Today’s White Paper has underlined the government’s commitment to building more affordable houses and help people buy and rent their homes after admitting the current market is “broken”. But is it all positive? We gauge the reaction from a cross-section of the property industry.
Greg Hill, Deputy Managing Director at Hill, comments: “The Housing White Paper should empower SMEs to have the confidence to do something different, as innovation can be highly challenging in a restricted and confined sector. With the right support and by prioritising sensitive design, working in partnership and engaging with key stakeholders, SMEs will be able to flourish. As an established medium-sized housebuilder we have proved that it can be done, as demonstrated by The Avenue.
“SMEs are in the perfect position to step away from convention and embrace new designs and methods of construction due to their flexibility. We have the opportunity to engender greater collaboration and bridge the gap between housebuilders, local communities and local authorities. This will in turn allow us as an industry to build the homes which people not only need but will also love.
Jonathan Manns, Head of Regeneration and Director of Planning at Colliers International, comments: “It’s happened! After months of rumour and speculation the Government has finally published it’s Housing White Paper. Yet, rather than this climactic moment proving to be the explosive finale to end a national crisis, the Secretary of State has revealed a predictably damp squib. We turned up at the last night of the Proms expecting an evening of vigorous flag-waving, only to find the Albert Hall is empty and has closed due to funding cuts.
“Reassuringly, the White Paper encourages some of the things we’ve known we should be doing for a while. There’s support for the private rented sector, small builders and public-sector delivery. We’re also told that the private-sector will benefit from a quicker, more efficient and reliable approach to processing planning applications. All this at the same time as fixing a broken market, removing one of the biggest barriers to social progress and avoiding any need to rip up the countryside.
“Dig into the (*cough*) detail and, beyond the hollow and misguiding rhetoric, there are the odd tweaks to the status quo. Councils, we’re told, should continue to review the targets in their Local Plans and ensure they’re up-to-date. Hardly ground-breaking but reassuringly familiar. On the plus side, there’s a commitment to standardising the way that housing needs assessments are undertaken and reviewed.
“Regrettably, we see weakness in areas where it really matters. Despite demanding that Local Authorities don’t duck difficult questions, the Government has ruled out any consideration of the way in which we could reform the green belt to secure better outcomes for our built and natural environment. There’s no National Spatial Plan to balance economic growth or tangible indication of exactly how Local Authorities will be resourced to deliver their newfound responsibilities.
“Far from watching HMS Britain launch a buccaneering pre-Brexit assault on housing injustice and inequality, we find ourselves on the deck of RMS Titanic whilst Sajid Javid and his band seek to provide a reassuring distraction. Affluent baby-boomers, who clambered into the lifeboats of homeownership decades ago, drift quietly off.
“The political currents may be shifting, but it will take decades before we find ourselves so firmly on the rocks that Government is obligated to act. Unfortunately, by then it will be too late. Announcements from the bridge are that housing needs and aspirations will be met in the shorter-term and, with this, we’ve just missed another opportunity to change course.
Mark Dickinson, Managing Director of of London-based property developer, Anthology, comments: “We are pleased that the ‘bold, radical vision’ set out today by Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, does go further than other statements have done to address the UK’s housing crisis. And as a small, agile house builder we are pleased that we have been awarded the recognition of the role that companies like ours can play in providing a solution to this very real issue.
“The fact that 60 per cent of homes across the UK are built by just ten housebuilders reflects a market which is out of balance. The decline of smaller developers, who’s production has reduced by 80 per cent in the last 25 years, has been damaging to the industry and to customer choice; change is essential and this change needs to happen right across the sector to ensure a fair outcome for all households. A focus on any one type of housing tenure will limit the overall capacity of the housing industry to provide much needed homes.
“We welcome the government’s focus on modern methods of construction such as offsite construction; efficiencies in the supply chain are paramount to the success of the industry. However, we absolutely must not repeat the mistakes of previous decades; we need to ensure that homes do not become homogenised and boring. The industry needs to remain flexible enough to listen to communities and meet specific local needs; we’ve got some fantastic architectural practices in this country and we really shouldn’t be aiming to litter the landscape with dull repeated designs.
