HOUSING, PLANNING AND THE GROWTH AGENDA ALISON BROOM CHIEF EXECUTIVE – MAIDSTONE BOROUGH COUNCIL

SE LEP Growth Deal and Strategic Economic Plan Covers East Sussex, Kent and Essex plus Southend, Thurrock and Medway Adopted March 2014 LEP wide and sub-area plans/subsidiarity Kent and Medway – Unlocking the Potential: Going for Growth Growth Without Gridlock – Kent and Medway

SE LEP Growth Deal and Strategic Economic Plan Six year plan Delivery of 200,000 private sector jobs in the decade Complete 100,000 homes in the period Lever in £10 billion of investment to accelerate growth, jobs and house building

Building More Homes - Context Building rates have diminished while demand has continued to rise Affordability for residents is a major problem Detrimental impact on employers’ ability to recruit appropriate staff Local planning authorities will set housing targets based on objectively assessed need

Building more homes – the challenge Based on 2011 Interim household projections almost 200,000 more households in 2021 compared to ,000 homes pa? 2011/12 and 2012/13 completions averaged just under 10,000 per year – so in order to meet need building rates need to increase to 24,000+ per year! Strategy is put forward to gradually lift delivery and provide 100,000 homes – but even this needs a delivery rate above the average during the 2007/8 housing boom How do we square this with the NPPF? How do we square it with planning and delivering housing in a democracy?

Action Plan for increasing housing delivery Sufficient land allocated via Local Plans Bring land in public ownership forward for residential development Restore confidence and build capacity in the development industry and Registered Providers New delivery models to provide finance and share risk and rewards of housing development Garden City at Ebbsfleet – and Chilmington Green? Ask for flexibility for HCA and HRAs to increase housing numbers Restore confidence in the private rented sector particularly in coastal and deeply deprived communities

Eight Asks of Government Give the HCA full freedoms and flexibilities to work with local partners to invest all HCA resources allocated to the SELEP area to maximise total completions Introduce a new model of housing delivery through a pilot to achieve quicker housing delivery, better value for money and return for HCA investments Further raise the level of the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) debt cap of local authorities where this is constraining their ambitions to increase the supply of housing Give more flexibility to housing associations in setting rents

Eight Asks of Government Agree to channel NHS prevention funding to SELEP to target specific housing developments for specialist older persons that are telehealth and telecare enabled Withdraw restrictions on the use of historic grants to housing associations Work with specific local authorities in the SELEP area to identify potential locations for new large scale housing developments including garden cities or garden suburbs Introduce a comprehensive package of measures to secure the housing and economic prospects of specific neighbourhoods in the coastal areas and elsewhere with dysfunctional private rented sectors

What does good growth look like? Research undertaken by PWC and Demos The public takes a wider view of the components of economic success than GDP In the public’s eyes, ‘good growth’ depends on – creating jobs that enable their bills to be paid – work–life balance – good health – to keep people well to work and work for longer – infrastructure including housing and transport

A dose of reality – what the public say British Social Attitudes Survey % of people said they opposed new homes compared to 30% who supported them. These figures varied significantly between areas of the country (e.g. opposition is highest in South East England) and between different type of residents (e.g. social housing tenants are more likely to support new housing). What the research also suggests is that if residents are offered the right benefits, presented in the right way, you can achieve a consensus in favour of growth.

A dose of reality – what the public say What advantages to local residents would make you support new homes - – Employment opportunities 17% – Green spaces and parks 11% – Transport links 11% – Schools 8% – Leisure facilities 6% – Shops or supermarkets 5% – Medical facilities 4% – Financial incentives to existing residents 2%

…. And what the elected members say New Housing Developments Survey of Councillors % of respondent councillors thought that local residents were generally opposed to housing development in their local area This proportion fell to 12% if development came with appropriate infrastructure, and to 11% if the quality of the design met local needs. For brownfield development 58% thought that residents supported and 6% that they opposed For greenfield – 3% thought that residents supported and 79% opposed

…. And what the elected members say The most commonly cited way of making housing developments more palatable to local residents was to ensure it came with better local services and facilities (73%). Other common ways were o involving local communities early in discussions on location - 59% o allocating some houses to the local community - 56% o involving local communities early in discussions about design - 56% o ensuring more affordable housing - 51% o ensuring excellent design - 49% o ensuring more appropriately-sized housing - 48%