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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. …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

6. 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

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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.

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. “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