Queen's Speech 2007 - Building better homes and empowering communities

Published	6 November 2007

Communities Secretary Hazel Blears and Housing Minister Yvette Cooper on 6 November 2007 welcomed the publication of the Government's Queen's Speech, with legislation to help build the homes future generations need and create places where people want to live and work.

The Housing and Regeneration Bill and the Planning Bill will help make possible the 240,000 new homes a year from 2016 announced by the Prime Minister.

A new agency will bring together land and investment for new homes - combining responsibility for surplus public sector land and a multi-billion pound budget. The Bill will also make it easier for councils and housing associations to build more homes.

The Prime Minister announced that more than 50 applications to be eco-towns - the first new towns for nearly half a century - had been received from across the country.

All homes will be built to higher environmental standards, and to zero carbon from 2016, with a million zero carbon homes in the next decade from then. The Prime Minister announced the coalition of 170 organisations - homebuilders, councils, planners and green groups - who have now signed up to this goal.

78 extra Local Authorities, the majority of which are in the three Northern regions, have now applied to become new growth points in response to the Housing Green Paper, with the potential to deliver 450, 000 extra homes.

The Prime Minister announced his aim that half the new homes built on disused public sector sites will now be designated affordable housing - for social rent, first-time buyers and key workers. English Partnerships is currently examining 900 public sector sites; in total public sector land could deliver 200,000 homes by 2016.

The Planning Bill will help deliver the new infrastructure new homes and communities need.

Hazel Blears said:

"This Government is facing up to the big challenges that we face as a nation - climate change, globalisation, energy security and demographic change.

"The Bills announced today will help us achieve this by delivering a better planning system for infrastructure and better homes.

"This Government believes that everyone deserves a place they can be proud to call home, in communities where people have the power to influence those things that matter to them most.

"We want to empower citizens to shape their own lives and the services they receive - and one of the most powerful areas for this type of community empowerment is social housing.

"The bills announced today will help us to achieve this: empowering tenants by giving them more say over how their homes are managed and supporting strong communities that bring people together."

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper said:

"Today's announcements show we are serious about delivering the new homes, backed up with new infrastructure, we desperately need.

"This Government is putting unprecedented investment into new and affordable housing, to give first-time buyers and young families a foot onto the ladder.

"New homes will be greener to tackle the challenge of climate change, with world-beating environmental standards. We're building the first new towns for several generations, with ten new eco-towns across the country.

"But this must be a shared endeavour - between Government, councils, developers and local communities. If we don't act now, we're letting down future first-time buyers."

Bills

The Housing and Regeneration Bill will:

take forward key measures to support the delivery of the three million new homes by 2020 that are needed to meet growing demand and rising aspirations. It will create the Homes and Communities Agency (H and C), which will deliver more new and affordable homes in mixed and sustainable communities.
by bringing together land and housing, H and C will support the regeneration and delivery of new social and affordable housing, both social and private. It will also make better use of surplus public sector land and maximise the potential for brownfield development.
give an opportunity to provide powers for the new Homes and Communities Agency to lead the delivery of major projects, such as an eco-town
take forward the recommendations made by Professor Martin Cave in his report 'Every tenant matters: A review of social housing regulation' published in June 2007. It will create the Office for Tenants and Social Landlords, which will place tenants at the heart of social housing, giving them a stronger voice and more choice.
take forward other detailed measures to support the delivery of the commitments in the Housing Green Paper, to empower tenants and improve housing services including making it easier for councils to build social housing

The Planning Bill will:

include proposals for a faster and fairer planning system, implementing the proposals in the Planning White Paper, particularly for nationally significant infrastructure projects.
allow more timely decisions on infrastructure projects which are key to economic growth, international competitiveness, tackling climate change, energy security and improving quality of life
deliver more transparent decisions with improved opportunities for public engagement at every stage
create clearer national infrastructure policy and better developed infrastructure projects

Notes to Editors

1. This press notice applies to England
2. More information can be found at www.communities.gov.uk
3. There are currently 63 local authorities working to deliver more homes in the four Growth Areas and 72 authorities which came forward as new growth points last year.

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