The New Homes Accelerator is described by the government as a new expert group that will speed up delivery of stalled housing sites.
There are reckoned to be 200 large sites across England that have outline or detailed plans ready to go but are yet to begin construction. Together they could deliver up to 300,000 new homes.
The Whitehall hit squad, comprising civil servants from both the Ministry of Housing and Homes England, has been told to go in and get things moving and clear any blockages that they find.
The New Homes Accelerator will work to provide additional resources to struggling local planning departments and to developers strangled by red tape.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said: ”For far too long the delivery of tens of thousands of new homes has been held back by a failure to make sure the development system is working as it should.
“This government has a moral obligation to do everything within our power to build the homes that people desperately need and we won't hesitate to intervene where we need to.
“Our New Homes Accelerator will quickly identify blockages, fix problems and support local authorities and developers to get shovels in the ground."
Stalled sites in the hit squad’s line of fire include Stretton Hall in Leicestershire, Tendring in Essex, and Biggleswade Garden Community in Central Bedfordshire, which have the potential to unlock more than 10,000 new homes when completed.
Landowners, local authorities and house-builders have been invited to come forward with details of their own blocked sites for the New Homes Accelerator to investigate.
This initiative is coupled with a government overhaul of the planning system that will see new mandatory housing targets for councils.
Home Builders Federation executive director David O'Leary described the challenges facing the New Homes Accelerator: “The planning process and everything associated with it delivers too little land and has long been a significant constraint on house building,” he said.
“Government has shown a welcome desire in the weeks since the election to address the problems. A lack of planning department capacity and misaligned incentives for other public bodies and statutory consultees has created a process with huge uncertainty. This creates an abundance of risk resulting in longer development timescales and severe challenges, in particular for small and medium-sized house builders.
“Adopting a pragmatic approach to planning will increase the pace at which new homes are built and help to turn around ailing housing supply. Unlocking homes and delivering new communities will boost growth and support job creation while providing young people with access to new, more affordable housing. The housing market is complex and we look forward to working with government to ensure that all aspects of the housing market are functioning more effectively.”
Victoria Du Croz, head of planning at property law firm Forsters, was less optimistic that Rayner’s hit squad would be able to do much.
She said: “Developments stall for a myriad of complex reasons and it is difficult to see how these will be overcome, especially where the environment is concerned. Protected species are covered under separate legislation, requiring licenses and work to be carried out at specific times of the year, while the proposed additional mitigation around nutrient neutrality is still ambiguous. We need to see greater clarity on how the planning regime and other statutory regimes will work in tandem, and it’s not clear how parachuting in a team of planners will rectify this challenge.
“Another key issue is the ability for registered providers (RPs) to take on the affordable housing on development sites. Section 106 agreements will often require developers to transfer the affordable units to an RP before further building work or occupation can happen and this currently isn’t feasible for providers who are focusing resources on current stock maintenance and operation.
“A final challenge is sufficient infrastructure provision, sites are increasingly stalling due to inadequate water supply or grid capacity, these issues need to be looked at holistically and across government departments.
“While I welcome the government’s commitment to unlocking sites that are stalling post planning, the solution is by no means simple and it won’t be possible to bypass other statutes or legislation.”
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