“Being a developer solely focused on brownfield regeneration in London, it’s always encouraging hearing about any relaxation or streaming of planning processes, and we welcome measures around increased densities. Anything that remove’s doubt about planning outcomes must help to encourage future investment and the construction of much needed new homes. However, keeping the local community front of mind is key to long-term success, we need to ensure that a gung-ho approach is avoided and communities are engaged throughout the process.”
Ian Anderson, Executive Director, Iceni Projects, comments: “Today’s long-awaited silver bullet into the housing market is sadly nothing of the sort. It’s a great synopsis of a crisis with almost nothing to actually effect change.
“The technicalities of the planning system may make for a less-than sexy headline, but putting much needed resources into planning departments is the only way to deliver on the ambitions of the White Paper, such as they are. Planning departments have been hit especially hard by local authority cuts, a trend unlikely to reverse. The White Paper itself acknowledges the problems caused by our insufficiently skilled and resourced planners.
“The Government is right to acknowledge England’s housing crisis; it is a pity that nothing in today’s White Paper will turn things around.”
Jon Jennings, Director, Cheffins comments: “Today’s Housing White Paper is yet again an effort from the Government to increase productivity for housebuilders and try and speed up the planning process. There is a fine balance to be found here and we must ensure that our countryside is protected from inappropriate development whilst still providing enough new homes built to meet the UK’s chronic levels of demand.
“Measures to protect the green belt whilst still delivering on the forecasted one million new homes by 2020 do seem to be at odds with one another and it will be interesting to see how this develops over the coming months. The councils now need to play a pivotal role in increasing output and delivery in a sustainable manner and by announcing that councils can take land out of the green belt in only ‘exceptional circumstances’ once again brings the responsibility of delivery to each of the UK’s individual Districts. Measures to decrease land-banking should also play a positive role in increasing the numbers of new homes built and we should certainly see an increase in available land once these restrictions on developers are put into practice. However, this should be accompanied by an increase in the decision making process and discharge of conditions.
“Neighbourhood plans have also come under fire and the announcement that these should be revised to ensure that plans meet their fair share of local housing need and delivery across a wider local area can only be a positive. This is certainly something which strikes a chord with those living in our region where the development of Local Plans have been particularly slow-moving. As one of the areas with the largest disparity between demand and supply, the Greater Cambridge region really does need to be helped to deliver on housing and infrastructure, and anything which could help speed up the process is essential. A cautious approach should be taken to increasing housing densities as increased quantity does not necessarily mean quality. There is a need for increases in housing across all sectors of the housing market and the planning system needs to provide enough flexibility to allow this to happen.
“The use of a consistent formula to calculate housing demand is welcomed and will allow a transparent and true assessment of housing demand to be made rather than the current scenario where figures are manipulated to meet the views of elected members.
“Proposals to increase planning fees should only be allowed if they result in a real improvement in the delivery of planning permissions and are ‘ring fenced’ to planning departments.
“The confirmation that an increase in public sector land will be made available will help government reach its targets for housing. There are acres of under-used public sector space across the UK and these have the potential to provide huge amounts of space in viable locations for development. The government needs to bear in mind that this is not just about delivering numbers of houses to match their forecasts, rather this is about providing homes where people will actually want to live. Brownfield sites in the centre of towns will generally provide this although there will still be demand in rural locations for new homes.”
Neil Young, CEO of Get Living London, comments: “We’re delighted that the Government has made this commitment to the rental sector as part of its housing agenda. Get Living London is a firm believer that good quality, well managed, rental accommodation is a vital part of the solution to the UK’s housing problems.
“Since 2013, we’ve been offering a service-led rental offer at East Village, the former athletes’ village, which was developed by listening directly to what renters want, and it’s good to see the Government’s agenda starting to reflect this too.
“At Get Living London, we’ve never charged ‘agency’ fees and the majority of our 3,100 residents sign a three-year tenancy, giving them the benefit that rents within the term will only increase by CPI and the flexibility of a residents-only break clause. We encourage residents to put down roots and feel at home; we’re more than happy for them to hang pictures and paint walls if they want to and help them settle into the neighbourhood with social events, free fitness classes and offer from our retailers.
“We very much welcome the Government’s commitment, and look forward to working with the industry to support the detail of their proposals.”
Toby Greville, Director of Residential Development at Colliers International, comments: “40 per cent of local planning authorities do not have a plan that meets the projected growth in households in their area. Why? – Politics!
