Brokenshire: Building homes and creating stronger communities

The Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, will outline plans for a new Athletes' Village in Birmingham in time for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, as well as a bold agenda for the homes our country needs, in his speech to Conference on Monday 1st October at 2pm.

Mr Brokenshire will say the Conservative Government is on the side of those who want to get onto the housing ladder, turning Generation Rent into Generation Own.

A year on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, Mr Brokenshire will announce the Conservative Government will ban combustible materials on all high-rise residential buildings over 18m, as well as on schools, care homes and hospitals.

Mr Brokenshire will outline new plans to allow homebuilders not only to prioritise brownfield land but to look at land that’s already been built on.

Mr Brokenshire will also speak about his personal health trials this year, and his recovery from lung cancer.

Mr Brokenshire is expected to say:

On funding for the Athletes’ Village

“In 2022 Birmingham will host the Commonwealth Games.

“It will provide the platform for this great city to shine on a global stage.

“The chance to drive economic potential.

“The chance to create a sense of pride - not just in this city but our country as a whole.

“That’s why I’m proud today to announce the Government funding for the construction of the Athletes Village.

“We will invest £165 million to help support 5,000 new homes, but just as importantly create a long lasting legacy for Birmingham and from the Commonwealth Games.”

On banning combustible materials

“It’s been over a year since the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire.

“This unimaginable horror has rightly shocked us all and underlined the need to do all that we can to see that such a disaster cannot happen again.

“My work with Grenfell United and the wider community has been hugely helpful in keeping this issue right at the top of the government's agenda.

“And that is why today I can confirm that I will change the building regulations to ban the use of combustible cladding for all high rise residential buildings, hospitals, care homes and student accommodation.

“And bring about a change in culture on building safety.”

On building reform

“We need to be smarter on how we use land and the space available.

“Prioritising brownfield but also looking at land that’s already been built on.

“That’s why I will publish proposals to permit people to build up on existing buildings rather than build out to use more precious land.

“And give Councils greater powers to deliver the garden communities of the future.”

On his personal health difficulties this year

“When I addressed our Conference twelve months ago, I didn’t know it, but I had lung cancer.

“In some of my darker moments earlier this year, I questioned whether I would be here at all - let alone fit, well and able to speak on this stage today.

“When you receive a cancer diagnosis… when you are forced to confront your own mortality head on… it makes you appreciate what’s important… what makes life worth living.

“But I also know that if it wasn’t for our amazing NHS I wouldn’t be here today.

“They saved my life and in some way will have touched the lives of every person in this hall.

“To all those who work in our NHS - thank you.”

ENDS

For further information, please contact Peter Cardwell, Special Adviser, on 07879 431705.

Notes to Editors

ATHLETES’ VILLAGE FUNDING

• The Government is committed to supporting a successful Commonwealth Games in 2022, and we are supporting the legacy of the Games by providing £165m of grant funding for infrastructure to unlock up to 5,100 homes in Birmingham.

• We want to build a lasting legacy in Birmingham from the Games by providing new infrastructure to unlock housing, and supporting new and existing communities to benefit from this event.

• This funding will help to deliver the Commonwealth Games Village, alongside transport improvements needed to support the wider regeneration of the Perry Barr area.

• The Commonwealth Games Village is the largest planned new-build element of the Games, providing a home-away-from-home for athletes and officials. It is the catalyst for the regeneration of Perry Barr and the wider surrounding areas. Construction is due to begin next year.

• The Government will be working with DCMS, West Midlands Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council to support their ambitious plans, and make a success of the Games.

CLADDING

Following extensive consultation we are announcing a ban on combustible material, including cladding, on high rise buildings. This will apply to all residential buildings over 18 metres. It will also apply to care homes, schools and hospitals.

· Because nothing is more important than people being safe and feeling safe in their home we believe that is necessary to ban the use of combustible material on high rise residential buildings to ensure everyone has a safe and decent home.

· We are already funding the remediation of all high rise social housing in England through a £400 million fund, and are making significant progress with those responsible for remediating private blocks. This ban follows extensive consultation with industry, developers and the general public.

· This ban will ensure that the legacy of the Grenfell Tragedy is one of action and change. The ban on combustible cladding means that anyone living in a new high rise residential building can be confident that they are living in a decent, safe and secure home.

Background

· Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy it became clear that the cladding used on the external walls of the building was a significant contributor to the spread of the fire. As a result we took the step to extensively consult on cladding and building safety more generally.

· A review led by Dame Judith Hackitt identified a series of problems with building inspection which we are now implementing. As cladding has become a symbolic issue in the minds of voters when it comes to building safety, an unequivocal ban on combustible cladding sends a strong message to the public and the industry that the government will not compromise on public safety.

