Housing at a crossroads

8 November 2005

With the number of households predicted to grow causing environmental pressures to escalate, planning for the nation's housing needs is at a crossroads. Are we to let the market dominate decisions on future housing provision, or is there a better approach?

As the Government finalises its response to the controversial Barker Review,[1] meeting the nation's housing needs is the subject of a major conference[2] today at which CPRE's[3] Chief Executive Shaun Spiers will give a keynote speech.

He will say: 'We need to think about homes in the same way as we're starting to think about cars, flying and electrical appliances. People may want more and more of these things, demand seems almost infinite as incomes and prosperity keep on rising, but we have to wrestle with the environmental consequences.'[4]

However, the countryside campaigners' leader also recognises that today's high house prices put home ownership out of reach of millions of households across the country, and that there is a danger of a growing gulf between the housing haves and have-nots.

The Government is arguing that the best way to tackle our housing problems is to increase housing supply in response to market demand. In July, it consulted on proposals designed to make planning for housing more responsive to market signals.[5]

But independent research[6] commissioned by CPRE published today reveals deep-seated concern among planners about the Government's proposed market-based approach to housing provision.

And our analysis[7] of responses to official consultation on the proposals suggests this concern is widespread among housing and planning experts. The main concerns are that an approach to housing provision based on responding to market demand would:

• fail to address the lack of affordable housing;
• require local authorities to release more greenfield land, including Green Belt;
• reduce incentives to recycle brownfield land;
• undermine urban regeneration; and
• worsen regional disparities.

In his conference speech, Mr Spiers will welcome the significant increases in use of previously developed 'brownfield' land for new homes, and the move away from wastefully low densities for new housing. 'Government policies on recycling brownfields and housing density have made a huge contribution to urban regeneration whilst preventing many square miles of countryside from being built on,' he says.

And he will point out that housebuilding has been rising for the past three years, and has reached its highest level for a decade.

But Mr Spiers will strongly challenge the Government's proposals to give market signals such as house prices a leading role in the planning process.

Instead he calls for more investment in subsidised homes, for rent and for home ownership, for those priced out of market housing. CPRE also calls on Government to:

• strengthen policies which would bring about more even growth between England's regions, in order to reduce pressures in the most environmentally stressed areas;
• develop policies which could reduce excessive demand for homes for sale. At present the Government's focus is almost entirely on supply rather than demand;
• strengthen the focus on urban regeneration and bringing empty homes — of which there are nearly 700,000[8] in England — back into use.

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NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. The Government is expect to publish its response to Kate Barker's report along with a housing policy statement around the same time it publishes its pre-budget report — in late November or early December.

2. The conference, Housing Crisis: Beyond 'Predict and Provide' , is being held at Lion Court Conference Centre, Holborn, today (9 November). For further details contact the Waterfront Conference Company 020 7787 1210 or 0870 240 7942 conference@thewaterfront.co.uk

3. CPRE, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, is a charity which promotes the beauty, tranquillity and diversity of rural England. We advocate positive solutions for the long-term future of the countryside. Founded in 1926, we have 60,000 supporters and a branch in every county. President: Sir Max Hastings. Patron: Her Majesty the Queen.

4. A full copy of Shaun Spiers' speech will be available from CPRE's Press Office.

5. Planning for Housing Provision, ODPM.

6. Research carried out by Green Balance for CPRE. The report Will they work? Planners' views of Government proposals on planning for housing full report, (169K PDF), summary (23K PDF). Contact CPRE's press office (020 7981 2880) for a summary or a full copy of the report.

7. CPRE analysed 24 industry body and voluntary sector responses to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister consultation paper Planning for housing provision. Many of the industry bodies represent other organisations. A list of responses analysed is available on request.

8. There were 690,000 empty homes in England in 2004, according to the Empty Homes Agency's statistics.

Published on this Website: 09-Nov-2005

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