HBA tells Conservatives to see positives to planning reform
National Federation of Builders
Rico Wojtulewicz, policy advisor for the House Builders Association (HBA), invites Conservative MPs to reflect on the upside of reforming the planning system to address Britain’s housing crisis.
The Housing White Paper must deliver more opportunities for SME house builders, self-build, custom build, housing associations, community land trusts and cooperative housing.
These sectors were profoundly affected by a lack of planning reform. We need their collaboration if we want to build more homes. This means that some communities will see the shape of their neighbourhood change and development ought to be accepted. However, the white paper should not just reform planning to build more homes, but also explain how and why these changes will deliver better places.
This means ensuring that small sites, brownfield and infill are accessible to SME house builders or – in regions where these opportunities are scarce – identifying appropriate greenfield sites. The latter is particularly crucial for the south west, where brownfield sites are infrequent, wages are low, and house prices rose by 7% in 2016.
It is not just smaller communities in rural locations that require more diverse development. In the case of Sutton Coldfield, represented in Parliament by Andrew Mitchell MP, the greenbelt is seen as a major supply opportunity. And yet across the city region many small, infill and greenfield sites have not been enabled or identified for planning. Mr Mitchell and local residents have rightly highlighted the potential for urban sprawl into Walsall, Lichfield and Tamworth.
As well as planning reform, the Housing White Paper must enable small sites to be properly assessed in order to enable appropriate development, especially through neighbourhood planning. The HBA believes that establishing our greenbelt borders would help enable immediate supply, as well as providing a more strategic approach to building new communities and urban extensions.
As we saw in the second reading of the Neighbourhood Planning Bill, it is healthy that ministers care so passionately about place-making. However, we would caution MPs to think about what good development means for communities in the long term, including employment opportunities.
We may have to build higher, on the greenbelt, or even directly support the wider supply chain, but we must ensure we are delivering and identifying positive long term change and not simply concentrating on supply.
