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Pilot programme underway in UK for new homes on derelict and underused land
Pioneering councils are to help lead the way in bringing forward derelict and underused land for new homes in the UK, it has been announced. Some 73 councils across England will pilot one of the new brownfield registers, which will provide house builders with up to date and publicly available information on all brownfield sites available for housing locally. According to Communities Secretary Greg Clark the registers will help house builders identify suitable sites quickly, speeding up the construction of new homes and they will also allow communities to draw attention to local sites for listing, including in some cases derelict buildings and eyesores that are primed for redevelopment and that could attract investment to the area. The government has pledged one million more homes and to get planning permission in place on 90% of suitable brownfield sites for housing. This move ramps up the brownfield land building commitment. ‘A key part of our ambition to build a million homes is to get work started on brownfield sites across the country, many of which are currently nothing more than blight on a community’s landscape,’ said Clark. ‘These councils will be at the forefront of these efforts to list land and encourage builders to deliver new homes for aspiring home owners. But this is just the first step and I would urge councils to continue to offer up brownfield sites to deliver the homes their residents want and need,’ he added. Housing Minister Brandon Lewis explained that the councils taking part in the brownfield pilots will inform future government policy and guidance on the operation of the brownfield registers. ‘Registers will eventually become mandatory for all councils under proposals going through Parliament in the Housing and Planning Bill,’ he said, adding that other measures in the Housing and Planning Bill will enable ‘permission in principle’ to be granted for housing led development sites listed on the new brownfield registers. ‘This will mean developers building new homes on brownfield land will have a greater degree of certainty in relation to location, use and the amount of development,’ he explained. Each council agreeing to be part of the pilot project will receive £10,000 government funding to help the establishment of their brownfield registers. The 15 councils with the most brownfield land taking part in the brownfield register pilot project are: Cherwell, County Durham, Huntingdonshire, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Medway, Newcastle upon Tyne, Peterborough, Selby, Sheffield, South Cambridgeshire, Sunderland, Tonbridge and Malling and Wigan. These have the most brownfield land in England, as identified in the final complete publication of National Land Use Database statistics. A further 36 areas made up of 58 councils (some bids are joint) were selected on a competitive basis. Continue reading
London to get another 11 new housing zones
The Mayor of London has announced 11 new Housing Zones that will provide 24,554 new homes and create new neighbourhoods across the capital. An additional £200 million has been designated to the final 11 zones, which stretch from Havering to Kingston and Enfield and bring the total number planned in London to 31 which will see 77,000 new homes built. The aim is to boost housing supply, stimulate building and produce the new low cost homes London needs to meet its growing population. Some 34% of the 77,000 new homes will be affordable, alongside transformational regeneration of key town centres, train station hubs and housing estates. The Mayor made the announcement as he officially opened a new affordable housing development in the heart of London's West End. Trenchard House, spanning across Broadwick and Hopkins Street, is a former derelict Metropolitan Police hostel, on Greater London Authority acquired land released by the Mayor. The site has undergone a £54 million redevelopment to build 78 new homes, including 65 affordable one to three bedroom apartments. The affordable apartments are intermediate rent with some offered at 75% discount to market rates. Exact rents are based on resident's incomes, and many of them work night shifts in the theatres and bars surrounding Soho and will now be within walking distance of their jobs. The site, which had lain vacant for almost 13 years, is one of the 414 hectares of land transferred to the Mayor with every surplus site owned by City Hall now released for development. The intermediate homes are part of the 100,000 affordable homes the Mayor is on track to deliver by the end of his term. ‘Meeting the unprecedented demand for housing after 30 years of historic failure to build new homes is a critical issue affecting the capital. That is why I have led an enormous programme of regeneration with my 31 housing zones that will transform communities across London, creating nearly 80,000 new homes, plus new transport hubs and schools,’ said Johnson. ‘This new housing development in the heart of the West End is delivering a life line to hard working local people who were priced out of Soho and desperate to reside nearby their places of work. These apartments are just some of the 100,000 new affordable homes being delivered over my two mayoral terms,’ he explained. ‘This site forms part of more than 400 hectares of developable land the GLA inherited and which I have now released every inch of, to ensure as many homes as possible are built throughout London,’ he added. As part of the Mayor's commitment to double house building, London's Housing Zones will unlock regeneration on hundreds of hectares of brownfield land across the capital. The special status has been awarded to areas identified and packaged up by local authorities. It removes all unnecessary planning restrictions, combined with the funds to maximise development, and fast track homes and supporting infrastructure. Continue reading
Research suggests many UK buy to let landlords plan to sell up
The proportion of landlords in central London who intend to sell property has quadrupled since last year’s Budget, according to new research. Just 4% of landlords in central London had plans to sell property when surveyed before last year’s Budget but new figures from the National Landlords Association (NLA) show that has risen to 19%. The 15% increase in intention to sell property is the highest witnessed across the UK over the last six months. Landlords with property in the North East have seen the smallest increase compared to other regions of the UK, rising from 17% in June to 24% in January. According to the NLA the restriction to mortgage interest relief for individual residential landlords announced during last year’s Summer Budget will leave many landlords worse off, forcing some basic rate tax payers into a higher tax bracket and leaving higher and additional rate payers with considerably bigger tax bills. The NLA has labelled the changes the Turnover Tax, because landlords’ tax will be calculated on the rental income they earn, rather than their profits. ‘Local property markets vary greatly across the United Kingdom, but we are seeing a loss of confidence across the board as many landlords realise they won’t be able to remain in the market,’ said Richard Lambert, NLA chief executive officer. ‘If landlords follow through with their intentions over the coming months this could lead to a massive sale of property, as we have previously warned. However, this may not be a straightforward process, especially for those with stock in low demand areas,’ he pointed out. ‘We urge those considering selling up to think about when they will need to do so, and to plan ahead now in order to minimise the risk of losing money as a result of a failure to sell,’ he added. Separate research shows that 59% of landlords are shelving plans to make further investments in buy to let or even selling their existing properties with tougher mortgage rules, the stamp duty change and mortgage interest tax relief behind their thinking. The research by property crowdfunding platform Property Partner also found that 27% of landlords had little or no awareness of the changes which are likely to affect their financial circumstances. Some 41% of those questioned say they plan to continue buying properties for rent, 38% say they are switching strategies. Continue reading
