Member News
By Richard Harrington MP - 25th January 2011
Measures to give communities a greater say in local housing must not stifle development, warns Conservative MP Richard Harrington.
There is little that hasn't already been said on the property crisis which is currently facing Britain right now. There was a 220 per cent increase in house prices between 1996 and 2009 in my constituency of Watford. Many hardworking people, desperately saving every penny for their first deposit, have simply been priced out of the housing market.
Whilst the crippling recession has undoubtedly created an extra hurdle for first time buyers, the largest problem has been consistent both prior to and following the recession; a demand for housing which greatly outstrips the supply. It is only an increase in this supply that will ease demand and create greater opportunities for first time buyers.
It is not just the deposit- savers that I speak for. Watford has long been an attractive and affordable prospect for young professionals, new families and commuters all seeking to take their first step onto the property ladder. This reputation is under threat. Along with the rest of the country, Watford is seeing houses being built at the slowest rate since the 1930s. If development does not come to these regions soon, a whole generation of people may find themselves priced out of the market for years to come. Something must be done.
There is much scope in the Localism Bill, which received its second reading in the Commons last week, to encourage this vital development. The Bill will allow each community to look closely at its own needs and to proceed accordingly.
Yet, as someone with over 25 years of experience in property, I believe that there is so much more that the Bill could, and should do, to encourage local communities to build. The Bill contains several provisions to do with planning and I feel very strongly that a great deal more must be done to ensure the success of the policy. This is too important to get wrong.
A recent YouGov survey commissioned by the New Homes Marketing Board encapsulates this argument. The survey revealed that more than eight in ten people - 81 per cent - believe Britain needs more housing for sale and rent, especially homes for first-time buyers. But it also shows that far fewer people – just 50 per cent – would welcome more homes of all types in their own immediate neighbourhoods.
Sometimes what is needed to meet the needs of the larger community can be stifled by those who – understandably – have their own best interests at heart. We must be careful that 'localism' does not become a platform for disaffected people to block change at any angle.
It is my belief that some simple considerations will do much to ensure this.
I believe it to be crucial that PPS3 - which preserves the obligation of Local Planning Authorities to maintain a five year housing land supply - stays intact. Whilst this process is made cumbersome by the lack of a nationally accepted guidance on the method of calculating land supply, it will ensure that an impartial intermediary still exists.
I would suggest that the government convene an advisory committee, drawn from leading planning, housing and economic experts, to draw up a suggested standard methodology for calculating land supply figures. This will not be a return to the over centralised approach from the past, but will be a sensible way to ensure that best practice is captured so that when local councils make decisions, they are making informed ones.
It is also very clear that there must be a presumption in favour of sustainable development included in this Bill going forward. This will mean that if the local community has not drawn up its own plan for development, local business has the opportunity to step in and take the initiative, but only if they can prove that their proposals are sustainable. A presumption in favour of sustainable development is one of the most far-sighted proposals contained in our Open Source Planning Green Paper last year and I think it is really important that it is brought into effect as soon as possible.
Aside from the Localism Bill, we must encourage the banks to lend once again, in a sensible but open manner.
This country is facing crisis in assisting decent, hardworking people to get on the property ladder, as those a generation before them had the opportunity to do. We must build; creating greater supply is the only way to ease this problem and to make home ownership a realistic ambition once more.
Richard Harrington was elected as Conservative MP for Watford in 2010.
Article Comments
Everyone accepts that needs to be more housing and that there is some Nimbyism about new developments.
That tension is healthy and I don't disagree that councils should keep a land bank for potential development.
At the same time, for those of us who live in rural areas at any rate, there needs to be a counterbalance to the ability of developers to re-submit almost identical inappropriate planning applications requiring local residents to organise and oppose each application.
Before the last election, both the Tories and the Lib Dems were saying 'We will create a third-party right of appeal for local people in cases where planning applications go against locally agreed plans.'
That undertaking appears to have been dropped.
John Harrison
25th Jan 2011 at 10:41 am
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