Out-Law News 1 min. read
05 Feb 2013, 1:55 pm
The report identifies two main corridors with large scale residential development potential. One runs along the M11/A14 from the east of London to Cambridge and has the potential to deliver 87,250 new homes. The second runs from Cambridge to Oxford and could deliver 84,430 new homes.
The report points to seven local authorities which have proposals or allocations for over 10,000 new homes through urban extension sites.
However, according to the report, challenges faced by the identified developments include infrastructure costs, which it says is holding up the delivery of around 80,000 homes, and the local housing market, holding up 30,000 homes. It also points to the planning process, which is holding up the delivery of 10,000 homes and political opposition, holding up 7,000 homes.
The report makes a number of recommendations to the Government which it says will help it progress its 'Garden Cities and Suburbs' agenda. Recommendations include considering a new form of public sector funding guarantee for infrastructure, ensuring greater stability in the planning system, simplifying public funding streams, and directing the public sector to take on a more proactive management role.
It also suggests that the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) should lead and facilitate the delivery of potential Garden Cities and help schemes that are currently being held back.
“A definitive position needs to be taken by Government on facilitating and enabling these larger schemes, and indeed Garden Cities if they are to be nothing more than a pipe dream," said GVA senior director Gerry Hughes in a statement. "In my view this means giving the HCA a clear delivery mandate to make Garden Cities happen in chosen locations and in freeing up the log jam of large housing schemes that our work has demonstrated."
"Bashing the planning system has been a diversionary tactic for long enough. Planning is not the principal problem. The Government has to find a way of enabling the necessary funding of infrastructure either by direct public sector funding or by acting as funding guarantor to de-risk delivery,” Hughes said.
"This report is timely and comes at a point when public sector intervention coupled with private sector determination, must be harnessed to deliver the scale of housing development that this country now requires," said Iain Gilbey, planning expert at Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com
“Government has an important role to play in using the statutory planning and funding powers at its disposal, and encouraging local government to do the same, to firstly and importantly de-risk or forward fund strategic infrastructure delivery and secondly to step in and assist with land assembly, to ensure that schemes can achieve the required critical mass for delivery," Gilbey said.
