Benefits

Here are some of the high-level advantages for Build Cost Housing [BCH]:

For the Government

No long-term capital or revenue funding is required, hence there would be no cost to the taxpayer
Homeownership becomes more within the financial reach of local key workers as deposit and income requirements significantly reduce
When the owner is a housing association rents are much cheaper
No distortion of land values in the existing housing market
No viability testing is required as 100% of the development is sub-market
Delivery rates could be explosively fast, and they would not be affected by cyclical housing markets
New market entrants will emerge to deliver sites as fee developers, ranging from SME builders to large construction companies
Mass-scale delivery of homes will no longer be dependent on the volume housebuilders
Likely to receive cross-party support which transcends election cycles

Enables development of large and/or lower quality sites that were hitherto unviable, thus creating massive uplifts in land value which were previously not attainable
Realistically an unlimited number of sites can be developed simultaneously without depressing underlying land values
Landowner retains ownership of their land, unless subsequently they want to sell it

Massive expansion in first-time buyers as the levels of deposit and income reduce
Lending based on build cost becomes far less risky and inflation has less impact on the borrower’s ability to repay
Commonhold tenure avoids the problem of lending on a depreciating asset, as with leasehold