Government announces increased housing targets to promote building
The government recently announced a comprehensive overhaul of the planning system, outlining the tough decisions needed to strengthen the foundations and stimulate economic growth.
All councils in England will be given mandatory housing targets to fulfil the government’s pledge of providing 1.5 million new homes in an effort to tackle the UK’s housing crisis.
These targets are designed to encourage councils to increase their housebuilding efforts in areas that are most in need so that people have more opportunity to purchase their own homes.
At a time when planning permissions in the UK were at a record low, these new rules will reverse last year’s decision regarding housing targets by making them explicitly advisory. This will also extend to local plans.
Currently, only a third of councils have a plan under 5 years old. Knowing this, the government has made it clear that they will step in if needed to ensure progress towards building affordable housing is being made.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “Today marks a significant step to getting Britain building again.
“Our decisive reforms to the planning system correct the errors of the past and set us on our way to tackling the housing crisis, delivering 1.5 million homes for those who really need them.
“And something I am personally proud of, our new flexibilities for councils will boost the number of social and affordable homes, and give working families a better route to a secure home.”
In addition to employing mandatory targets for councils, the method that is used to calculate them has been revised as the previously used data was over a decade old.
The new approach will ensure building proportional to the size of existing communities and focus on building in the right places, with a particular focus on areas with the most unaffordable housing.
The focus on placement has outlined the need for housing to be built within the range of existing transportation infrastructure
Brownfield land is the first, and potentially most significantly impacted, area. The announced reforms will make explicit that the default answer to brownfield development should be “yes” and promote homebuilding at greater densities in urban centers.
A focus on “grey belt” areas has also been made clear, with the definition for this being set as “land on the edge of existing settlements or roads, as well as old petrol stations and car parks.”
If needed, the government has outlined that green belt land may also be considered to help deliver the promised 1.5 million homes over the next 5 years.
Land released from the green belt is to operate under the government’s “golden rule”. This rule makes it clear that development should deliver 50% affordable homes, increase access to green spaces, and put the necessary infrastructure in place, such as schools and GP surgeries
Alongside all of the above, the government has made it clear that it is committed to making the development of key infrastructure easier as well as making changes to deliver more projects surrounding renewable energy.
In addition to these reforms to the planning system, the government is also taking steps to deliver quality, affordable, and social housing, working to reverse the continued decline in the number of social rent homes. This includes changes to Right to Buy, giving councils flexibility to use their receipts to build and buy more social homes.
The government’s future investment plans in social and affordable housing will be brought forward in the next spending review, allowing providers to plan for what appears to be the largest housebuilding push in recent years.
The government has confirmed that at the next fiscal event, it will provide councils and housing associations with the rent stability they need to be able to borrow and invest in new and existing homes.
Greg Williams, Head of Business Development at Compariqo, said: “Seeing the robust plans of the new government regarding the immediate need for new homes and specifically affordable and social housing represents the first and most important step in the right direction.”
“We welcome the ambitious plans of the government, and Compariqo will be here every step of the way to assist in navigating the complex industry.”
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