“Almost every Local Authority wants to increase its housing supply; unfortunately, many hold a deep rooted suspicion towards developers and seek to tax private developers through social housing contributions and community infrastructure, so much that their demands render proposed projects too risky and unprofitable. Developers are used to lodging planning applications with the knowledge that their application will be refused on political grounds, only to win their case after a costly and timely appeal. It’s rarely in the developers’ interests to land bank and the consequence is too many decent projects are left unbuilt.
“Sadly, the Housing White Paper’s answer to this is to seek to deter ‘unnecessary appeals’ by imposing an appeal levy. Many more applications are passed on appeal than are refused; clear evidence that the fault lies with the local authority’s planning committee. The White Paper offers no solutions to this.”
Steve Radley, Director of Policy at the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), comments: “Solving the nation’s housing needs is a massive issue which needs to be addressed by industry and government working together.
“This White Paper has a range of sensible proposals which should help speed up the house building process and get small employers involved.
“Off-site can play a key role in building new homes faster, cheaper and better. We will work with the industry to ensure that providers understand their training needs and the right qualifications and funding are in place to support them.
“Through the Home Building Skills Partnership we are working with the industry to make it easier for firms of all sizes to train and help home builders and their supply chains work together.”
Kirstie Donnelly, Managing Director of City & Guilds, comments: “It’s welcome to see this White Paper draw attention to the challenges facing the construction industry. Britain will never tackle its housing crisis unless the skills gap is addressed, especially in the context of Brexit.
“The White Paper calls on industry to step up on training. In particular it’s absolutely crucial that there are strong links between employers and schools so that careers advice provides an up-to-date image of construction jobs, supported by work experience. Our research Great Expectations found that teenagers lack any real awareness of the many different career options within the construction industry. This is a major barrier to filling the skills gap.
“We also need the Government to ensure that the new route into construction links in to apprenticeships and also that there is a focus on supporting learners in the construction sector through to higher levels. Lastly, we need construction businesses to change their attitude to apprenticeships. Figures show that many construction employers have never taken on an apprentice or inexperienced staff member for training – yet how can they boost skills amongst the next generation if this is not part of the equation? City & Guilds and the Cross-Industry Construction Apprenticeship Task Force (CCATF) recently joined forces to bring a new approach to apprenticeships in the UK construction industry. It is crucial that the sector understands the value of on-the-job training as a way to address future challenges.”
Sarah Bush, Director, Cheffins comments: “The private rented sector has been under the government microscope for some months now, so it did not come as a surprise that the lettings industry came under fire in today’s Housing White Paper. Whilst more homes being built specifically to rent certainly come as good news for many across the country, the suggestion of longer term tenancy agreements are definitely a concern. Despite that these are intended to give renters more security, they will in fact be unnecessary and unpopular with many sectors of the market. In transient marketplaces such as Cambridge or London, tenants are not looking to be tied into one property for more than six or twelve months, mainly due to work commitments or plans to buy property. Longer tenancies are not actually what all renters want and flexibility continues to be key in many of our markets.
“We also need to consider landlords in this situation and to make it harder for them to regain possession of their property is yet another hurdle for the private rented sector to overcome. Whilst our rental market in Cambridge is incredibly strong and we are still seeing healthy levels of new instructions with increased demand from tenants, the government needs to be careful not to keep victimising the private rented sector. We still don’t know how or where these longer term tenancies will actually be enforced and the government needs to take into account how different UK cities and towns actually work. With a market which is predominantly jobs driven, Cambridge tenants will not benefit from tenancies which enforce long periods in the same location and this needs to be taken into consideration when or if these new policies are rolled out.”
Shraga Stern, Director of Decorean, comments: “As a house-builder, we naturally welcome the news that the government has set itself a target to deliver 225,000 and 275,000 new homes every year. However, actions speak louder than words. We have seen promises and plans laid out before that have never come to fruition and we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. For there to be a real change, the government must enforce changes to the planning system and regulations, which act as a stumbling block for many smaller developers. The White Paper is a welcome sight and a positive step forward to providing more homes for our ever-growing population.”
Richard Donnell, Insight Director at Hometrack, comments: “This whitepaper builds on five years of housing policies from the Conservative Government that started with the National Planning Policy Framework in 2012. During this time the core message to all stakeholders in both the private and public sectors has been centred around the Government’s desire to see a step change in new housing delivery.
