LGA ‘Housing the Nation' Campaign

Ensuring that new housing development comes with roads, schools and parks is vital to tackling the housing crisis and overcoming public opposition, local government leaders have said.  A survey of frontline councillors carried out by the Local Government Association (LGA) reveals that public opposition is the single biggest barrier to the building of new homes. However, development which comes with appropriate infrastructure is nearly four times more likely to be supported by the public, according to councillors.  The LGA has launched a ‘Housing the Nation' campaign, calling on Government to remove some of the restrictions hampering local authority efforts to tackle the nation's housing crisis.  It is warning that councils' efforts to ensure that all new developments come with the appropriate infrastructure like roads, schools and parks risk being undermined by Government proposals to allow developers to force councils to reopen Section 106 agreements previously agreed with developers.   According to Government figures only 106,050 new homes were built in 2010/11 compared to 160,030 in 1990/91. Approximately 250,000 are required each year to meet demand.  Read more on the LGA website.