An innovative approach to planning new homes will ensure they’re built where most needed, save councils millions of pounds every year and help deliver more affordable homes, the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid has announced.
The new approach, first mooted in the government’s housing white paper, will help give a realistic picture of how many homes each local area needs now and in future years. It will also mean more homes are built in areas where it is unaffordable, based on average earnings in each area.
Councils across England spend an estimated £3 million in taxpayers’ money every year on employing expensive consultants to work out how many new homes are needed in their area. Long legal disputes over these figures when preparing local plans can also lead to unnecessary delays and add to the costs.
The proposed changes will help boost housing supply and improve affordability. It will help ensure councils work to a consistent approach to plan for more homes in the right places. This is a crucial step in fixing the country’s broken housing market.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said: "As anyone who has tried to buy or rent a home recently would probably tell you, the housing market in this country is broken. The simple truth is that for far too long we haven’t built enough homes and we don’t build them quickly enough.
"It’s time to fix that. 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."
Responding to the announcement on the consultation for assessing housing need, Cllr Martin Tett, the LGA’s Housing spokesman, said: “Councils know that the only way to tackle our housing crisis is to build more homes, and the right types of homes needed for our communities. Councils already approve nine in 10 planning permissions, but are often frustrated when approved homes aren’t built quickly enough.
“There could be benefits to having a standard approach to assessing the need for housing, but a formula drawn up in Whitehall can never fully understand the complexity and unique needs of local housing markets, which vary significantly from place to place. It is crucial that councils and communities can lead new development in their areas.
“Our residents are clear – new homes in their communities have to be affordable, high-quality, and supported by adequate infrastructure and sustainable local services. The only way to do this is to make sure that councils, who are closest to the communities they serve, have the powers and funding they need to deliver homes that are right for their local area.
“This means powers to make sure developers build out approved homes in a timely fashion, adequately funding planning departments so that they can cover the cost of processing applications, and freeing councils to borrow to build quality new homes communities want and need.
“Ultimately we need a renaissance in council house building if we’re to deliver the affordable homes this country needs – national ambitions will not be realised without new freedoms and powers for councils.”
