Gove To Overhaul ‘Out Of Date’ Housing Need Formula

 Michael Gove has told MPs he is looking again at the way housing needs targets are calculated. The housing secretary said: “In making a calculation of housing need overall one of the things I wanted to do is to look at how the numbers are generated in the first place.” The way that housing need is calculated, which forms the basis of housing targets in local plans, has become a thorny issue for the government. The standard method delivers a figure for housing need upon which most local authorities base their local housing targets. It uses projected household growth figures, adjusted for areas with high house prices, with the increases in new homes for any local planning authority capped. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/gove-to-overhaul-out-of-date-housing-need-formula/5114613.article

Don't Dilute Planning Reforms, Jenrick Urges PM

Recently sacked Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has urged the prime minister not to water down planning reforms to enable more house building. Sources have told the BBC the changes - which would help meet a pledge to build 300,000 new homes - are being paused amid a backlash among Conservative MPs. Mr Jenrick's successor Michael Gove is said to want to address the concerns. But Mr Jenrick told the BBC's Newscast a government with a big majority must tackle difficult issues. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said it remained "committed" to meeting its housing targets. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58837621

Gove To Push Homebuilding In The North Of England

Michael Gove will instruct his Levelling Up department to boost homebuilding in the north of England, after widespread concerns that previous proposals could see development targeted overwhelmingly in the south. Gove, the new levelling up secretary, has been given the task of overhauling controversial plans set out in a white paper last year, which have widely been seen as tipping the balance of power in favour of developers and away from local objectors. The prime minister is determined to press ahead with boosting housing development on brownfield sites, including in the south. But it is understood Gove will significantly water down the reforms. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/oct/06/michael-gove-to-push-homebuilding-in-the-north-of-england 

Quality Of Social Housing ‘Scandalously Poor’, Says Gove

Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference Mr Gove hinted at the possibility of new incentives for social landlords to improve their stock. He told delegates “The quality of social housing, particularly in some parts of the country, remains scandalously poor. That there are people who are living in conditions which are overcrowded, there are people living in conditions affected by damp and other factors.” He remarked that “we do need to look at the condition of social housing, and the way in which we can make sure that there is a proper incentivisation for those who are social housing providers both to improve stock and to increase numbers”. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/quality-of-social-housing-scandalously-poor-says-gove-72749?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

Jenrick Says Ending Rough Sleeping ‘Isn’t High Enough On The Government’s Agenda’

Former Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has warned there is not enough political will in the government to hit its target of ending rough sleeping by 2024. Jenrick, who was sacked last month, told a Conservative Party Conference fringe event that getting other departments to “step up” will be a challenge his successor Michael Gove faces if he is to deliver on the Conservative manifesto promise. “Some issues stay with you long after you have left a job. For me, this is true of homelessness,” said Jenrick at the event. Read more on the Big Issue website.

https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/robert-jenrick-says-ending-rough-sleeping-isnt-high-enough-on-the-governments-agenda/ 

Pincher Re-Appointed In Rebranded ‘Levelling Up’ Department

Chris Pincher has been re-appointed housing minister in the renamed Ministry for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities (MLUHC). Lord Stephen Greenhalgh also retains his position as minister for building safety. He will serve under new secretary of state Michael Gove and alongside other new appointees Kemi Badenoch, who will serve as minister for equalities and planning reform critic and former adviser Neil O’Brien who will join in a junior role. The department has been renamed, from Ministry for Communities & Local Government, as part of efforts to underline the government’s pledge to spread wealth and opportunity to all parts of the United Kingdom. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/pincher-re-appointed-housing-minister-in-rebranded-levelling-up-department/5113766.article 

Gove Set To Pause Contentious Planning Shake-Up

 Michael Gove is expected to pause the government’s planning changes and review them before deciding how to proceed, sources say. Proposals widely seen as tipping the balance of power away from local objectors and towards developers have caused uproar among grassroots Conservatives, though advocates say they are vital for boosting housebuilding. Instead of individual planning applications being decided through a democratic process, councils would be asked to draw up multi-year plans that divides land into zones for development and protection. Outline approval would be automatic in growth zones and there would be a statutory presumption in favour of development in renewal zones. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/sep/17/michael-gove-set-to-pause-contentious-planning-shake-up

Jenrick Exits As Housing Secretary In Cabinet Reshuffle

Robert Jenrick has lost his job as housing secretary in a major cabinet reshuffle and been replaced by Michael Gove. The former housing secretary announced his departure in a tweet which made no reference to a new ministerial post - suggesting he has been removed from the cabinet. The reshuffle brings to a close a two-year run in the position for Mr Jenrick. It makes him the longest serving secretary of state in this role since Eric Pickles, who left office in 2015. Former education and justice secretary Mr Gove was announced as his replacement, moving from his current role as chancellor for the Duchy of Lancaster. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/jenrick-exits-as-housing-secretary-in-cabinet-reshuffle-72531 

Tories Reveal Their Big Housing Reform - The Home Information Pack

The Conservatives have revealed the idea behind their manifesto pledge to “reform and modernise the home-buying process so it is more efficient and less costly” - and it’s a new version of the Home Information Packs. Michael Gove told the BBC: “One of the things we can revisit is Home Information Packs.” Just over a year ago the then-housing minister Brandon Lewis inserted an amendment to the Housing and Planning Bill which many interpreted as Home Information Packs being resuscitated. They have in the past year been associated with various efforts by the Cameron and May governments to call for evidence into transaction fall-throughs - but the Gove revelation was the most explicit suggestion yet that HIPs are returning. Read more on the Estate Agent Today website.

Prisons To Be Sold For Housing

Plans to build nine new prisons have been unveiled by the Government. The new prisons will allow old Victorian prisons in city centres to be closed and the sites sold for housing, Chancellor George Osborne and Justice Secretary Michael Gove said ahead of a visit to Brixton prison in South London. "So many of our jails are relics from Victorian times on prime real estate in our inner cities". The sites will allow more than 3,000 new homes to be built, with the Victorian prison site at Reading the first to be sold, Mr Osborne and Mr Gove said. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Gove Comments At Odds With Bedroom Tax

Michael Gove appeared to set himself at odds with the "bedroom tax" when he said children from less affluent backgrounds suffer at school because they do not have their own bedroom for homework.  Speaking in support of planning changes allowing larger homes, Gove said: "My colleague Nick Boles has been making changes to the planning regime. These are changes which are social justice changes. There are children, poor children, who do not have rooms of their own in which to do their homework, in which to achieve their full potential. [The] planning reforms will make it easier for more homes of a larger size to be built. That's why when people oppose these planning reforms I think they are actually standing in the way of helping our children."  Read more on the Guardian website.