Responding to Barker – HMT perspective James Paton Housing & Urban Team HBF conference 23rd Feb 2006

HMT and housing Where we are Responding to Barker and PGS Challenges ahead

Importance of housing straightforward objective – ensure a decent home for every individual in the country policy impacts on vast array of broader social and economic objectives: macro-economic stability; asset ownership; housing aspiration; sustainable, mixed communities; labour market flexibility

Where are we? Some significant achievements  economic stability low volatility and unemployment, rising incomes, low inflation and interest rates rising home ownership house building picking up in recent years

…but major challenges remain household / demographic projections housebuilding trends in recent decades affordability & impact on aspirations wider economic and labour market risks from unresponsive supply

Government response to Barker Ambition: raise housebuilding to 200,000 net additional p.a., Support delivery through: Reform of planning PPS3 – increased responsiveness, more land Affordability objective Infrastructure PGS / Scn.106 Cross cutting review - improved coordination & delivery Wider investment social housing LA incentives

PGS: principles and objectives flows from Barker review recommendation consultation launched PBR05, closes 27/2/06 PGS intended to: finance additional investment in local and strategic infrastructure to support housing growth, whilst preserving incentives to develop; help local communities share benefits of growth and manage impacts; provide fairer, more efficient, more transparent means of capturing a portion of value uplift (accompanied by scaling back Scn106); create flexible value capture system that responds to market conditions and does not distort development.

PGS: revenue allocation PGS consultation paper commits Government to dedicating revenues to support growth: Significant majority of revenues to go directly back to the local level Strategic-level infrastructure also funded consulting on how best to fund infrastructure previously provided through planning obligations increased infrastructure funding for local communities and ensure sustainable development cross-cutting review at CSR07

Infrastructure: CSR07 cross-cutting review on supporting housing growth announced as part of response to Barker intended to inform CSR, to ensure that appropriate infrastructure will be provided to support housing and population growth. Objectives are to: determine the infrastructure implications of housing growth in different spatial forms and locations establish a framework for sustainable and cost-effective patterns of growth, and ensure that resources across Government are targeted appropriately for providing the national, regional and local infrastructure necessary to support future housing growth.

Challenges ahead for us all to make the ambition set out a reality Challenges for Government maintain pressure on system to deliver numbers see through planning reforms ensure cross-cutting review delivers investment through CSR

Challenges for planners and communities recognise need to respond to scale of challenge, and make system work to deliver Local Authorities to work in partnership and take forward PPS3 reforms

Challenges for house builders work with Govt in identifying and overcoming blockages so as to drive up numbers engage constructively in developing reforms to systems of developer contributions to innovate to respond to industry specific challenges on: sustainability design and quality customer satisfaction modern methods of construction

Rising to these challenge can deliver major gains meet peoples’ aspirations for home ownership create sustainable communities – infrastructure, mix, environment work together to make housing delivery more efficient, predictable, responsive. This is a long term challenge that HMT, and the Government, is committed to addressing

“Our aim: a new consensus across our country on the extension of homeownership and affordable housing – public and private sectors working and investing together to strengthen our economy, protect the environment and meet the housing needs not just of some but of all.” Chancellor Pre-Budget Report speech, 5th December 2005