“These latest announcements represent further policy refinements to this central message and highlight that more still needs to be done to ensure all parties are working together effectively to boost investment in new housing and get all stakeholders focused on upping supply.
“The announcements for the rented sector will be welcomed by tenants and are a necessary response to a rapidly growing and important part of the housing market, which over the past two decades has seen billions of new investment but far fewer progressive, policy initiatives.”
Ashley Osborne, Head of UK Residential at Colliers International, comments:
“Whilst some may be disappointed the white paper does not have enough teeth or go far enough, ultimately it is positive that the government is trying to tackle the housing crisis. This is a difficult issue to resolve and there is no magic solution. More realistic is a series of changes which initially alleviate and hopefully solve this significant issue which the UK faces together with many other countries across the globe.
“From a positive view point a greater focus on increasing development density and greater pressure on speeding up the planning process and holding planning authorities to account. Together with some acknowledgement that the crisis is not simply an issue of developers holding back potential sites through land banks but also genuine issues around both construction and finance risk.
“However, if we are going to make rapid strides to solving this issue perhaps more could have done to deal with a specific VISA for skilled migrant construction workers who face uncertainty post the BREXIT referendum and greater flexibility in how affordable housing is delivered i.e. could PRS investors take on this role?”
John Goodall, CEO and Co-founder, Landbay comments: “Despite the aspirations of millions, home ownership levels continue to dwindle regardless of resolute ambitions made by governments past and present, meaning more people now than ever lean heavily on the private rented sector. A sensible policy discussion is long overdue, so it’s encouraging news that we may finally see some support for what is an increasingly important part of the housing mix.
“There are currently 4.3m tenants in the rented sector and the fact remains that those hoping to one day purchase a home of their own are relying on a well-served buy to let market to ensure that excessive rental growth doesn’t dampen their purchasing power. However, recent tax and stamp duty changes for landlords mean that rents continue to feel upward pressure. Simply building more homes is not enough, but building more homes specifically designed to rent rather than buy should go some way to increasing the number of people able to get a foot on the housing ladder down the line.
“As a house-builder, we naturally welcome the news that the government has set itself a target of building 1m homes by 2020. However, actions speak louder than words. We have seen promises and plans laid out before that have never come to fruition and we need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. For there to be a real change, the government must enforce changes to the planning system and regulations, which act as a stumbling block for many smaller developers. The White Paper is a welcome sight and a positive step forward to providing more homes for our ever-growing population.”
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the FMB, comments: “The Housing White Paper contains a number of key measures which should boost the opportunities available to SME house builders, the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) has said in response to the Government’s long-awaited blueprint for tackling the housing crisis.
“I’m pleased that the White Paper recognises the potential for SMEs to deliver far more homes than they do currently. In addition, it accurately identifies the key barriers to them doing so as land, planning and finance. Of these, finding small sites and then getting planning permission is the greatest single barrier. In too many places, the approach to planning for new homes has come to be focused almost entirely on large sites and large scale delivery. This approach has slowed down the delivery of homes, and has helped shape an uncompetitive house building industry and an unresponsive supply of housing – this has to end.
“There’s a proposal in the White Paper to take forward a presumption in favour of small scale development of sorts and this is a huge step forward. So too is the proposal to encourage permissions on so-called windfall sites, that is sites not allocated in local plans. Smaller windfall sites must be seen as critical elements in the supply of land and new housing, not as awkward add-ons. Furthermore, plans to boost resources for planning departments could be used to provide an adrenalin shot to a planning system which has been running on near-empty for too long now. The proposed 20 per cent hike in planning fees, which will only apply where local authorities agree to invest the extra resources in planning, will get a cautious welcome from most small developers. If this can be shown to deliver observable improvements in planning services, then it would make a good case for further increases along the lines the White Paper suggests.
“There is much that is good and sensible in the White Paper so let’s use it as a launch pad for a real step change in delivery. Local authorities are set to be given more resources and more powers. However, the targets arising from the new housing delivery tests, against which councils will be measured, will not be met with a continued over-reliance on large developers and large sites. If a local authority fails to meet its targets it could lose control over its own planning policy and the threat of this should be provide the impetus for councils to push more small sites through the system. It is in everyone’s interest to see SMEs play a far greater role in house building and small sites are key to this.”
