Communities and Local Government

• Corporate
• Newsroom
• Speeches, statements and articles
• Growth Summit

Planning, building and the environment

Growth Summit

Date of speech	23 July 2007

---

Transcript of the speech as delivered.

Welcome

Delighted to be here today. Thank you to Reading for hosting today's Growth Summit and to all of you for coming.

This is a very important and challenging time for us in delivering on the need for more homes.

Glad that I have the opportunity to talk to you - the Government's key stakeholders on housing growth - before Yvette Cooper announces to Parliament later today the Government's proposals for delivery via the Housing Green Paper.

Growth and the fit with wider Government policies

Today's Growth Summit is very timely - it comes during a period of significant change and challenge in housing and planning and local authorities are right at the heart of it.

Last November we published the Local Government White Paper, which highlighted the local authority leadership role in place-shaping.

That was followed up by the Planning White Paper in May, which emphasised the central importance of planning in taking forward the vision of what places can become - and delivering it.

Last Tuesday, we published the Sub-National Review which provides greater powers to allow local authorities to lead on economic development issues and a stronger role in the proposed single regional strategy.

And later today, we will be setting out the Government's ambitions for housing growth when Yvette makes a statement to the House at 3.30 pm about our Housing Green Paper.

The Prime Minister confirmed on 11 July that housing would be a top priority for his premiership and that we intend to tackle the serious issues of affordability and access by building 3 million new homes between now and 2020, including significantly more affordable homes.

This amounts to a radical new agenda for the shaping of our communities and the delivery of more and better quality homes where they are needed.

I am absolutely clear that we want this to be a shared endeavour between local authorities, developers, communities and Government.

Government's ambitions for housing growth

Unless we do more to close the gap between rising demand and increased supply, we will see long-term house prices continue to grow - at the expense of first time buyers and those waiting for a council house or social home of their own.

Government analysis found that if were to carry on building at previous rates then over the next twenty years we would see the number of thirty year old couples able to afford to buy a home drop from over 50 per cent today to nearer 30 per cent. That is unfair and unsustainable.

The level of housing supply has increased nationally - from 130,000 a year to around 180,000 a year. But that isn't enough. After all, the number of households is now projected to grow by 220,000 a year up to 2026 - significantly faster than the number of homes.

Every region of the country now faces affordability pressures. Every region in the country now faces demand which is increasing faster than supply.

A revised and more ambitious target

So that's why the Prime Minister has made housing a key priority for this Government. And it's why he has announced that we have raised the annual housebuilding target for 2016 from 200,000 to 240,000 new homes a year. That's over a quarter of a million more homes by 2016 than previously planned.

The current imbalance between supply and demand is why we are proposing a new Housing Bill which will support and encourage initiatives on the ground by local authorities and others to deliver on our ambitions for housing growth.

Design

But as we seek to deliver on our ambitions for growth, we must ensure that the houses we build and the communities we create are well designed.

The policy framework is now quite clear. Government has set out in planning guidance what is expected, and that local authorities should not be accepting schemes that fail to make the grade in design terms. And there is support, tools and guidance available to help make high quality the norm.

We must make sure that we use good design to get the best results on every scheme - environmentally, socially and economically. A Savills' report set out that house builders investing in high design standards can get a value per hectare of up to 15 per cent more than conventionally designed schemes.

And many developers are already delivering well-designed housing. It was fantastic that we had so many excellent contenders at the Housing Design Awards, which my Department hosted in London on Thursday. I'd like to personally congratulate all winners, but especially the winner of winners, Tabard Sqaure - and the partnership between Berkeley Homes and the London Borough of Southwark. I understand that the judges felt that this one scheme more than any other showed how the public and private sector have worked together to make the most of the planning framework now in place - that's exactly what our shared endeavour for housing growth must be about.

Growth Areas and New Growth Points

The current shortage of housing supply led us to establishing the Growth Areas and New Growth Points in London and the wider South East.

