Approval Of Build-To-Rent Homes On A High

In the first three months of 2021, 6,937 new build-to-rent homes were granted full planning permission in the UK during the first three months of 2021. The British Property Federation (BPF) said this is the highest number of permission granted for any quarter in the build-to-rent sector's history. The third quarter of 2016 recorded 6,321 permissions and now sits in second place. There are now 188,456 build-to-rent homes either complete, under construction or in planning across the UK. The research shows that this number is 21 per cent more than the number recorded 12 months ago. Read more on the Planning Portal.

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Jenrick Pledges To Consider New Developer Levy

Housebuilders have reacted with scepticism to comments by Robert Jenrick suggesting the government is considering taxing developers if they don’t build out planning permissions quickly enough. Writing in the Daily Telegraph yesterday, the communities secretary said the government was going to “look at ways of ensuring sites build out as expected”, after the Local Government Association last week raised concerns over unused planning permissions for more than one million homes. Read more on the Housing Today website.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/jenrick-pledges-to-consider-new-developer-levy/5111886.article 

Developers Yet To Seek Planning Permission For More Than A Million Homes

More than a million homes on land earmarked for development by councils are yet to be brought forward by developers for planning permission, new research by the Local Government Association suggests. These are homes on sites which do not yet have planning permission but have formally been identified as suitable for housing by local councils through the local plan process. Local plans are a set of planning policies drawn up by councils, which allocate the number of homes to be built in local areas in consultation with local communities. Read more on the LGA website.

https://www.local.gov.uk/developers-yet-seek-planning-permission-more-million-earmarked-homes-lga-research

Tories Received £12k Donation After ‘Unlawful’ Housing Development Approval

Richard Desmond, the developer who wanted to build 1,500 homes in London, donated £12,000 to the Conservatives after the Housing Secretary gave him planning permission for the project. Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick approved the project against the advice of government planning inspectors on 14 January, just one day before changes to Tower Hamlets’ Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) were introduced.  This meant Desmond’s firm Northern and Shell avoided paying a levy of up to £50m for the project. Read more on the Mortgage Solutions website.

https://www.mortgagesolutions.co.uk/news/2020/06/10/tories-received-12k-donation-after-unlawful-housing-development-approval/

Councils Say 1m Homes Given Go-Ahead But Not Yet Built

Councils have hit back at possible government moves to strip them of planning powers to speed up housebuilding by releasing analysis that shows more than a million so-far unbuilt homes have been granted planning permission in the last decade. The Local Government Association said its analysis found 2,564,600 units had been given planning permission since 2009-10 and 1,530,680 had been constructed. The LGA argues the figures show that the white paper should allow local authorities to build on land that has planning permission, for example by assisting compulsory purchase on such land, and allowing councils to charge full council tax on unbuilt developments. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/feb/20/councils-say-1m-homes-given-go-ahead-but-not-yet-built

Permitted Development For Home Extensions Comes Into Force

The extension of permitted development rights to allow homeowners to extend their properties without a full planning application – as well as high street conversions to offices and homes – has come into permanent effect. The regulations do not include the right to allow upward extensions. Under the rules, homeowners can put a single-storey rear extension on their property of up to six metres for terraced or semi-detached homes – or eight metres for detached homes. Over 110,000 extensions have been completed since 2014 under the previously temporary rules. Read more on the Planning Portal.

