Out-Law News 2 min. read

Government commits to further housing supply and home ownership measures in Queen's speech


A Housing Bill simplifying the neighbourhood planning system, exempting developers of discounted 'starter homes' from infrastructure contributions and requiring local authorities to produce registers of brownfield land and self-build plots was among the proposed new laws outlined in last week's Queen's speech. 

A planning expert has said that the measures proposed do not go far enough to address the UK's housing supply crisis.

The Queen announced in her speech at the state opening of the UK parliament that "legislation will be introduced to support home ownership and give housing association tenants the chance to own their own home."

A government briefing note (103-page / 1.0 MB PDF) accompanying the Queen's speech said the legislation would take the form of a Housing Bill, which was intended to increase housing supply and home ownership. It said the Bill would "simplify and speed up the neighbourhood planning system, to support communities that seek to meet local housing and other development needs through neighbourhood planning". The government previously announced in January that it intended to introduce time limits for local authorities taking decisions on the designation of neighbourhood planning areas.

The note said housing supply would also be increased by" introduc[ing] a statutory register for brownfield land", as previously proposed in a consultation earlier this year. The note said this measure was intended to "help achieve the target of getting local development orders (LDOs) in place on 90% of suitable brownfield sites by 2020", but did not confirm whether the government would press ahead with proposals to remove planning powers from councils which failed to put enough LDOs in place.

Among the measures aimed at increasing opportunities for home ownership was the proposed provision of "the necessary statutory framework to support the delivery of starter homes", the note said. Prime minister David Cameron announced in March that the government would introduce a 'starter homes initiative', under which developers would be exempted from having to pay section 106 affordable housing charges and tariffs in exchange for building homes on under-used or unviable brownfield sites and offering the homes for sale to first time buyers under the age of 40 at a discount of at least 20% from market value.

The note said the Bill would "take forward the Right to Build, requiring local planning authorities to support custom and self-builders registered in their area in identifying suitable plots of land to build or commission their own home". This proposal follows the introduction of a requirement for councils to maintain a register of those who have expressed an interest in buying serviced plots, under the Self Build and Custom Housebuilding Act in March.

As promised in the Conservative Party's election manifesto, the note said the Housing Bill would "exten[d] … the Right to Buy to housing association tenants". Extending the Right to Buy and building more affordable homes would be partially funded by "requir[ing] local authorities to dispose of high-value vacant council houses", the note said.

Planning expert Elizabeth Wiseman of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said: "Whilst the housing industry has been pleased to see the Housing Bill at the centre of the Queen's speech and a commitment from the government to get more homes built, there are serious concerns that the measures simply do not go far enough."

"Whilst the proposals for Right to Buy, starter homes and a statutory register for brownfield land are a start, in the long term they will fail to provide a comprehensive supply strategy that is needed to end the housing crisis," she said. "Therefore it is agreed throughout the industry that the government needs to go further to get the required number of homes built."

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