There are rare occasions when significant initiatives emerge at almost the same time. Both being of huge importance to Northern Devon.
This has just been achieved with announcements from Government on housing delivery (triggered by planning reforms) and the publication of the Devon Housing Commission report.
From the Government there has been a welcome sense of urgency about kick-starting the economy by boosting growth. Coming at this with no cash is clearly tricky as evidenced by the latest national debt figures which show that we owe nearly 99.5% of our total GDP.
Market-led initiatives were always going to be the only solution. Therefore, as I have previously reported, building our way out of the national debt is a very sensible solution. Many of us had not expected quite such decisive actions but, in the King’s Speech, we heard almost exactly what the business community had been asking for. Self-evidently our public services can only improve if the economy can grow. The Prime Minister was bold enough to nail this by correctly identifying that the principal blockage has been the planning system.
This system was originally designed to ensure that development benefited society but has become a battleground which increasingly prevents things happening. Perhaps a good example is the planning application for the Lower Thames Road Tunnel Crossing. The paperwork required for this runs to 359,000 pages and cost £267m.
Frequently planning applications have been taking longer to determine than the time it will take to build the scheme. In fast moving markets these delays simply mean that opportunities, such as new business investment, are diverted elsewhere, often across international boundaries. In domestic markets where demand exceeds supply the need for quick delivery is essential. Look no further than the housing market where, slowly but surely, devasting market failure is occurring leaving affordable and rental accommodation in critical short supply and where nationally we are building about half the number of homes needed to keep pace with population growth – latest figures, against the required target of 300,000 homes per year, are 134,780 starts on new homes, a 22% reduction from 2023.
Turning this super tanker around will require political courage and greater buy-in from the whole of our society. Being an armchair or activist NIMBY must now be balanced against the cost to our next generation.
In recognition of this huge issue – something which successive governments have failed to resolve – the Whitehall proposals involve a “Planning and Infrastructure Bill” which will unlock development.
Actions include – allowing payment to landowners for development sites, being acquired under compulsory purchase orders, to be “fair but not excessive”. Local communities will be able to determine only “how, NOT IF” homes and infrastructure are built. By allowing development in low-quality Green Belts which will be reclassified as “grey belt”. By re-establish mandatory housing targets for Local Authorities to ensure that there is at least a minimum allocation to provide a 5-year land supply. There will also be a general presumption in favour of development. To assist delivery a further 300 planning officers will be recruited. There will be modernisation of Council Planning committees to improve local decision making. This legislation will also encourage the use of development to fund nature recovery.
All this in the hope of building 1.5m homes in the next 5 years.
As mentioned, the timing for this could not have been better for Devon.
It had been apparent several years ago that the housing problems in Devon were becoming acute. Good leadership determined that decisive action should be taken. A formal commission was established chaired by Lord Richard Best with a great team of experts and influencers, including Selaine Saxby (also significant support from Exeter University).
The final report has just been published and confirmed what was feared, that Devon has a “housing emergency”. This has been caused by a cocktail of reasons including high property prices and low incomes. As a result, more and more families are being priced out of the market and placed in temporary accommodation. This is having an adverse effect on public services, the economy and care and health services. One of many most profound impacts is the flight of our next generation because home ownership is beyond the reach of first-time buyers. There is also no safety net of affordable housing or rental accommodation. The situation in many rural and coastal areas is even more drastic.
The findings of the report tackle many of these root causes and include some excellent recommendations – such as the establishment of a new Development Corporation and targeted support from Government. I recommend that it is widely studied and adopted.
It is high fortuitous that one part of this problem – planning failure – has now been recognised by the recent Government proposals. It is now up to all parts of Devon to respond; the solution is in our hands.
