You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Brownfield land can be part of the solution in the countryside
The White Paper ducked the issue of the green belt, but measures to boost brownfield land development can help tackle rural housing need, says Boris Worrall
Thatched cottages, immaculate gardens, pubs run by the same family for generations, vibrant market towns. The countryside is this, and indeed much more. But it also hides its very own housing crisis.
In market towns, rural villages, and county cities there’s as much pressure on housing as the urban environment.
“Brownfield land is as much a part of the solution outside the urban as it is within.”
Add in the fact demand is vastly outstripping supply and prices are vastly outstripping wages, plus a dearth of development, and it’s an intractable problem to rival London’s more visible version of the ‘crisis’.
Although the Housing White Paper ducked the big issue of green belt, all is not lost.
The announcements on more flexibility of tenure, local council development targets and brownfield land all offer opportunities which housing associations are ideally placed to take in tackling rural housing need.
Tucked within many towns and villages are the smaller, more complex brownfield sites which associations are used to developing.
What did the Housing White Paper say about brownfield land?
The government will amend the National Planning Policy Framework to “indicate that great weight should be attached to the value of using suitable brownfield land within settlements for homes.” This was first proposed in a planning consultation in December 2015.
The National Planning Policy Framework will also be changed to allow more brownfield land for Starter Homes on unused employment, leisure and retail land, and even on the green belt.
Mixed light industrial has co-existed with farming and housing for decades. We have the product mix to meet a range of budgets and needs, and the more flexible business model to take on lower returns by blending capital and with long-term revenue.
We also have deep roots and long-term commitments to the communities we work in, as well as long-standing local authority relationships which can help to nudge challenging schemes over the line.
Where others fear to tread, we tend to get stuck in and try to make it work.
In terms of unlocking these smaller, more difficult sites, the Homes and Communities Agency has a key role to play.
There isn’t a single simple solution to the housing crisis – and the reality is that brownfield land is as much a part of the solution outside the urban as it is within.
Boris Worrall, group chief executive, Rooftop Housing Group