Tom Willows, Managing Associate at Bond Dickinson, comments: “The sentiment will be well received by institutional investors involved in Build To Rent but the paper is scant on detail as to the “family-friendly” tenancy or what the changes to the NPPF will look like. It’s also worth noting that the Government has again declined to make an exception for institutional investors in relation to the three per cent SDLT surcharge on additional residential properties, a change which would have undoubtedly stimulated institutional investment further”.
Paul Goodman, Chairman of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), comments: “Today’s white paper should have been a solid assertion that small and midsize construction companies are going to get the support they need to start building in serious numbers.
“Instead, if Sajid Javid’s speech to Parliament is anything to go by, it just looks like the government is re-treading old ground.
“The government’s commitment to ‘innovative’ building practices and its re-assertion of the pledges made around the £3bn Home Building Fund is encouraging, but we heard all this last year.
“What our broker members are seeing on the ground is that funders have a real appetite to financially support these developments – so there’s clearly a disconnect.
“Education has an important part to play here. High Street lenders can play a large part in funding these developments, but construction SMEs should be aware that there are a range of funding options available to them – beyond just the High Street.
“It is therefore vital that the government emphasises the range of financial options available to SME builders, and that they can continue to access the finance they need to get Britain building.”
Speaking from the Scottish Federation of Housing Association’s conference, Andrew Carpenter, Chief Executive of the Structural Timber Association (STA), comments: “As Sajid Javid outlined what he called ‘the bold radical vision for the housing market’ and the government’s commitment to support offsite factory built homes, the STA firmly believe that offsite timber construction is the only way to reach the specified target of one million homes by 2020. We welcome the government’s commitment to act as a catalyst for change in the wider housing market, through supporting offsite manufacturing techniques.
“With four out of five new homes in Scotland being built from structural timber – we know that offsite timber solutions address many government concerns associated with public procurement of housing including speed of build, environmental impact, lifetime energy efficiency and cost performance – these factors are all largely beneficial not only to government plans but to the wider community.
“Offsite manufactured structural timber systems have advanced greatly in recent years and can offer house builders cost, programme and performance assurances. Structural timber solutions outweigh other sectors in regards to volume of materials – the sector is quick to respond and can add capacity at a relatively rapid rate to meet demand. Shortages in other traditional construction materials will continue to encourage larger builders and specifiers to look to alternatives.
“Innovation in the structural timber product range has broadened the appeal – the industry is no longer defined simply by the supply of timber frame kits and panelised solutions. It is driven by intelligent and integrated construction solutions, such as closed panel timber frame, structural insulated panel systems and volumetric modular options. Manufacture in well managed factory conditions, with stringent controls in place – minimises waste and optimises both quality and productivity.
“As the government pledge support for small and medium size developers, as well as initiatives for self and custom builders – in theory there is a lot of positive content in this White Paper. Making the planning system more accessible and releasing land that is currently in public sector ownership, will certainly have an impact but only time will tell how it works in practise.
“The time is right for the construction industry to embrace innovative timber technology and offsite techniques to develop better buildings at a rapid rate to meet government targets, to overcome the shortfall in housing stock and produce energy efficient buildings – particularly important for the social housing and private rental sectors, together with home owners and occupiers.”
Ian Anderson, Partner, Planning and Development Consultancy, Cushman & Wakefield, comments: “Ministers had painted a picture of a landmark document, focused on fiscal and planning solutions that would provide the framework for housing policy for the foreseeable future. Initial review suggests that, whilst there is welcome move away from the ‘home ownership at all costs’ mantra towards a recognition that an increasing proportion of the population are likely to be forced into rent, a great many of the planning reforms which were trailed ahead of publication, including the potential to review previously sacrosanct Green Belt policy, haven’t made the final edit. The document as a whole seeks far greater political expediency with very much an eye to maintaining support in Tory heartlands and is underwhelming.
“From the planning perspective at least, the White Paper does little to add anything new to realistically speeding up the supply of housing.
There should be a welcome for the recognition of the important contribution the rental sector makes to housing and the Government’s continued support for brownfield development, but the Paper offers nothing radical, and in some cases, seeks to impose or curtail present planning flexibility which may actually result in delays to the submission of planning applications and, in turn, a longer lead in time to development.
