Empowering Localism to Solve the Housing Crisis

More than 1 million new homes could be built over the next decade if each of the 353 councils in England built just one garden village of 3,000 new houses, according to a new report by Policy Exchange. The garden village concept is being proposed as an alternative to the edge of town development and as a variant of the garden city.  Local opposition to development can be overcome by devolving powers to set up new garden villages from Whitehall to councils, the report says. If councils do agree to build new garden villages sufficient to meet their housing need, they would, as a quid pro, be allowed to rule out having developments around existing communities forced on them through appeal. Read more on the Policy Exchange website.

Localism Will Fail Unless Government and Housing Providers Get Joined Up

The Government's localism agenda will fail unless the current disconnection between housing associations and Westminster is overcome, a new report has warned.  Right-leaning think tank ResPublica's report - Acting on Localism: The role of housing associations in driving a community agenda - argues that government can meet local needs by harnessing the power of HAs.  HAs "already contribute an annual investment of £756 million to community and neighbourhood activities. Whilst many communities by themselves do not have the resources to take up the opportunities created by the Localism Act - such as community rights, budgetary challenge and neighbourhood planning powers - HAs can act as vital capacity-builders and vehicles for community ambition".  Download a copy of the report from the ResPublica website.

Lab 2012: Time for a Fundamental Rethinking Of Housing Strategy

At the Labour conference, shadow chancellor Ed Balls called for 100,000 more affordable homes to be built.  An apparent constraint on building affordable homes is the dire state of the public finances. Yet in this current spending round the government will spend £100 billion in this area. The problem is that 95 per cent of it will go on Housing Benefit and just 5 per cent on building badly needed homes. Part of the answer is to allow local councils with strong balance sheets to borrow against their housing assets to finance new affordable house building.  But we also need to drive a shift from current to capital spending over the medium term – reversing the shift from housing capital to housing benefit. In a recently published report, “Together at home: A new strategy for housing”, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has suggested a way this could be done, by also embracing a radical localism.  The centre-piece would be a long term strategy to decentralise power and responsibility for housing expenditure to local areas – perhaps local government – with a remit for meeting local housing need, including by increasing housing supply. If Labour was to be really bold and radical on housing, this is an idea it should be taking up.  Download a copy of the report from the IPPR website.

The End of Localism?

It is two years since a new prime minister was welcomed by the community secretary, Eric Pickles, to his department. As Pickles chanted: "What do we want?", a crowd of civil servants obligingly chorused: "Localism, localism, localism." That was then. Now, Pickles has effectively signalled the end of an ill-defined localist concept that promised much. Attempting to put a gloss on a volte-face that sees Whitehall gain immense powers over house-building and commercial development, Pickles could only joke about his new-found "muscular localism".  Tied to proposals for the centralisation of local NHS assets in a new, standalone company – the antithesis of localism – the powers represent, in reality, muscular centralism. For "big society", read big government bent on privatising an NHS estate inherited often from local councils and charities.  On the planning front, Pickles has now ruled that councils can be ignored when applications for large developments are tabled. They will be determined by a fast-track process at the already overworked Planning Inspectorate. The last government established an Infrastructure Planning Commission to do just that. Pickles scrapped it.  With the economy tanking, ministers are directing their fire at a planning system they claim is restricting development. Not so, retorts Sir Merrick Cockell, Conservative chairman of the Local Government Association. He insists a record backlog of 400,000 homes that have received planning permission nails the lie that councils are to blame for the shortage of new properties.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Is Localism Dead and Buried?

