Department for Education, as well as the Skills Mission Board, which is led by ministers and Jennie Daly,” says Jefferson.
He continues: “For our part, at the HBF, we’re really proud of the work we do in that area, whether it’s the ambassadors that go back to schools, or the Future Talent Conference which we run every year.
“My biggest concern is that if we don’t see a reversal soon, in terms of housing supply, then we will lose capacity, and we know from previous cycles that when people leave the industry they tend not to come back.”
Women into Home Building is a long-standing HBF initiative. Launched in 2023 to tackle the severe gender imbalance in construction – specifically on site – the campaign has provided career guidance to over 400 women, with 200 gaining valuable work experience.
“We offer work experience, training, and the opportunity to make connections with our members as employers to get women into those roles,” says Jefferson. “It’s an initiative I’m really proud of.”
I think we had quite high hopes at the beginning of the year, facing into 2026.
Visit the Home Builders Federation website and the first headline you’ll see is ‘The voice of the home building industry’. Over the past twelve months the HBF has issued over 30 reports, highlighting research and challenges across a range of topics from council tax to planning permissions.
“They do really well to draw attention to particular issues,” explains Jefferson. “They get used, most notably by politicians and parliamentarians, as well as coverage in the press.”
Does he have a favourite? “I’m proud of them all, really,” Jefferson responds, “but the one that’s probably had the greatest impact was published in May, and it’s about viability.”
Jefferson is referring to The Viability Crunch, which revealed that £76,000 had been added to the cost of building a typical home since 2020, thanks to regulation changes, taxes, levies and inflation. All of these incremental increases result in many developments no longer being viable for construction.
The HBF often lobbies government on behalf of its members to remove (or, at least, delay) these increases, to help lift the blockers for developers and get the nation building. Last year they successfully convinced the government to delay the introduction of the Building Safety Levy by twelve months; this year, Jefferson – despite trying to remain positive – is less optimistic.
“The one we would like to see halted is the Building Safety Levy, which is due to come in October. We’ll see how we go,” he says, “but I think that’s looking less likely.”
We offer work experience, training, and the opportunity to make connections…it’s an initiative I’m really proud of.
Let’s end positively. Despite the issues, what should the industry be most optimistic about?
“There are some real challenges at the moment, but we know that this is an industry that’s really resilient and can respond when needed,” responds Jefferson. “The quality that’s being achieved out on site at the moment is reflected in very high levels of customer satisfaction.”
(In fact, satisfaction levels have improved so much that the HBF has had to change the scoring system behind its five-star rating, combining the eight-week and nine-month purchaser responses.)
There are, of course, ongoing challenges within the sector. However, underlying the reports, the lobbying and the initiatives, lies a ongoing desire from the HBF’s members – and the wider industry – to do one thing: build.
“Our members are still ready to invest,” states Jefferson. “They want to get building, there is that underlying demand. We are just a few steps away from being able to boost supply. People are always going to need houses. We’ll always keep going, and we’ll always keep making the case. We’ll keep being positive.”