Opinion: Planning, politics and housing delivery - a poison chalice

I frequently have commented on the housing market. I make no excuse for doing so again, as it is a critical part of the Northern Devon economy.

Many of our service industries are dependent upon a fully functioning housing market. There is also an important commercial aspect to this, both in terms of the value this creates to the local economy and the importance new housing stock has to ensuring that our local youngsters can remain local and growing businesses can be assured that their staff can be provided with decent accommodation.

It is extremely likely that this will be one of the main battle grounds in the forthcoming general election. The battle lines have already been drawn – how to build 300,000 new homes per year? The answer currently is that we are unlikely to get even remotely close to this level. 

This is not just a nice to have target, it is essential that we build at this level for at least the next five years (year on year), if we are to keep pace with population growth. 

The generosity of mum and dad is currently being stretched to the limit. Northern Devon has done its best to keep pace with these demands. In areas where there are not huge numbers of manufacturing businesses to generate wealth, then frequently new housing development has a similar positive result in creating and maintaining demand and generating local spending. 

Building houses is also an incredibly good way of both creating local employment and supporting many local businesses and suppliers.

So why is this a poison chalice? Quite simply, we are (and have been for the last five years) experiencing catastrophic market failure.

Too often the planning system has let us down. Extraordinary timescales are required to secure consent. It is not just this. There are also problems in recruiting skilled labour. 

The market is woefully short of construction capacity, funding for development is extremely difficult to obtain, and cost of mortgages has risen to unaffordable levels for many. 

This is both a national and local problem. In the South West alone, we would have to build 70,000 more homes per year over the next five years just to keep pace with current demand.  The last five years of delays has put our region on the back foot in terms of supply. 

Inevitably, the result of this has been that house prices have rocketed over £300,000 since 1997. There has also been a highly socially damaging failure to deliver affordable housing accommodation. 

Even more difficult has been the need to upgrade the quality of existing housing stock because of problems with cladding, energy efficiency and fire safety regulations. All of this has detracted from new house building.

There can be no doubt that if these problems can be cracked, then there are huge benefits. Some of the most brilliant regeneration schemes have quite simply transformed some of our urban spaces. 

Look no further than some of the residential brownfield regeneration in Plymouth and Ilfracombe. Also, green developments, such as, West Carglaze near St Austell in Cornwall. Another fascinating scheme is also in Cornwall at Langarth Garden Village. Perhaps one of the largest schemes currently being worked up is at Waterlane Exeter.

The government could very easily resolve many of these issues and short circuit the current delays in delivery. They have however failed in this duty to us - 14 different housing ministers in 14 years, illustrates how dysfunctional our policy makers have been. 

The government have now got themselves into even deeper hot water, trapped between trying to placate the nimby lobby (principally to try and protect some of their seats in Shire Counties and recently one red wall seats), against clear evidence that housing delivery numbers are now virtually impossible to achieve, resulting in severe disaffection from our next generation and first time buyers who, quite simply, cannot get onto the housing ladder. 

The principal opposition party (Labour) are talking a good talk on this and appear prepared to take on these challenges, with reforms which will ensure delivery. The government’s response can, at best, be described as highly unrealistic.

You may have noticed however that the Prime Minister and his long term right-hand man on this subject – Michael Gove – have come up with some new tweaks to the planning system.

As from last week, new policies have been introduced with the intention of building ‘Hundreds of thousands of new homes in Britain’s big cities’.  Sadly, I doubt whether I will live long enough to see this promise fulfilled. 

The changes include: focusing new housing development on England’s 20 biggest urban areas, urban council’s who do not meet their housing targets will be told that they can only refuse planning consent on brownfield land in exceptional circumstances, offices, shops and other commercial buildings will also be able to be converted into new homes without the need for full planning permission under an extension of what is called ‘Permitted Development Rights’.  

At the same time, this new initiative reaffirms that large new greenfield estates will not be imposed upon the countryside. Apparently, all this will mean that the government can guarantee to ‘put rocket boosters’ under construction in areas that are already built on.

My huge scepticism that this is bad policy and bad politics, may be right or wrong. I am however certain that our Local Authorities are much more aware of the local housing needs than is government. 

We should all work together to find a pragmatic solution to these difficult problems and have faith that our local authorities and planners do have the best interest of our businesses and communities at their heart.