Tag Archives: london
New housing commission launched in UK
A new Housing Commission has been launched in the UK to explore new routes to house building so councils can enable the construction of more desperately needed homes. Councils built nine times more homes between 2010 and 2015 than between 2000 and 2005 and are desperate to dramatically increase the availability of new homes in their local areas, according to the Local Government Association. The LGA said this is vital to building the 230,000 new homes the country needs each year as private developers have not built more than 150,000 homes a year for more than three decades. The Housing Commission will also explore the importance of effective housing in boosting jobs and growth, helping meeting needs of an ageing population, saving social care and the NHS money, and helping people into work. It will look at new ways that councils can enable investment in new homes, the role of councils in shaping homes within prosperous places and communities, the role of housing in supporting tenants to find and progress in sustained employment and the role of housing in adapting to an ageing population and preventing onward costs onto social care and health services. Evidence is sought on the key issues for communities, partners and councils, on good practice that has successfully addressed those issues, and what is needed to build on those successes. Councils, partners, organisations and individuals are invited to contribute their issues, evidence, and examples of effective housing and ideas to the Commission's Advisory Panel, made up of experts and academics. The Commission will take a medium term view incorporating current housing reforms but will look beyond them in making the case for councils to be able to deliver the homes our communities and places need. Findings will be brought together in a report in Spring 2016 and presented at the LGA Annual Conference in June 2016. ‘We're working with government to ensure housing and planning reforms support council efforts to build more homes and the Housing Commission we are launching today will investigate how the government and councils can help deliver houses to solve our housing shortage,’ said Peter Box, LGA housing spokesman. ‘Councils must be able to play a lead role in building the homes we desperately need, and building the homes in a way that create prosperous places and growth, help people into work and positively adapt to an ageing population,’ he explained. ‘This is the best way to meet local and central government ambitions for our communities, to reduce waiting lists and housing benefit, keep rents low and help more people live long and happy lives,’ he added. Continue reading
Report identifies 18 areas in the UK with new home development opportunities
There are 18 areas in the UK where economic fundamentals suggest there are good opportunities for developers at a time when the government wants to build more homes than ever. An analysis from international real estate firm Knight Frank and planning consultancy Barton Willmore names them as Leeds, Manchester, York, Durham, Birmingham, Nottingham, Warwick, Leicester, Brentwood, South Cambridgeshire, Bristol, Bath and North East Somerset, Exeter, Cherwell, South Oxfordshire, Guildford, Reigate and Banstead and Tunbridge Wells. Factors examined included economic growth, employment growth, stock to sales ratios, affordability and liveability. These rankings were then placed alongside the latest conditions in the local planning environment as well as local knowledge, to highlight areas which suggest there is the possibility for outperformance for developers, not only in terms of pricing but also market absorption. Justin Gaze, joint head of residential development at Knight Frank, said developer interest is now much wider than just London. ‘Increasingly, our clients are looking at regional cities and districts for future potential and the report demonstrates from an economic and planning perspective where these development opportunities are likely to be,’ he explained. According to Iain Painting, planning partner at Barton Willmore, these opportunity areas are aligned with the increased emphasis on urbanisation, focusing on many of England’s key cities, but also demonstrate that development opportunities are not purely based in the South East. In the North of England it is Manchester and Leeds that are expected to be among the areas which will experience the strongest rates of household growth over the next 10 years, while York scores particularly highly on liveability rankings. The report suggests that the green belt will pose constraints for developers in and around Durham and York but at the same time, there is a need for more site identification, as these two areas do not yet have a five year land supply. York boasts policies to boost housing supply as it has been identified as one of the first Housing Zones in England. Meanwhile, Leeds plays host to an Enterprise Zone and the North East Combined Authority, of which Durham is one of the constituent boroughs, has also bid for 175 hectares of Enterprise Zone over 10 sites. The report points out that this new combined authority has just been granted extended powers over housing. Of the four Development Opportunity areas, only Leeds has an approved local plan and as policymakers push ahead with the ‘Northern Powerhouse’, especially the transport infrastructure to support this, the opportunities in the North of England will widen, it adds. The report explains that not only does Birmingham have an Enterprise Zone, but also a planning department committed to large scale regeneration of many parts of the city. Nottingham is also an Enterprise Zone area and has a local plan and five year land supply in place. ‘However, our data shows that the current pipeline supply of schemes in this local authority may fall short of household growth projections,’ the… Continue reading
London announces more council owned land for new home building
London is leading the way in the UK in terms of releasing land for new housing development and encouraging institutional investment in the city’s residential property market. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London has pledged to release all City Hall-owned land for development by the end of his Mayoral term in 2016 and almost all these sites are now up for development. They include the regeneration of four former hospital sites and industrial land at Greenwich Peninsula and Barking Riverside. Around 50,000 homes will be delivered on City Hall's land interests. In the latest announcement a total of 3,500 new homes, a school and a park will transform a disused Parcelforce depot in east London on a 10 hectare site in Stephenson Street, Newham. It will also include nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space. The development will provide homes to buy and rent, including a significant proportion of shared ownership and purpose built private rented homes. More than 1,200 of the 3,500 homes will be affordable. It is part of the Johnson's wider push to strengthen institutional investment in the residential market in London, with City Hall initiatives aimed at boosting both shared ownership and purpose built private rent. ‘This huge chunk of disused land will be put to the best possible use, creating a whole new neighbourhood including 3,500 much needed new homes, a new school and a park. This ambitious development will help to further the continuing transformation of east London as part of our Olympic legacy,’ said Johnson. Chairman of the Berkeley Group Tony Pidgley, said that the Stephenson Street development will be a new village for London. ‘It will have all the qualities that a successful community needs: shops, workspaces and a school, links between neighbours, a beautiful park where people can play and great transport connections. Above all, this site will create homes for people regardless of their age, background or income. It will be a place for everyone,’ he added. A key part of the Mayor's Housing Strategy is to encourage institutional investors, such as pension funds and insurance companies, to invest in housebuilding. This includes efforts to support extended leases and more stability for tenants as well as top quality, well designed, new developments. Some 132,000 properties have now signed up to his London Rental Standard, which sets out basic duties for landlords to ensure a higher-quality experience for the city's tenants. These plans sit alongside efforts to boost home ownership for low and middle income households, with the Mayor exceeding his manifesto commitment by helping 52,000 Londoners into low cost home ownership through his First Steps scheme with plans to help a quarter of a million Londoners over the next decade. The latest development is subject to planning approvals. Following a planning application in 2016, a site start is targeted for early 2017 which would see the first homes delivered in the summer of 2018. Stephenson Street was acquired by the Mayor through… Continue reading
