Recent Events

Local Housing Summits

Having staged a South West Regional Housing Summit in 2010, SWHI has begun a series of smaller tailored events with a sub-regional focus. Each event, which features senior Parliamentary input, has been especially geared for delegates (elected members and senior officers) from the region’s local authorities.

• Exeter: 7^th October 2011 at the offices of Trowers (law firm), attended by John Howell MP and shadow housing spokesman, Alison Seabeck MP; (see report below)
• Dorchester: 14^th October 2011 at the offices of West Dorset Council, attended by Oliver Letwin MP;
  Click here to view and download three of the presentations made by speakers.
• Bristol:  3rd February 2012 at the offices of Clarke Willmott LLP with John Howell MP, Shadow CLG Minister Chris Williams MP and Bristol Cabinet Member Cllr Anthony Negus.
  Click here to view and download the presentations made by the speakers in pdf format.

SWHI Parliamentary Group

The SWHI is winning strong support for a fast-growing new cross-party Parliamentary group of MPs (and South West members of the House of Lords).  Their first full meeting was held on 8^th November 2011 and a series of topics for future discussion identified.

A report of the Exeter event is provided below:

John Howell MP

John’s messages were clear:

• He was not speaking on behalf of government, but there was a clear commitment to a local plan led system where the responsibility lay with local planning authorities who should engage their community in delivering a 6 year housing land supply, supported by neighbourhood plans that ensured the community got what it wanted.
• His information was that communities were embracing the concept of neighbourhood plans that could address community issues way beyond planning. There was much international evidence of the success of this approach with local communities taking on responsibilities and exercising responsible democracy.
• The NPPF would provide individual communities with a share in the benefits of development and would increase accountability compared to the RSSs that were an affront to democracy in that they had not properly engaged even the local authorities.
• A delightful anecdote was offered of meeting an old lady in his constituency who had fallen over and hurt herself but when helped to her feet said she has spent the morning identifying sites in her village for affordable housing!
• Prudent developers had recognised the value of collaborating with communities at the plan making stage. Applications and appeals would be judged against plans.
• The NPPF reference to the presumption in favour of development goes back to reference in the 2004 act under a Labour administration but added the word “sustainable”
• The reference to Certificate of Conformity in the NPPF would not be applied with a “tick box” approach but common sense. An assessment of how the strategic duty to co-operate had been addressed was likely to be one of the tests.
• The New Homes Bonus would provide an extra £120m in the first year and generate 20,000 jobs
• A new approach to planning for housing was required that took the community with it and the government’s proposals did just that.

Alison Seabeck MP

Alison’s approach was to reflect on the myths and contradictions in the current government approach:

• When house building levels crashed during the recession, the Tory analysis was not to say that the problem was the economy. But instead to wrongly blame the planning system & top down targets.  It’s a distraction from the main issue – which must be about the economy and growth.
• In the five years before the banking crisis we saw year on year growth in new house building in England and just four years after the Barker report, we’d reached 207,000 additional homes in England in a single year.
• RSSs were unpopular but they were a stick to beat local planning committees with.
• The carrot of the New Homes Bonus  is imperfect because the funding is due to be top-sliced from formula grant, and because it pays out a bonus based on a council’s overall council tax base – the wealthier a council’s residents, the bigger a bonus they get.
• At the top level, however short the NPPF is this won’t necessarily make it easier for developers, in many cases it will make it harder because you’ll have hundreds of local guidelines to work with in each local authority – and the vaguer the policy, the better it is for lawyers.
• The government talks a lot about using government land but that’s a drop in the ocean. A proper audit of local authority held land is needed – many of them will be small plots, but that may be no bad thing.
• We are heading towards a perfect storm where benefit cuts and unemployment lead to more people homeless.  Many of those comfortably housed will oppose developments that may help those without housing.  The localism bill will lead to divided communities.
• The problem with supply is financial, the problem is with confidence; it won’t be fixed by tinkering with the planning system. Kickstart the construction sector; get jobs and apprenticeships in – because we’re also going to have a problem with building skills if we don’t get building levels back up soon. Kickstart the construction sector with an affordable house building programme: boosting the supply by 25,000 additional affordable homes this year by rerunning the tax on bankers’ bonuses.
• Kickstart the construction sector; get jobs and apprenticeships in – because we’re also going to have a problem with building skills if we don’t get building levels back up soon. Kickstart the construction sector with an affordable house building programme: boosting the supply by 25,000 additional affordable homes this year by rerunning the tax on bankers’ bonuses.

Jeremy Christophers Leader Teignbridge DC

Jeremy is the recently appointed Leader of TDC part of a new Tory majority that had been elected on 5 principles including making housing a priority. His main points were:

• The average age of those who voted was greater than 65 years.
• The “Rhetoric” of failure was – developers views of planners: the answer is no, what’s the question; the neighbour’s views of developers; we didn’t move here to have our view ruined: councillor’s views on housing numbers: we need more housing, how many, in my ward – goodbye.
• The position in Teignbridge was 3631 on waiting list, 1537 unemployed, 346 home built against target of 740, no 5 year supply of housing land, no adopted Plan.
• Teignbridge DC intentions were to  – deliver a viable local plan with community engagement; free up TDC assets; TDC prudential borrowing to support housing delivery; target New Homes Bonus and CIL; proper partnership with the private sector.

Answers to main questions were:

• John – the consultation process on the NPPF would close shortly and the government was listening carefully to responses and would introduce appropriate changes. Both Brownfield and Greenfield were required in a balanced locally determined solution.
• John, Alison and Jeremy agreed that local councillors had to embrace leadership and act as advocates for their community helping them understand issues and agree solutions.
• John and Jeremy - NIMBYies can be converted. Keeping local people out of decisions as with the imposition of RSSs was confrontational and generated a NO response. There was too much debate around “affordable”. There was a need to move towards “community benefit” of housing.