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Removal of hope value in certain circumstances will deliver more affordable homes, NHF boss says
The chief executive of the National Housing Federation (NHF) has welcomed councils’ ability to buy land for development through the use of compulsory purchase orders (CPO) without paying inflated ‘hope value’ costs.
The government announced the reform earlier today (Tuesday 30 April) as part of what it described as its “long-term plan for housing”.
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the NHF, said: “Enabling local councils to buy cheaper land through CPO without paying hope value will allow them to build more of the desperately-needed affordable homes the country needs, in the right places for the people who need it most.”
Hope value estimates the cost land could be worth if it was developed on in the future, meaning councils are forced to pay potentially thousands more to buy land for housing or developments and get stuck in lengthy disputes about costs.
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The new measures will remove hope value in certain circumstances where CPO are being used and make it cheaper and easier for councils to transform communities by building new homes.
Levelling up minister Jacob Young said: “Our changes will act as a catalyst for investment in our towns and cities and drive much-needed regeneration in communities across the country.
“We know we need to build more homes and alongside our long-term plan for housing, these changes will help us do that, unlocking more sites for affordable and social housing, as well as supporting jobs and growing the economy.”
When plans to scrap hope value as part of reforms to the CPO process were first mooted in 2022, a number of sector figures told Inside Housing that this could lead to protracted legal disputes and delayed development plans.
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 allows bodies such as Homes England and councils using CPO and looking to build to apply to the housing secretary to remove hope value.
This is under the condition that development is in the public interest and is facilitating affordable or social housing, health or educational uses.
Ms Henderson added: “To solve the housing crisis and unlock the land needed for these homes, these changes must sit alongside wider reforms to planning policy which should form part of a nationally coordinated fully funded long-term plan for housing.”
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