In the end all the talk of the government ripping up the Green Belt was, if you forgive the colourful mix of metaphors, a red herring.  However, the far-reaching package of housing and planning reforms, which the government claims will deliver 70,000 homes and 140,000 new jobs, may have signalled something far more significant. Because many of the basket of 15 or more separate measures echoed a common - unstated - theme: the re-taking of power from local authorities by a government that just two years ago ripped up the planning system to introduce localism. The reason for the change in direction can be seen clearly in the last Home Builders Federation data, which shows the granting of residential planning permissions in England at a three-year low of just 24,872. Housing starts have also fallen by about 20% in the first half of 2012, according to the latest government data.  The changes which could be seen to fall under a shift away from localism are manifold. Pickles revealed that the government will legislate to allow the planning inspectorate (PINS) to take over planning decisions from local authorities that have “consistently poor performance” in the speed or quality of decisions. It will also allow PINS to penalise councils that turn applications down knowing this will be overturned on appeal - by awarding costs against them. And more types of applications will be diverted to the National Infrastructure Planning branch of PINS, away from local councils. In general the measures outlined start to introduce real penalties if local authorities don’t behave how the centre - the government - wants them to.  Read more on the Building website.

NPPF Tries to Mix Oil and Water

The National Planning Policy Framework, the final version of which was published – and comes into effect – this week, is good at polarising opinion.  As someone who thinks we haven’t built enough homes for a generation, under Governments of both Parties, the apparent determination to build more houses is appealing.  A small part of me admires Planning Minister Greg Clark’s willingness to take on some traditional Tory interests in his attempt to do so.  But the NPPF leaves me feeling queasy that it just won’t deliver or it will deliver the wrong things.  Where there are local council plans in existence, it leaves too much scope for NIMBY interests.  Where there are no local plans, the ‘presumption in favour of development’ seems to me to give developers too much rope and too much power.  So the NPPF might just be defining the next battleground between developers and local communities.  Quite correctly, the NPPF says development should be plan-led; but combining localism with thrusting commercial interest is like mixing water and oil – they will separate eventually.  Read more of this opinion piece on the Red Brick blog.

Will NPPF Ensure Delivery Of Genuinely Affordable Housing?

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has questioned ministers ahead of the publication of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) about whether the new system will do enough to ensure the country gets more genuinely affordable housing rather than profitable ‘executive housing’ beyond the reach of most of those in housing need.  At the heart of the Government's NPPF are plans to introduce a 'presumption in favour of sustainable development', which obliges councils to say 'yes' to development except where "this would compromise key sustainable development principles set out in national planning policy".  It also introduces neighbourhood plans - which will work alongside existing local authority plans - allowing local people to decide where new homes should go and what green spaces should be protected.  Read more on the CPRE website.

“Community Land Trusts Are Answer to Affordable Housing Crisis”

An innovative community-based model of land and property ownership can form a crucial part of a national strategy to tackle the crisis in affordable housing, according to a study produced by a leading research centre based at the University of Salford.  The report into Community Land Trusts (CLTs) by social and financial inclusion research unit Community Finance Solutions concludes that they have proved themselves as a viable way to build affordable homes and that such schemes can be expanded significantly to provide a sustainable part of the Government’s localism agenda.  A CLT is a charity or not-for-profit organisation which owns land and property for the benefit of a community and as a resource for future generations, rather than for market speculation. Over the last decade more than 80 CLTs have sprung up in both rural and urban areas.  Read more on the Salford University website.

HCA Publishes Bidding Guidance for Community Housing Schemes

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has published a toolkit designed to help partners put communities in charge of development in their area – along with guidance on how community-led groups can apply for funding to take on development themselves. Part of the Government’s recent Housing Strategy, the HCA has published the bidding guidance and criteria on how community-led groups can apply for funding to take forward their own housing and regeneration projects. These groups could include co-operatives, mutuals, co-housing, self build, Community Land Trusts and the emerging Community Right to Build. Funding is available as part of the Affordable Homes Programme, which aims to deliver up to 80,000 affordable homes by 2015, and is part of the HCA’s enabling and investment role and commitment to localism. Read more on the HCA website.

