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Industry bodies give cautious welcome to White Paper
WHITE PAPER: The National Housing Federation has welcomed the government’s White Paper, but called for more to be done to release land for developments.
It was among a raft of positive responses to the policy document released this afternoon, as the housing industry has given a cautious welcome to the government’s new policy direction.
David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said the White Paper is pointing to a more “comprehensive and strategic framework to fix the housing crisis”.
However he warned that land remained a barrier to development. “Land remains a critical barrier; we know that brownfield land alone is not enough. We urgently need to have honest conversations about how green belt land is used,” he said.
Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, welcomed the proposals to allow councils to build more homes.
“It’s particularly pleasing to see the government recognise the need for a broader range of organisations to build new homes, especially the crucial role of local authorities in delivering the housing we need – something we’ve consistently called for,” she said.
“However our concern is that much housing remains out of reach for a significant number of people and we would like to see the government back up the package of measures announced today with additional funding and resource in the budget,” Ms Alafat added.
Key White Paper announcements so far
- Standardised mechanism for setting housing delivery targets for councils’ Local Plans
- New guidelines to encourage compulsory purchase of undeveloped land
- A new rent standard for the social housing sector post-2020
- Dropping of the 20% threshold for Starter Homes and the 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020 target
- Councils to include Right to Buy in homes built through new council companies
John Healey, Labour’s shadow secretary of state for housing, called the plans “feeble” and akin to holding up a white flag.
“It is tragically clear from this feeble White Paper that seven years of failure on housing under Conservative ministers is set to stretch to 10. We were promised a White Paper; we’ve got a white flag. This is a government with no plan to fix the country’s deepening housing crisis,” he said.
The Home Builders Federation welcomed the paper, but urged caution over plans to increase the speed of development after planning permission is granted. “Any sensible measure should not have an adverse impact on builders,” it said.
“Having spent considerable time, resource and money progressing sites through the planning system, once builders have an ‘implementable’ permission (one that allows them to start work) overwhelmingly they are doing so.”
The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) welcomed measures to increase opportunities for SME house builders but maintained that land, along with finance and planning, remains an issue for small builders.
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said: “In too many places, the approach to planning for new homes has come to be focused almost entirely on large sites and large-scale delivery. This approach has slowed down the delivery of homes, and has helped shape an uncompetitive housebuilding industry and an unresponsive supply of housing – this has to end.”
The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils across England, said the government was listening to councils’ concerns over the state of the housing market but that more funding is needed to solve the issue.
Martin Tett, housing spokesman for the LGA, said: “This White Paper includes some encouraging signs that government is listening to councils on how to boost housing supply and increase affordability. We are pleased it has taken on board a number of recommendations made in our recent Housing Commission final report.”
