Social Housing and the Community Right to Build - QandA

At the heart of the Government’s Big Society agenda, the Community Right to Build aims to cut red tape in the planning process and give communities more power to deliver the type of development they want in their area. James Garland, Director of Green Issues, says the jury is still out. Q Will this help to deliver more social housing? A Well, the jury is still out on this one. The Conservatives pointed out in their manifesto the previous system of ‘top-down’ planning simply didn’t work in terms of addressing housing waiting lists and that it was their intention to deliver more rather than less development. Developers themselves have been, at best, luke-warm about the Localism Bill in general and also the Community Right to Build specifically. Critics point out that it will encourage piecemeal development in small villages and will do little to help tackle local authority waiting lists. They also point out that, although there is great need for this sort of development, many local communities, particularly in the south east, are unlikely to get together to promote schemes that feature a high proportion of social housing. Read more questions and answers on the 24dash website.