Observer article on housing and NPPF

I'm quoted in a piece in the Observer today about the impact of the NPPF on social housing provision

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/oct/01/social-housing-planning-reform?commentpage=2#start-of-comments 

Planning reform to scrap targets for affordable social housing

Proposed changes will play into the hands of greedy developers, say conservation groups

Building groups will not require to include affordable homes in private developments, according to new planning regulations. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA
 
Strict rules compelling house builders to include affordable homes in private developments will be scrapped under the government's controversial changes to the planning system. The revelation has raised fresh questions about the proposals, which ministers claim are vital for tackling the housing crisis. They have already drawn fire from conservation groups, who fear they will lead to an increase in building on greenfield sites. The National Planning Policy Framework, which will edit down more than 1,000 pages of legislation to just 52, removes a threshold under what are known as section 106 agreements, requiring that private developments of 15 properties or more contain an element of affordable housing. It also abandons stipulations that councils set a target for the number of affordable properties they intend to be built in their area and, on larger sites, to establish the proportion of private and affordable housing needed. Instead, the new framework says only that planning authorities should "use an evidence base to ensure that their local plan [in which a local authority sets out its building strategy] meets the full requirements for market and affordable housing in the housing market area". The National Housing Federation, which represents England's housing associations and has been broadly supportive of the framework, warned that the combined impact of the measures will represent a major setback for affordable home building. It said more than half of the 50,000 affordable homes built each year in England are built under section 106 agreements, worth more than £2bn annually. There are also concerns that a reduction in mixed housing developments will see poorer people "ghettoised" in less attractive areas. "While we broadly support the government's planning framework and its potential to help get more homes built, there are serious dangers that it could let private developers off the hook in terms of delivering thousands of affordable homes on their developments," said David Orr, the federation's chief executive. "With no targets for local authorities to meet in terms of building affordable housing in their area, the new framework could see these section 106 deals ripped up in future and many developments built without any social homes at all. This would be a disaster for the millions of people stuck on housing waiting lists." The federation estimates there are 700,000 people on waiting lists in rural England. But critics fear the framework plays too much into the hands of property developers who favour building expensive properties on greenfield sites. The issue is likely to cause heated debate at this week's Tory party conference. Many backbenchers are nervous about the strategy. John Redwood appeared to criticise the government's plans recently when he attacked the "myths" of housing shortage on his blog. Redwood claimed "there were 738,414 empty homes in the UK in 2010 – there will be around the same number today. Yet I read we are short of houses and need to build more." The issue has angered conservation groups, with many members considered traditional Tory voters. More than 100,000 people have signed a National Trust petition urging the government to rethink the reforms. "There is a desperate need for new, affordable housing, especially for young families in areas of the country where the number of households is growing rapidly," said Ben Cowell, the trust's director of external affairs. "But this fact alone cannot be used to overturn the need for a properly balanced approach to decision-making." Cowell warned that the scrapping of the affordable housing threshold "could do a huge disservice to the provision of proper levels of housing". A spokeswoman for the Department for Communities and Local Government defended the plan to scrap the affordable housing threshold and target. "Five million people are languishing on social housing waiting lists,, the average age of a first-time buyer is 37 and house building has fallen to its lowest level for any peacetime year since 1924," she said. "The draft framework will help to deliver more affordable housing by requiring councils, in consultation with the community, to make sure local plans meet the full requirements for market and affordable housing so that it caters for the demand in their area."