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NHF expected more from Letwin Review of housebuilding
Sir Oliver Letwin did not go as far with his review into build-out rates as the National Housing Federation (NHF) expected, it has told Inside Housing.
His review sought to determine why there is such a large gap between the number of planning permissions granted and the number of starts on-site.
The final report, published on Monday, recommended that the government require developers to provide “a diversity of offerings” on large developments, determined by a new national expert committee.
The NHF had been working with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on the review and last week called for him to recommend 50% affordable housing on public land, land value capture for affordable housing and grant for Section 106 delivery.
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On land value, it specifically called on the government to change the way land is valued so that no account is taken of possible planning permissions when the government buys land from the private sector.
Currently, local authorities are often forced to buy agricultural land at a price calculated with reference to the amount it could be worth if planning permission were awarded, the ‘hope value’, usually leading to increased prices.
Sir Oliver, however, does not address this in his report.
Duncan Neish, policy officer at the NHF, told Inside Housing: “The way Sir Oliver was talking a month or two ago, we thought he might do a bit more on land value capture. It’s certainly not as clear and ambitious as we were hoping for through the change in the compulsory purchase legislation.
“We don’t disagree with the policy and mechanisms he’s proposing, but we think most of these things can be done more or less anyway, so whilst it’s not bad to bolster existing mechanisms if we think they’re useful, we’re not sure it’s really a ‘step change’.”
The final report did not recommend either of the other measures that the NHF had called for, recommending a high proportion of affordable housing but stopping short of specifying a percentage.
Some in the sector, however, were more positive, with Mark Washer, Sovereign’s chief executive, calling for the government to implement Sir Oliver’s recommendations in full.
