PLANNING
Leadership is Needed! The feeling across the development sector is far from positive. David Cameron’s Big Society idea has been met with cynicism in the media and within his own party. While a good deal of coverage is given to how this message ties in with the party’s aspirations for education and welfare reform, ideas relating to planning and development have taken a back seat. Clearly, what the sector needs is leadership from the
Government and, whilst the previous system was far from perfect, it did at least provide some certainty. It is easy to be cynical but it is true that it is in all of our interests to get the sector back on track. Clearly, the fragile economic recovery is, to a certain degree,
dependent on the delivery of new residential and commercial schemes. It is also equally apparent that there are considerable social implications relating to the delivery of new private and affordable homes and the jobs that this will create. We can only hope that when
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Parliament returns in early September, the importance of reform to the planning system becomes a top priority of the coalition Government. Clear guidance for developers, councils and communities is what is needed, and fast.
Housing experts have set out five key steps for the Government to ensure housing market recovery and urged an assessment of its planning strategy at a debate hosted by The Housing Forum. Forum members included Tony
Bowron, New Initiatives Director of the Bromford Group, Ian Davis, Operations Director of National House Building Council and John Stewart, Director of Economic Affairs from the Home Builders Federation. Barry Munday
(right), Chairman of The Housing Forum said that the changes to the planning system are radical and the effects are uncertain. “In the short term some local authorities are holding back on local development plans until more detail is provided on how the New Homes Bonus will work and there are also signs that some councils are using the new direction to resist development. “The question now is whether the
proposed financial incentives to local authorities will be enough in the short-medium term to encourage them to allow more homes to be built. Also,
16 SEPTEMBER 2010 PROPERTYdrum
Your country needs... leadership
Without this, the economic recovery will be surely be short-lived and the sector will continue to remain in a state of limbo. The Government is at least starting to take notice and understand the real benefits that stimulation of the sector can bring to the economy as a whole. It is in all of our interests to get behind the new approach. It is
clearly bold and forward thinking. The outcome could be that new development is delivered with the ‘buy in’ of local people and is therefore appropriate and well planned. The Government does seem to understand that the people who know what is best for an area are the people who actually live there, as opposed to civil servants based in London. Meanwhile, the industry waits with bated breath and, it’s fair to say, fingers crossed.
James Garland is a director at political planning consultants, Green Issues Communications.
www.propertydrum.com/articles/planningseptember. Do you have any views on portals? Log on and add your comments.
The housing Forum’s plan To revive The housing secTor
we need to know what will happen when the incentive ends after the six-year period proposed by the Housing Minister. There is a long-term chronic undersupply of homes in the UK and we need a sustainable approach to planning and encouraging development.” The Forum created a five step plan to ensure that the housing market recovery continued:
availability – have a robust process for ensuring that the required plans for ensuring a five year supply of permissioned land are produced as soon as possible and that they are
•
• •
realistic and meaningful. Mortgage availability – ensure a
greater supply and range of mortgages for first time buyers and existing home owners.
simplify regulation and encourage
innovation – to ensure sufficient viable residential land is available for housing development, the cumulative impact of policy and regulation at the national and local levels needs to be reduced. Simplify the regulatory burden on housing providers and encourage innovation in
Greater land
design, procurement and funding to ensure that available resources are maximised and affordability and sustainability are increased.
• • Making localism work– work with
The Housing Forum and others in the housing industry to ensure that the new planning system is practicable and will stimulate more homes to be built and be prepared to act against those authorities that unreasonably resist development. New partnering models – contractors,
developers and some housing providers to work together and share risk in order to meet housing demand, and increase supply of new housing of all tenures.
Barry Munday, Chairman of The Housing Forum commented, “The importance of housing as an economic and social driver, as well as a major source of jobs must be recognised. It is difficult to see any alternative to combining an increased supply of land with a more certain and faster planning system – they are both key components in any move towards a more stable and equitable housing market in the UK.”
The Housing Forum is a cross-housing industry organisation representing all interests in the house building and renovation industry.
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