Homes to Be Proud Of – Speech by Eric Pickles

This Government came to office with a wholly new approach to housing. We didn't want to tweak existing policies. Nor to do a bit of tinkering here and there. We want to get Britain building again. We want the new homes a growing country needs. The homes that growing families, older people, and young mobile professionals need. We'll do it by working with the market. Not against it. Localism means a whole new approach to incentives and investment. Giving communities genuine choice to shape and influence growth - not forcing development upon them. Supporting communities to deal with the impacts of growth - not leaving them high and dry. The New Homes Bonus and the amended Community Infrastructure Levy gives growing neighbourhoods cash to invest locally. We want to communities to have good reasons to say "yes" to growth. If we look at the experience in Netherlands and Germany, I think it's very plain that localism and growth are two sides of the same coin.” Read the full text of the speech on the CLG website.

Event - Localism and the Big Society

16 August 2011 Leeds – booking code 15155
24 August 2011 London – booking code 15156

•Learn about the philosophical and political roots of the Big Society and the localism agenda and what it means for the housing sector
•Learn how your organisation can manage change and achieve better efficiency
•Equip your organisation with the information on how to respond to the changes ahead on services and financial planning
•Listen to leading housing professionals and practitioners
•Listen to good practice within the sector
•An excellent opportunity to network with fellow housing professionals and be involved in interactive discussions
To book a place at either of these events, go to the CIH website by clicking on the logo below.

Experts Call For Government to Reconcile Localism with Growth to Deliver Housing

A group of property experts led by Tristan Fitzgerald Associates (TFA) and BNP Paribas Real Estate has put together a paper assessing the impact that localism will have on future housing delivery and puts forward seven recommendations for how the Government will house the nation under localism. The research examined the effects of the proposed scrapping of Regional Spatial Strategies and Core Strategies on the forecast supply of housing across England. The results showed that half of England’s 291 local authorities have confirmed their housing target as being the same as set out in their RSS which translates to targets amounting to just over 85,000 new houses per year being confirmed. A further 14% of local authorities have confirmed a change with only 2% increasing their targets, while 12% made cuts. The average change among those authorities which altered their targets, both up and down, was a cut of 20.6%. The research also shows that of the remaining 36% of local authorities yet to confirm their targets 90% have indicated they will not be sticking with the RSS targets. Read more and download the paper at the BNP Paribas website.

Shapps Calls On Communities to Start Building Their Vision for Their Local Area

Housing Minister Grant Shapps has called on communities to start laying the foundations for the future developments they would like to see in their area. Mr Shapps said that communities across the country should start looking at the opportunities that the new Community Right to Build proposals, currently before Parliament, could offer them. And he said that urban areas should look to making use of the new powers - after he extended the scheme which was previously restricted to rural areas only - so that all communities across the country benefit from the new homes, shops and facilities they really want. This new Community Right to Build will shift power from Government and councils to neighbourhoods and allow people to deliver the homes and development that they really want. Read more on the CLG website.

Neighbourhood Planning Powers Given and Taken Away

Ministers pushing the nebulous concept of "localism" are claiming a small, yet significant step forward in their drive for community empowerment. Seventeen parishes, and small urban areas, have just been selected by the government to spearhead a new neighbourhood planning regime. According to the decentralisation minister, Greg Clark, these community "frontrunners" finally provide an opportunity for local people to "shape development in their areas rather than being dictated to" – by Whitehall, presumably. It is a template, we're assured, for something much bigger and bolder. The idea is that proposals for – say – new housing, small businesses and workshops will all be pulled together in a neighbourhood plan, funded with a modest £20,000 government grant. Once complete, the plan will have to be approved by parishioners and residents in a local referendum. It will then become an "order" and gain a little legitimacy. So far, so local. But this has been no easy process for Clark. Over the past few months his Department for Communities and Local Government – headed by an outwardly bullish Eric Pickles – has been under pressure from the Treasury to soften its localism rhetoric. With the Localism Bill running behind schedule, it's clear that a key element – delivering power to parishes and neighbourhoods – is colliding with proposals from the chancellor, George Osborne, to promote growth through bypassing the planning system. That means, for instance, driving through 21 low-tax enterprise zones, persuading developers to convert redundant offices and buildings into homes without the need for planning permission, and giving house-builders surplus government land. How does this gel with parish and neighbourhood planning? Bluntly, it doesn't. Read more on The Guardian website.

