Housing Zones Policy Sets Tough Criteria for Councils

To little fanfare this week came the housing zones prospectus, setting out how councils and developers can apply for a share in £200m. The fund is made available to encourage faster housebuilding on up to 30 brownfield sites across England. Councils will have to prove themselves to secure a slice of this pie. They’re asked to show that they have a strong existing relationship with the private sector and will use the award to attract in longer term funding. There must be a site identified, sufficient to build 750 homes. Good design should be prioritised, with those authorities including innovative off-site building methods or custom building arrangements pushed to the front of the queue. They must show they have the capacity and resources to get the project going and must also show they have local support in place. In return they get some project leadership support, a brokerage service to help deal with the planning complications, and even the right to strip back planning requirements. Can councils meet the tough criteria expected of them? They can if they locate their prospective zones in the least challenging areas, both in terms of economic advantage and in terms of community support (or otherwise). Read more on the Guardian website.