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New Government Policy Will Increase Housing Shortage- 22/07/2010
New housing planning policies introduced by the new government will detract from efforts to rectify the shortage of new homes in the West Midlands and make it even more difficult for land owners and developers to gain planning permission for housing developments, according to Solicitor-Advocate Niall Blackie, Partner and Head of Planning at Midlands’ law firm FBC Manby Bowdler LLP and a leading Midlands’ planning lawyer.
The new Conservative Liberal Democrat Coalition Government has decided to allow local councils to make their own decisions, as to how many new homes are to be provided in their area.
Under the previous administration the numbers of new homes were fixed at a regional level with local councils having to show in a Local Development Framework (LDF) where this new housing would be built in their area to meet the regional figures. This led to some new development sites appearing to be imposed on some towns and villages. A system often regarded as unfair by local inhabitants affected.
However, using his reserve powers and notified via a letter of advice to all councils, Eric Pickles, the Coalition's Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has now said that councils are no longer bound by the regional figures and can determine their own needs for new housing development. This is likely to reduce the number of homes that rural councils will accept in their areas.
Immediately local councils have used this guidance to reject planning applications for new homes from developers, with one major housebuilder having plans for 2,000 new homes rejected in a single week, another withdrawing an application to avoid a formal rejection and at least one local authority deciding to reconsider its LDF.
In the long term, this change of housing planning policy is likely to cause major delays in approving planning applications and building new homes. Local councils still have to prepare a Local Development Framework saying where new housing developments will be, but now they are no longer bound by regional figures many will take their time to re-examine their plans. As a result some proposed development sites which looked as if they would be included in the original framework may now be rejected.
Even under the figures proposed by the previous government, England was heading for a major shortfall in the numbers of new homes required over the next 20 years to meet the needs of a growing population and changing lifestyles, such as more single person households.
The shortage of new homes has been made worse by the effects of the recession which hit the housebuilding industry hard and from which it has not yet recovered. For example in the first quarter of this year new housing starts in England were down nearly 50% on the first quarter of 2007.
Mr Pickles’ new planning policy will only add to the shortage of new homes being built.
This may be good news for home owners as thanks to the laws of supply and demand, house prices will inevitably continue to rise, but the news is not so good for their children and others who want to get on the property ladder in future.
Mr Pickles’ initiative is also not good news, at least in the short term, for any developer or land owner currently looking to develop a site for new housing.
They will need to talk to their planning team about how these changes will affect their short and long term plans and review them to meet this changing planning environment.
Niall Blackie is based in FBC Manby Bowdler’s Telford office and can be contacted on tel. 01952 211320 or n.blackie@fbcmb.co.uk. He is a Solicitor-Advocate (Civil) specialising in town and country planning and compulsory purchase matters, with particular emphasis on advocacy at all types of inquiries. He advises on all planning applications, particularly the more contentious aspects, on planning appeals and on Local Development Frameworks.