Vulnerable To Be Offered Long-Term Tenancies

Social landlords will be expected to offer long-term tenancies to families and vulnerable households. All housing associations and local authority landlords will be expected to publish tenancy policies which show how they will provide for the most vulnerable families as part of the government’s overhaul of the sector. Last November the government published a consultation paper, Local decisions: a fairer future for social housing, which suggested social landlords should be able to offer fixed-term tenancies rather than lifetime agreements. In their response to feedback on the consultation, housing minister Grant Shapps and junior local government minister Andrew Stunell have said that though fixed-term tenancies will be offered for a minimum of two years, most would have longer term. Read more on Inside Housing.

Government Rejects Calls for Five-Year Minimum Tenancies

Social landlords will have the option of granting two-year fixed term tenancies from April 2012, despite a "large majority of respondents to a Government consultation saying that two years would rarely or never be enough". A summary of responses to the Local Decisions: a Fairer Future for Social Housing consultation have been published alongside the Government's intentions on next steps in the reform of social housing. The document said that amongst those respondents who suggested a longer minimum term there was a "significant degree of consensus that five years would be appropriate". However, the Government intends to stick with a two-year minimum, with many respondents feeling that whilst they did not envisage two year general needs tenancies being used in their area, it was "right that discretion was available locally". Under Government reforms, social landlords will be given the freedom to offer their properties under fixed term tenancies, from a minimum of two years, subject to consulting on a publishing a clear policy on how they will use their new flexibility on tenancies. Read more on 24dash.

Local Decisions: A Fairer Future for Social Housing, Consultation Response

The Government has issued a document summarising responses to the consultation paper, Local Decisions: a fairer future for social housing. It also indicates the Government's intentions on next steps in the reform of social housing. Download a copy of the responses from the CLG website.

Sheltered Housing Campaign Launched

A campaign has been launched to champion the role of sheltered housing as a valuable community resource whilst helping cut Government spending and meet the needs of the ‘Big Society’. The national consortium for sheltered and retirement housing, ERoSH, launched its campaign ‘Reaching out – sheltered housing, a community resource’ at the House of Commons. The six-month campaign, which started on February 15, will see ERoSH work with its 200 members across England, Wales and Northern Ireland to demonstrate how sheltered housing can be used as a community resource to benefit the wider community. The campaign also highlights how sheltered housing can help the Government meet its localism and ‘Big Society’ agendas through public sector organisations, individuals, charities, social enterprises, and private companies using sheltered housing resources in innovative ways to delivering public services. Read more on 24dash.

Clark Defends Localism Agenda

The decentralisation minister has denied giving more power to communities will mean councils are excluded from key decisions. Giving evidence to the communities and local government committee on the subject of localism, Greg Clark said councils will have a ‘leadership role’. ‘This is not excluding local councils,’ he said. ‘I see councils having more power and a greater control over their resources. Things like the new homes bonus are about getting more local control over finance.’ He also said it would be wrong to require all councils to produce a neighbourhood plan. These will set out where residents want new homes to be built, but not all councils will have to produce them and the government has not put a figure on how many are likely to be drawn up. Read more on Inside Housing.

Social Housing Landlords Ready to Pass Down People Power

Housing associations will have an increasingly prominent role in helping local people to take control of their neighbourhoods, Decentralisation Minister Greg Clark said. Mr Clark said the founding ethos of housing associations was about helping local people to come together to improve their communities. In a major speech to the National Housing Federation, Mr Clark said associations were a perfect example of the type of grass roots organisations who show that the principles of local control can take root in all communities. Mr Clark said: "The best housing associations have been embodiments of localism for many years. They engage with their tenants and their communities every day in hundreds of different ways beyond providing high quality accommodation, to being closely involved in the life of their communities. Read more on the CLG website.