It’s
been nearly 18 months since Sajid Javid, the Tory Government’s Housing Minister
published the White Paper “Fixing the Broken UK Housing Market”, meanwhile Mid
Sussex property values continue to rise at 2.7% (year on year for the council
area) and the number of new homes being constructed locally bumps along at a snail’s
pace, creating a potential perfect storm for those looking to buy and sell.
The
White Paper is important for the UK and Mid Sussex people, as it will ensure we
have long-term stability and longevity in property market as whole. Mid Sussex homeowners
and Mid Sussex landlords need to be aware of these issues in the report to
ensure they don’t lose out and ensure the local housing market is fit for
purpose. The White Paper wanted more homes to be built in the next couple of
decades, so it might seem counter-intuitive for existing home-owners and
landlords to encourage more homes to be built and a change in the direction of
housing provision – as this would appear to have a negative effect on their own
property.
Yet
the country needs a diversified and fluid property market to allow the economy
as whole to grow and flourish, which in turn will be a greater influence on
whether prices go up or down in the long term. I am sure every homeowner or
landlord in Mid Sussex doesn’t want another housing crisis like we had in 1974,
1988 and most recently in 2008.
Now,
as Sajid Javid has moved on to the Home Secretary role, the 17th Housing Minister
in 20 years (poisoned chalice or journeyman’s cabinet post) James Brokenshire has
been given the task of making this White Paper come alive. The White Paper had
a well-defined notion of what the issues were.
The
first of the four points brought up was to give local authorities powers to
speed up house building and ensure developers complete new homes on time.
Secondly, statutory methods demanding local authorities and builders build at
higher densities (i.e. more houses per
hectare) where appropriate. The other two points were incentives for
smaller builders to take a larger share of the new homes market and help for people
renting.
However,
let’s go back to the two initial points of planning and density.
(1) Planning
For
planning to work, we need a robust Planning Dept. Looking at data from the Local
Government’s Association, in Mid Sussex, the council is below the regional
average, only spending £28.26 per person for the Planning Authority, compared
the regional average of £38.14 per head – which will mean the planning
department will be hard pressed to meet those targets.
However, 95% of planning applications
are decided within the statutory 8-week initial period, above the regional
average of 81% (see the graph below). I
am slightly disappointed and also pleased with the numbers for our local
authority when it comes to the planning and the budget allowed by our Politician
to this vital service.
(2) Density of Population
4.2 people live
in every hectare (or 2.471 acres) in Mid Sussex
It
won’t surprise you that 114,715 of 139,860 Mid Sussex residents live in the
urban conurbations of the authority, giving a density of 17.9 people per
hectare (again – much lower than I initially
thought), whilst the villages have a density of 0.9 people per hectare.
I
would agree with the Governments’ ambition to make more efficient use of land
and avoid building homes at low densities where there is a shortage of land for
meeting identified housing needs, ensuring that the density and form of
development reflect the character, accessibility and infrastructure.
It’s
all very good building lots of houses – but we need the infrastructure to go
with it.
Talking
to a lot of Mid Sussex people, their biggest fear of all this building is a
lack of infrastructure for those extra houses (the extra roads, doctor’s surgeries,
schools etc.). I know most Mid Sussex homeowners and landlords want more houses
to be built to house their family and friends, but irrespective of the density
it’s the infrastructure that goes with the housing that is just as important, and
this is where I think the White Paper failed to go as far as I feel it should
have done.
Interesting
times ahead I believe!
No comments:
Post a Comment