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/news/article/638/planning_news_-_30_may_2019?utm_source=PPQ+Newsletter&utm_campaign=cb200b140f-Newsletter_18042019_HTML_COPY_02&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_734e0b63a9-cb200b140f-7266185#one

Developers Hog Land For Record 130,000 Homes

Developers are sitting on land for more than 130,000 homes in England that have never been built – the worst gap on record, according to new analysis. The record gap between planning permissions granted and new homes being built has led to calls for tough new penalties to be enforced against developers that sit on land rather than build. North-west England and London had the worst gaps, with only 50% of new homes being built where planning permission had been obtained between 2012 and 2017. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/oct/25/developers-hog-land-for-record-130000-homes-analysis-reveals

Planning Permissions Stay High

There were 355,000 planning permissions granted in the year to June 2018, but the government’s 300,000 target for the housing supply remains a way off, according to an industry report. The Home Builders Federation and construction data provider Glenigan’s latest joint Housing Pipeline report shows the number of permissions for the last year is hovering around 2016/17’s record levels. It states the number of permissions is a good indicator of future housing supply however, housing supply for 2016/17 was 217,000, 72 per cent of the government’s target of 300,000. Read more on the Mortgage Strategy website.

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/planning-permissions-stay-high-but-supply-still-far-off-300k-target/

Research Finds 6,000 Homes Allowed After Planning Appeals

Planning permissions for more than 6,000 homes have been granted after inspectors upheld appeals where councillors had rejected applications against officers’ advice. Research by planning consultancy Lichfields found challenges to claims that an area had the required five-year supply of land for housebuilding were the most common grounds raised. Lichfields looked at 78 appeals in Great Britain in 2017 where applications for developments of at least 50 homes – and totalling 10,000 homes in all – were rejected contrary to officers’ recommendations. It said 65% of appeals were allowed, equivalent to some 6,000 homes. By contrast, only 40% of appeals were allowed where officers had recommended refusal. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:oRsVk1bPK_gJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/research-finds-6000-homes-allowed-after-planning-appeals-57658+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

Housing: Construction – Parliamentary Written Answer

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many potential homes are included but not yet started under existing planning permissions; and what proportion of the total are on sites for 50 or more dwellings.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: On 30 June 2018, there were 748,000 homes with full planning permission, of which 431,000 were on projects which had started on site, and 317,000 had yet to start on site. Of these 748,000 homes, 86 per cent are on sites of 50 or more dwellings.

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Lords/2018-07-10/HL9381

More Than 423,000 Homes With Planning Permission Waiting To Be Built

More than 423,000 homes have been given planning permission but are still waiting to be built, according to new research released by the Local Government Association. The study, commissioned by the LGA and carried out by industry experts Glenigan, shows the backlog has grown by almost 16% in the last year. To the LGA, the research reinforces the need for new powers allowing councils to act on uncompleted schemes. Over 2015/16 the total number of unimplemented planning permissions in England and Wales was 365,146 – rising to 423,544 in 2016/17. The figures also show that developers are taking longer to build new homes. Read more on 24housing.

http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/more-than-423000-homes-with-planning-permission-waiting-to-be-built/

One In Ten New Homes Was A Former Office

Analysis by the Local Government Association reveals nearly one in 10 new homes over the last two years was converted from an office and included no affordable housing or supporting investment in infrastructure such as roads, schools and health services. The LGA says permitted development rights rules allowing offices to be converted into housing without planning permission are “detrimental” to local communities and should be scrapped. It warns they have led to the potential loss of more than 7,500 desperately-needed affordable homes. Since 2015, a total of 30,575 housing units in England have been converted from offices to flats without having to go through the planning system. Read more on the LGA website.

https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/one-ten-new-homes-was-former-office

Help To Buy Has Driven Record Rise In Planning Permissions

A report produced by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) in association with construction market analyst Glenigan has suggested that the Help to Buy scheme is having a significant impact on the housing market. According to Stepping Up, a report produced to assess its impact so far, Help to Buy now accounts for one in every 12 first-time buyer transactions and is such a success that it is “driving industry confidence to invest in new sites at a time when activity in the market generally remains stubbornly slow”. The study suggests that the number of planning permissions granted in the first half of 2017 was the highest for new homes on record.  Read more on the Planning Portal.

