Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has announced a new approach to planning new homes with the intention ensuring new homes are built in areas of most need.
The approach was first mooted in the government’s Housing White Paper earlier in the year. It is hoped that the new approach will help to create a realistic picture of how many homes each local area needs now and in future years.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said: “This new approach will cut the unnecessarily complex and lengthy debates that can delay house building. It will make sure we have a clear and realistic assessment of how many new homes are needed, and ensure local communities have a voice in deciding where they go.”
The proposed system does not set targets, says the government, but it believes it is a starting point to ensure that it will be quicker for each local area to produce a realistic plan of its housing need and review it at least every 5 years.
Responding to the announcement Ian Fletcher, Director of Real Estate Policy, British Property Federation noted: “Measuring housing need is an essential component of the government’s housing policy. Developers rarely seek to push water uphill, but they want to work with communities to deliver housing within the framework of a good local plan that is based on accurate estimates of housing need.”
The planned reforms will also mean that councils will have to agree how they will work with their neighbouring areas to plan for homes and supporting infrastructure such as roads and utility services.
Rico Wojtulewicz, policy advisor for the HBA, said: “The Housing White Paper was a meaningful first step in solving the housing crisis and we are delighted that it remains part of the Government’s ambition. Local authorities have failed to enable deliverable supply through their plan-making process. This has not only stifled supply, but the capacity of the local supply chain.”
“To meet the Government’s challenge, local authorities will need to concentrate on making sure local plans deliver a meaningful increase in supply. This will require shifting focus from larger slow-to-deliver sites towards smaller and infill sites – which are delivered more quickly, favoured by local communities, and do not exacerbate existing infrastructure.”
A public consultation on the new proposals will run until 9th November 2017. Visit www.gov.uk/government/consultations