“Forcing cash-strapped Council’s to produce quicker, more up to date housing assessments and plans at a time when they are ill equipped and under -funded to do so is really a kick in the teeth for those authorities who have cut planning teams to the bone, are struggling with the burden of producing new plans and in a great many cases, have been forced into ‘planning by appeal’ which further eats time, resource and budget. A more radical approach which hasn’t been explored could be achieved, with the pooling of resources across administrative areas to produce more strategic housing market reviews and allocations which would provide speed and certainty to the market: the Government has continually threatened it will ‘step in’ and assist, but this has failed to materialise and the White Paper puts the onus and pressure firmly back on the local authorities’ shoulders.
“At face value, this is to be welcomed. However, the language of the White Paper is drafted in very similar terms to that of the Planning Policy Framework. In reality therefore, this is unlikely to be anything other than a ‘material consideration’ in the determination of any planning application, and is unlikely to trump the primacy of development plans which in many cases protect brownfield land, notably industrial and employment land, from other forms of redevelopment either on policy or amenity grounds.
“Reducing the time allowed between a grant of planning permission and the start of building from three to two years could perversely have an opposite effect. Many schemes evolve during the planning process and often between the outline and detail stages; according to the market, detailed site specific factors and other issues. It can also take significant time to produce the detailed documents associated with the final scheme and have these approved by a Council. A reduction in time for implementation is likely to force housebuilders and developers to re-assess making outline proposals and only push the button on seeking detailed planning permissions once they are satisfied all tangibles can be achieved, which could ultimately delay the submission of applications altogether.
“The ability for Council’s to serve completion notices has been in place since 1968 but is rarely used simply because it is beset with technical legal and property issues to the extent that serving one rarely has the desired outcome and often results in significant delay in time and resource, often in the courts. The reality is that once a planning permission has been implemented, which could be as simple as the proverbial ‘spade in the ground’ there is, in fact very little and Authority can do to force construction unless the planning permission or S106 has been structured in such a way to achieve effective phased development. The Government suggest it will explore ways to simplify this, but it is likely to be beset by legal challenge.
“House builders and the Government are better placed in my view working together to deliver approved planning schemes rather than spending time and resource in the courts arguing over whether a scheme has been implemented promptly or the (in some cases very good reasons) why phased developments sometimes take longer to deliver than anticipated.
“The White Paper commits the Government to publishing a recommended standardised format for assessing Objectively Assessed Needs OAN) within an area for implementation by May 2018 – whilst this is welcome, 90 per cent of Housing Assessments adopt a similar approach and this is unlikely to speed up the process significantly.”
Tim Roache, GMB General Secretary, comments: “Another day, another housing announcement. If the government had started building projects for each of their 1,000 policy announcements we wouldn’t be in the mess we are today.
“Under David Cameron house building fell to the lowest level of any peacetime Prime Minister since the 1920s, homelessness has rocketed and the number of homeowners has plummeted by more than 200,000.
“That’s not to mention the appalling lack of council housing – and the extortionate rents private landlords charge, often pocketing taxpayer cash while they’re at it.
“We need 250,000 homes a year to keep up with demand.
“The answer isn’t rocket science – stop dithering and start building.”
Ben Kite, Managing Director of ecological consultancy, EPR, comments: “The ecological and development communities would potentially have had much to gain from limited, selective and sensitive development of green belt land.
“There are misconceptions about the purpose of the green belt – among them the idea that the designation necessarily signifies ecological or landscape value. In fact, swathes of the green belt are overwhelmingly brown, intensively-managed farmland with little ecological value.
“The needs of development and ecology are by no means mutually exclusive, and carefully managed policy-driven sustainable projects can be among the most effective means of funding nature conservation and biodiversity gains. This can in turn add to local amenities that make homes and houses attractive to tenants and buyers, yielding benefits both for human health and future stewardship of the environment.”
Frank Pennal, CEO Property Division Close Brothers : “Small housebuilders regularly cite land, planning and finance as the major barriers to expansion, and so today’s white paper provides a welcome and meaningful way forward to address these issues.