A Third Of Homes With Planning Permission Yet To Be Built

Nearly one in three homes green-lit to be built in England during the past five years have not been completed, Shelter has found. More than 320,000 homes have not been built despite having been granted residential planning permission, according to analysis by the housing charity, which said ordinary working families are bearing the brunt of the issue of "phantom homes".  An estimated 68% of homes with planning permission have been completed over the past five years, Shelter calculated. It said the problem is particularly acute in London, where around one in two homes with permission have not been built. Read more on the AOL website.

How To Solve The UK's Housing Crisis

The government should let councils buy land, grant it planning permission and then sell it off to help solve the UK's housing crisis, according to a report by think tank Adam Smith Institute (ASI). The president of the think tank and the report’s author Madsen Pirie said that devolving power to local councils could help yield £30bn to pay for public services. One of the estimates the study cited showed that an acre of land was worth £2,500 without planning permission and £4m with it. "By granting permission to land they own, councils can capture the monetary benefits for themselves and their residents," the ASI said. Read more on the City AM website.

Council Wins Landmark Affordable Housing Case

Islington Council has won a landmark case that could stop developers across the country skimping on their affordable housing offering. The Planning Inspectorate, an independent regulator, upheld the town hall’s refusal of planning permission for a site on grounds the project did not provide the “maximum reasonable amount” of affordable homes. First Base Ltd applied to build 96 homes but the bid contained no affordable housing at all. Islington’s target is 50 per cent, but policy dictates developers must build as many as possible. The council rejected the bid twice and now its appeal  has also been dismissed. The decision centred around how the viability of the development was assessed and how the price of the land should be determined. Read more on the Islington Gazette website.

Planning Permissions For New Homes Are Being Granted In The Wrong Areas

Planning permissions granted for new homes are being concentrated in the wrong areas, where there is less need for housing, according to new research by Savills. It found that there is a lack of 90,000 planning consents for homes in the least affordable and most in-demand areas of the country. Only 20pc of planning consents in 2016 were in the most unaffordable places, where the lowest priced homes are at least 11.4 times income. However, 40pc of the country’s total need for new homes is in these markets, while there is a surplus of consents in the most affordable locations. Read more on the Savills website.

Tory Housing Target Questioned

Property experts have warned that a fall in approvals for schemes converting office space to homes could leave Tory housing targets in disarray. So-called permitted development rights (PDR), which allow conversions to go ahead without planning permission, have been a main driver of growth in housing supply since being announced in 2013. Nearly 14,000 homes were delivered in England last year from PDR conversions, providing three-quarters of the growth in housing supply in 2016 to 190,000. The government’s target is to build 200,000 new homes annually and a million new homes by 2020. However experts believe the number of houses delivered by office-to-resi is likely to fall, due to dwindling viable office stock and hostility from some local authorities towards office conversions. Read more on 24housing.

Housing Scam Reaps Millions

Thousands of unemployed benefit claimants are being “warehoused” in small rooms in terraced houses that landlords are presenting as flats in order to obtain the highest possible housing benefit, a Sunday Times investigation has revealed. Council officials say the bogus flats, which have been found in London, the West Midlands and Leeds, are costing taxpayers tens of millions of pounds in wasted housing benefits. A two-bedroom terraced house can be divided into up to six rooms with lavatories without planning permission. Landlords say the units are single rooms for the purposes of avoiding planning enforcement, yet insist they are flats when claiming housing benefit.  Read more on the Sunday Times website.

Third Of London Homes Granted Planning Permission Not Built

Planning permission is being granted for enough homes to solve London's housing crisis but over a third of them have not been built, campaigners said. Figures from the Fifty Thousand Homes campaign show permission has been given for 50,000 new houses and flats in the capital each year since 2014. But the group said 36% of these were not built which was "compounding the huge challenge" of building more homes. City Hall said the data "underlines the huge scale of the challenge we face". The Fifty Thousand Homes campaign was launched by London First "to ensure London builds the homes it needs to stay competitive". Read more on the BBC website.