Our solution

· We will ban the use of combustible materials on all buildings that contain flats which are higher than 18 metres. The ban will be implemented through changes to the Building Regulations, which will be brought forward as soon as possible in late autumn. The ban will limit materials to products in line with many other EU member states. This was supported by the majority of people who responded to the consultation.
o The ban will not apply retrospectively – we do not have legal powers to do that – but we are taking measures to remediate buildings which have the same cladding as that of Grenfell Tower, including fully funding the remediation of all high rise residential blocks in the social housing sector and running a campaign to encourage private owners to remediate their own and not pass on the costs to leaseholders.
o We have consistently made clear that leaseholders should not be paying for remediation and we are exerting pressure on all owners and developers to do the right thing.

BUILDING REFORM

We are announcing a package of measures that will support the timely and effective operation of the planning system, and support development including the delivery of new homes.

· We have ambitious plans to deliver 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020s and to achieve this we need to fix our broken housing market. Planning is an essential tool to helping deliver the homes Britain needs. By making it easier to navigate and putting more certainty into the system, we will support more small and medium sized builders into the market and help give residents a clearer voice when it comes to new development in their area.

· We are proposing new and amended permitted development rights and measures to speed up the discharge of planning conditions. Our plans will make it easier for people to ‘build up’ creating more homes without the need for new land. We are providing more flexibility in disposing of surplus land for local authorities and are providing new guidance on the compulsory purchase powers of new town development corporations. All of this will create more land for housing, more freedom for individual home owners and greater certainty for the market.

· We know that the vast majority of people want to be home-owners and we are committed to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to make that dream a reality. Since 2010 our locally-led planning reforms have helped to dramatically increase the supply of new homes. This next phase of reform will create a new wave of supply and encourage greater confidence in the housing market, ensuring that we’re building the right amount of homes to meet people’s demands and aspiration.

· We have committed to delivering 300,000 homes a year by the mid 2020s and we can’t achieve this without fundamental reform. Simplifying the planning system is an essential part of this process. In doing so we create greater certainty for the market and empower individuals and communities.

· We agreed to consult on a new permitted development right to allow people to extend upwards on certain existing buildings in commercial and residential areas. As part of our commitment to deliver additional homes, in the Autumn Budget 2017 we committed to bring forward a new permitted development right and we are now delivering on that commitment.

· We are building the right homes in the right places, and the revised National Planning Policy Framework set out our vision to build more, quality homes, more efficiently and in the right place. We published our revised National Planning Policy Framework and set out a clear vision for greater housing delivery where it is needed most and for more efficient use of our land. These proposals help to put that vision into practice.[1]

Our solution

We want to expand permitted development rights, making it far easier to extend a home or building upwards. This means residents will no longer need planning permission to add additional floors up to a set of criteria, such as not exceeding the current highest roofline. Permitted developments have been hugely successful, increasing the number of new homes and freeing up time for councils to focus on larger applications. Building up also allows families to grow in their homes, without the cost of moving or building extensions which infringe on their gardens.

· We want to give councils greater freedom to dispose of public land to build more homes more quickly. We are allowing councils to offer land at a lower value where there is public interest in getting the land developed quickly.

· We will introduce new guidance to speed up the process of building new settlements to build more homes in the right places. We will provide New Town Development Corporations with compulsory purchase guidance creating certainty for promoters, investors, infrastructure providers, landowners and local communities.

A NEW HOUSING OMBUDSMAN

Following a consultation earlier this year on consumer redress in the housing market, we are announcing the creation of New Homes Ombudsman. This will help ensure consumers buying new homes will have an independent and legally backed route of redress against developers who do not deliver what they promise.

· We want to protect consumers and ensure everyone has a great place to live and raise a family, currently there is no statutory process to bring redress.

· We are creating a New Homes Ombudsman to protect consumers and give them confidence that when things are not right in their new home they have a route of redress. This will also discourage developers from cutting corners and putting unfinished homes on the market.

· Our plans will help to ensure that new-home owners have better rights and everyone has a great place to live and raise a family.#

Background

· According the Home Builder’s Federation and the NHBC, 98 per cent of new-home buyers report snags or bigger defects after moving in[2]. Developers have been found to put homes on the market which are incomplete, with issues such as wet paint, poorly fitted doors and other defects.

· Whilst most developers do resolve issues there is no standard order of priority, meaning a consumer does not know if it will take one day or three months to resolve a problem, irrespective of how serious it is. Having paid a significant sum of money to buy your home it can be stressful and deeply frustrating to deal with issues which most people would assume have been resolved through the building process.

Our solution

· We are creating a new statutory ombudsman specifically for new homes to address these concerns.