“Speeding up the planning process, and releasing more small and medium size land plots is a significant step forwards. Together with the £3bn Home Builders Fund introduced earlier this year, this white paper will help smaller housebuilders to unlock their potential and make a significant contribution to covering the current shortfall in UK housing development. With estimates that 60 per cent of new homes are currently built by just 10 big building firms, the new housing strategy will further encourage smaller construction firms to complement large housebuilders who have been dominating the sector.”
David de Souza, Director of architecture and building consultancy practice AHR, comments: “A number of elements in the housing system are broken, and we understand the restraints that both developers and councils face with regards to planning for new homes. However, we want to see architects and building consultants given more freedom to do our job at arms-length. At the moment there is little consistency between local authorities throughout the planning process, and too often projects are caught up within red-tape. Thankfully it looks like this a key area that the white paper aims to address.
“Sustainability and energy efficiency should be a key component of any housing development. It’s no secret that other European countries are ahead of Britain when it comes to energy efficiency, but we should see this white paper as the spark to make changes, to aspire to Passivhaus and Carbon Neutral homes.
“The government is recognising the benefits of good quality architecture and we agree with the recommendations for creative and innovative designs for new housing stock, particularly for SME housebuilders. Using modern construction techniques and design technologies we can go beyond traditional building and future proof Britain’s new homes.
“We are facing a very real shortage of affordable housing and the bottom line is that we want to put people in homes and give them sustainable communities to live in.
“The recommendations in the white paper will help at the front end by encouraging councils to free up land and supporting developers to meet planning timescales. There is no magic bullet or quick solution, but we hope that the government, local authorities and developers follow up the paper with positive actions.”
Nick Sanderson, CEO, Audley Retirement, comments: “We had hoped that the government would use today’s White Paper to finally introduce incentives to downsize, but we have been left disappointed once again. The paper has a gaping hole: it acknowledges that people face barriers to downsizing, but fails to make any commitment to action. Further conversation is simply delaying the clear need to act. And act now.
“The government has missed a valuable opportunity. The paper includes a proposal to bring a statutory duty on local planners to show they are meeting the need to provide suitable housing. Good. But delaying putting in place any actual initiatives lacks drive, and misses the point. The point that our population is getting older. And fast. A commitment to ‘all types of housing’ must include the swift provision of high quality retirement housing, which, alongside financial incentives to downsize in the form of long-overdue reforms to Stamp Duty, will address the lack of movement at the top end of the market. If the view is that the housing model is broken, a continued laser-focus generating supply at the bottom end is not the answer.
“We now look forward to engaging with the government on this issue and meeting with ministers to discuss Audley’s role in helping them fulfil their political obligations for older people.”
Richard Guyatt, Partner at Bond Dickinson and former Chair of the CPO Association, comments: “The call for consultation on further reform of CPO and compensation law is welcome. The detail is lacking and whilst some of the proposals sound radical, they are likely to face significant practical difficulties.
“The emphasis of linking infrastructure and housing has been a theme emerging for some time. It is essential if the policies heralded by the White Paper are to succeed. The approach of better integrating planning processes, improving the land assembly process and speeding the timetable for delivery of new infrastructure, properly co-ordinated with housing development, must finally be deployed – and given time to be properly implemented.
“This will in part be achieved by the Government calling for LPAs to identify development opportunities from strategic infrastructure when funding for those schemes is committed, and to maximise the potential unlocked. The reforms to compensation law in the current Neighbourhood Planning Bill will make this strategic approach even more attractive.”
Richard Connolly, CEO of Rentplus, comments: “The Government’s plan in the Housing White Paper to replace the Starter Homes commitment of 20 per cent of all sites to instead deliver a minimum of 10 per cent affordable housing to buy is a step in the right direction. This will better reflect local needs and markets and will go a long way to ensuring that more people can fulfil the dream of renting a new home and access the ladder to homeownership in a way that best suits their circumstances. The official recognition of Rent-to-buy in the White Paper as an affordable housing tenure is something we have long argued for and it perfectly fits the Government’s ambitions to broaden the definition of affordable housing to better meet the wide range of local housing needs being identified by Local Authorities. Meeting the UK’s housing needs means we have to deliver more affordable housing and today’s White Paper outlines a plan to do exactly that. Early results from our own business already show that incredibly, over a third of our Rentplus families were previously living in social housing prior to moving into their new homes, which they will now one day own, showing the power of the rent-to-buy tenure.”