Housing has recently become one of the most controversial issues
in British politics. The Government has recommitted to its target
of building 300,000 homes per year. But it has also promised to
do more to give local communities control over the planning
process.
A new report by the Centre
for Policy Studies examines the leading options for abolishing or
weakening ‘top-down targets’, and their likely impact on the
housing system. These range from reducing the power of the
Planning Inspectorate to allowing local authorities to fix their
own housing need.
The paper warns that three of the proposed policies in particular
would do ‘serious damage’ to housebuilding and the housing sector
– at precisely the time when the economic downturn and rising
interest rates are already endangering the 300,000 homes per year
target and the health of the sector. These were cutting housing
targets on greenfield sites in favour of brownfield sites;
scrapping the 5-year land supply test; and giving councils the
ability to assess their own housing needs.
Two other measures were found to have a more manageable impact,
namely guaranteeing that approved local plans are treated as up
to date for a specified period, and reducing the power of the
Planning Inspectorate to throw out local plans that are close to
meeting their targets.
The paper accepts that
top-down targets have been much resented, and agrees that in the
long term it is right that the Government should aim to deliver
homes in more consensual ways. However, it warns that removing
them without developing credible alternatives could lead to a 20%
fall in housebuilding, with some estimates as high as 40%. A 20%
slump could see as many as 800,000 job losses in construction and
related sectors.
The report, co-authored by and Samuel Hughes, the CPS’s
new Head of Housing, proposes a number of alternative options to
help garner local support for developments:
• Street votes
• More control over design and layout to local
people
• Supporting SME builders
• Ensuring faster build-out on sites
• Potentially limiting the required land supply to
five or 10 years
Samuel Hughes, CPS Head of Housing, said:
‘Instead of scrapping top-down targets, the Government should
look at ways in which it can mitigate their inflexibility, as
well as addressing other unpopular features of the housebuilding
system. Whatever happens, the structure of any new system needs
to be put in place before the existing system is torn down, else
we could see fewer homes, job losses and a blow to SMEs just when
the country can least afford it.’
Notes to Editors
- ‘Giving Back Control, by Samuel Hughes and can be downloaded
here
- CPS Head of Housing, Samuel Hughes, is available for comment
or interview.
