Property Advantage West Midlands
Issue 24 www.propertyadvantage.info
Point of View
30
Is a brave new world ahead or is it Armageddon instead?
By Louise Brooke-Smith MD of planning and development consultants CSJ Brooke-Smith. Will the Government’s game of Russian Roulette with the planning system help the development industry, or simply mean that the uncertainty which has prevailed since the summer continues to create construction headaches and commercial dilemmas? It doesn’t help that the recent ‘Cala’ decision has now questioned the legality of Eric Pickles’ call to ditch Regional Spatial Strategies. Nor that the government immediately counter-claimed that the decision doesn’t really matter as the imminent localism legislation will remove RSS anyway. Whether that is the case or not, illegal action by any Secretary of State cannot instill confidence in the industry. Some suggest, while we await confirmation of the Localism Bill, the next few months will see a plethora of development schemes pushed through the planning system. Other developers have already accepted that the ‘Big Society’ will herald a Brave New World for planning and are pleased that the laborious local development framework system, and box-ticking development control process which sadly evolved over the past few years is on the way out. But will a new ‘local accountability’ approach to planning really be a better way forward, or end the system as we have known it. It’s not asking too much to aspire to a planning system that balances the demands of a community’s needs to live, work
and play, with the environmental impact of development along with a modest commercial return, to at least cover the cost of construction. However, the Localism Bill due this month - will introduce a shift towards local decisionmaking. At best, this may be productive democracy with communities taking the lead in what should be built in their street. At worst it could be NIMBYism, with a ‘patchwork’ of planning decisions where the articulate middle classes have their way, and damn the rest of the country. I appreciate that this is a cynical view and we should let new political ideology take hold, but it would be good to have a fall-back position, otherwise we are rapidly heading for a massive problem, particularly when it comes to housing. The Cala decision and the resultant uncertainty has huge implications for a beleaguered housing industry which, in addition to the major cuts to funding and social benefits, is facing crisis point. New building has fallen to levels not seen for more than180 years. Housing Benefit is being curtailed and the promise made in the Comprehensive Spending Review for 150,000 new social homes goes nowhere near to address the million family-strong waiting list. To address growing concerns, Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister is currently inviting comments on his New Homes Bonus scheme.
Will it be the panacea to get the private sector moving again? Few think that a loan of a prorata fund will be enough of an incentive and the fear is that it won’t be enough to kick-start the housing industry. There needs to be far stronger encouragement to address what is fast becoming a national scandal in terms of housing provision. Perhaps the ‘Community Right to Build’ will do the trick? It is expected to be explained in full in the Localism Bill and will allow communities wishing to encourage development, to bypass the usual planning application hoops if 75% of the electorate are in favour. But will this actually happen or will NIMBY-ism creep in? Yes people need homes, but ‘not on the green field behind my house thank you’.
The current state of play is one of confusion. Of course, investment in housing would have suffered regardless of the election result but the coalition approach has been remarkably bullish. While Ministers may not like the idea of power in the regions, until we have coherent planning policy, particularly for housing, and not one so prone to vagaries of NIMBY-ism, uncertainty will continue. The development industry will be like a boxer with one hand tied behind its back. It wants to get on and fight, but simply can’t move forward and deliver what communities clearly need. Localism and ‘people power’ may sound like the government’s equivalent to glasnost and perestroika but it might end up being a game of Russian Roulette, because the development industry - and specifically housing development - will simply die if permissions don’t materialise sooner rather than later. So roll out the Localism Bill but please Mr Pickles, no more shooting from the hip….with or without legal bullets. Give our development industry some confidence that you know what you are doing, and are willing to take the credit, or the blame, regardless.