The government is planning to force developers to increase their building rates by compulsory purchasing their land if they have not started building within two years after receiving planning permission – cutting the available time from three years.
This one of the main elements announced today by the communities secretary Sajid Javid in Fixing our broken housing market, the long-awaited Housing White Paper that aims to get Britain building homes again.
In a change of political emphasis the government is moving away from home ownership to creating more homes of different tenures – particularly shared ownership and private rent. But the White Paper sees the government abandon plans for all sites to include starter homes, to allow other forms of affordable housing.
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Other measures, many of which had previously been announced, include initiatives such as helping small firms build 25,000 new homes by 2020 with loans from a £3bn fund that will support offsite construction and essential infrastructure.
Among the main issues in the paper are:
Developers
Developers that do not build out sites where they have planning permission will have their land seized by local authorities through compulsory purchase powers. Developers will be expected to give more upfront information about the scale and timing of developments, and large builders may have to publish their build out rates, the government said.
Councils will be allowed to issue “completion notices” requiring construction be completed within two years of starting. They can currently require that it be completed within three years.
Calculating housing demand
The paper proposes the introduction of a new national method for local authorities to calculate housing demand. Each authority will have to produce a realistic plan to meet its housing need which must be reviewed every five years. According to the government, currently 40% of local planning authorities do not have an up-to-date plan.
Build to rent
Planning rules will be amended to properly encourage councils to proactively plan and deliver long-term build-to-rent developments. This will be supported by the government working with developers and local authorities to provide longer-term tenancies for renters.
Starter Homes
The government said there would be a change in focus from starter homes – which will be offered to first-time buyers at a 20% discount – to “a wider range of affordable housing”.
Starter Homes will be aimed at “households that need them most”, reserved for people with incomes below £80,000 or £90,000 in London. The paper said the government would now aim to “help over 200,000 people become homeowners by the end of the parliament” through the entirety of its homeownership programmes.
Utilities
The issue of utilities and housebuilding will also be addressed. The government will review what more can be done to ensure that utilities planning and delivery keeps pace with housebuilding and supports development across the country. The government said it “will review and monitor the performance of the utilities sector to ensure building is not being delayed and, if necessary, will consider obligating utility companies to take account of proposed development”.
Offsite housing
As was first announced at the Conservative party conference in the autumn, small and medium-sized builders will be encouraged into the market and urged to use offsite housing and modern methods of construction though the £3bn Home Building Fund.
Land use
Councils and developers will be required to use land more efficiently by avoiding low-density homes. This will mean an emphasis on building higher in urban areas that are short of land, and in locations next to transport hubs such as train stations.
Speaking following the release of the White Paper, Andrew Jones, practice leader for design, planning & economics at Aecom, said: “The measures outlined in today’s much-anticipated White Paper should go some way towards delivering housing growth. The government’s support for offsite construction is particularly encouraging.
“The promise to free up more public sector sites for development is nothing new, but providing local authorities with more compulsory purchase order powers could lead to a welcome gear shift if there is support for local authorities to use those powers.
“Reducing the timescales for developers to implement a permission for housing development from three to two years is also encouraging. Improving speed of delivery will be crucial to enable a meaningful influx of new homes.”
Andy Barnard, partner at law firm Trowers & Hamlins, said it was encouraging to see the government moving away from the focus of pure home ownership and embracing the build-to-rent sector.
He said: “The proposal to change the NPPF will encourage planning authorities all around the country to properly include Build to Rent into their plans. We all know that build to rent doesn’t work everywhere, but knowing the planning authority is behind it will improve confidence to bring forward opportunities where it does.”
Others, however, were more disappointed with the outcomes of the paper. Shadow housing minister John Healey said: “Really? Is that it? We hoped for better and needed better.”
The House Builders Association (HBA) also said the paper “lacked ambition”, particlularly with its target of SMEs delivering an extra 25,000 homes out of the 900,000 we need to build over the next three years.
Rico Wojtulewicz, policy adviser for the HBA, said: “The Housing White Paper is an inadequate proposal that misunderstands the market, does not stimulate competition, and continues to focus on demand and volume over placemaking.”
