The Intermediary – April 2025 - Flipbook - Page 53
SPECIALIST FINANCE
Opinion
Do Labour’s latest
housing reforms
go far enough?
L
ast month, we came
closer than ever before
to understanding how
the Government plans to
accelerate housebuilding
across the UK.
The Planning and Infrastructure
Bill, which was introduced to
Parliament on 11th March, contained a
ra of announcements that have been
predicted to deliver thousands more
affordable homes.
These kinds of announcements are
certainly much needed. Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) data shows
that Britain has the highest rate of
homelessness in the developed world,
and yet builds fewer homes relative
to its population compared to other
developed nations.
Labour has long promised to tackle
this crisis, but has always remained
less forthcoming when it comes to
how much it intends to invest in
new housebuilding.
Planning progression
In the meantime, housing associations
have always said they stand ready to
scale up their housebuilding efforts
in line with the Government’s
ambitions; first, though, they need to
know how much money is available
and how it would be allocated. It is
impossible for them to plan multi-year
developments, with the necessary
financial commitments, without this.
Delaying the spending review
from March into June this year has
only compounded the uncertainty
facing the sector, but we have now
been promised an additional £2bn
investment for up to 18,000 affordable
and social homes across the country.
This is alongside over £600m in
investment to train 60,000 more
construction workers.
Meanwhile, the new planning bill’s
proposed measures include banning
unwieldy planning commiees,
encouraging mandatory training for
planning commiee members, and
determining which types of planning
applications can be determined by
planning officers alone.
It will also give Mayors and local
authorities new powers to look across
other local authorities for the most
sustainable areas to build. It will
strengthen development corporations
to make it easier to deliver large-scale
development, and it will let councils
set their own planning fees to allow
them to cover their costs.
So, will this give Britain’s
housebuilding the boost it desperately
needs? Certainly, bringing forward
billions in housing funding ahead
of the long-awaited spending review
should be welcomed by many,
especially as it is underpinned by
millions of pounds of investment
in training thousands more
construction workers.
Entrusting more decisions to
qualified planning officers, rather
than oen less experienced local
councillors, also provides some
hope that we could start to see an
end to the delays that are stalling the
construction of new homes.
I have aended too many planning
meetings led by councillors who
reflect a narrow demographic and
are influenced by a fear of how new
housing might affect their re-election
prospects. However, when planning
inspectorates review appeals, the
process is generally more impartial
because they disregard the subjective
reasons that might sway local
councillors, applying the policy and
regulatory framework more fairly.
Handing greater control to Mayors
and local authorities could serve
JONATHAN PEARSON
is director at Residentially
the same purpose by ensuring that
decisions serve the needs of the wider
area, rather than focusing narrowly
on one local authority’s interests.
Providing certainty
It is especially important that local
authorities are empowered to set
their own planning fees and reinvest
income back into the system.
Years of underinvestment have
le many councils lacking enough
planning officers to progress even
straightforward applications.
If the Government intends to
speed up decisions and tackle some
of the blockers to economic growth,
strengthening frontline teams is going
to be critical.
It remains to be seen whether
last month’s announcements go
far enough in reassuring housing
associations and private housebuilders
that the Government is as serious
about investing in new homes as
it has promised.
Many in the sector are still
questioning when these measures will
actually come into force, and whether
the upcoming spending review in June
will provide the genuine, multi-year
investment needed for affordable
housing developments.
If the Government truly wants
to boost housebuilding and tackle
the UK’s homelessness rate it must
back up these proposals with a firm
timeline and secure funding.
Without this certainty, local
authorities and housing associations
alike will continue to face challenges,
and these reforms risk being yet
another set of pledges that fail to
deliver the homes so many in this
country are waiting for. ●
April 2025 | The Intermediary
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