In October, Yvette was pleased to announce 29 New Growth Points across the South and the Midlands which have entered into a Partnership for Growth with Government. These are 45 towns and cities - all represented here today - which came to Government and said:  "We are up for growth. We want to enable our young people to access the housing to which they aspire." Thank you to all of you.

It is through this Partnership for Growth that we will be able to deliver the new homes which this country badly needs. The Partnership for Growth is a partnership between local government and the whole of central Government, not just with my department: pleased that organisations like Natural England and Highways Agency are engaging with the process. It is through partnership working with your local stakeholders that truly sustainable and cohesive communities will be built on the ground. Again, thank you.

We have made available £40m of funding to the New Growth Points this year and I am pleased to hear projects are underway from Truro to Lincoln to support the delivery of new homes.

We are together delivering on projects which both support housing growth and enhance peoples' lives. For example, the £3.6m of capital funding allocated to Derby has enhanced a key piece of public open space and a new foot and cycle bridge across the River Derwent at Cathedral Green in the city centre. This will help make the city centre more liveable to support the ambitious city centre living plans there.

Levels of future funding depend on the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review. However. we have responded to concerns around the current one year project funding by making clear the intention to offer block funding to local authorities from next year onwards, with a greater indication of longer-term funding, increased flexibility and local determination of projects.

In turn, you need to rise to the challenge by showing visionary leadership in your communities, involving your local people and key delivery partners to prioritise infrastructure projects to support growth. As trailblazers in the field, the Growth Points have the opportunity to deliver exemplary developments in terms of design standards, low environmental impact and innovative approaches to transport. I am pleased to announce that CABE will be engaging with all of the Growth Points to facilitate the sharing of experience and best practice across the network and to offer targeted, intensive support to enable local authorities to be bold in their aspirations.

Ecotowns

Yvette Cooper will be announcing our ambitions for ecotowns in the House later today.

All new homes must have an ever-reducing impact on the environment, with all new homes to be zero-carbon by 2016. In March, we indicated the intention to invite proposals for a generation of eco-towns: small new towns of at least 5-20,000 homes. They should take advantage of previously developed land wherever possible and should make use of emerging best practice here and overseas.

Our vision for ecotowns is that they will be exemplar green developments and meet the highest standards of sustainability, including low and zero carbon technologies and quality public transport systems. They will also make use of brownfield land and surplus public sector land and lead the way in design, facilities and services, and community involvement.

In order to help tackle affordability pressures up to around 50 per cent of the homes in the eco-towns should be affordable with a good mix of tenures and size of homes in mixed communities.

Up to £2m will be available in 2007/08 through the New Growth Points scheme to help develop proposals and carry out other preparatory work.

Yvette will expand on how we intend to support this initiative in her statement to the House this afternoon.

The environment and Green Belts

Of course, our plans for increasing the level of housebuilding in this country will be sustainable and will take environmental concerns into account. The recent Planning White Paper made it quite clear that we are committed to the principles of the Green Belt and that we propose no fundamental change to current policy.

Green Belts have - and will continue to have - a vital role to play in limiting sprawl, not just around London but around many other cities and historic towns, like here in Reading. In the words of our new Prime Minister, 'I can assure (you) that we will continue to protect robustly the land designated as Green Belt.'

Sustainability through the planning system

Since the Planning Green Paper back in 2001 we have seen significant change in planning, and local authorities have played a central role in that transformation.

Despite these achievements, we continue to face significant and growing challenges, not just on housing supply and affordability. Climate change means we need to deliver more energy from renewable sources, and improve the energy performance of our houses, offices and factories. We need to respond more quickly to the challenges of globalisation to create jobs and maintain our economic competitiveness.

Planning is a major part of the solution and the Planning White Paper is part of the response to the challenges. 

Despite what some sections of the media have reported the white paper does not undermine the principles of the planning system.  Indeed our objectives are quite the opposite, which is to create a planning process which is both efficient and effective and is supported by all sections of the community, and is seen as one of the bedrocks of sustainability.

Infrastructure - strategic and local

On infrastructure, both Kate Barker and Rod Eddington have found serious issues which needed to be addressed.

We need to better provide communities with the local and strategic infrastructure necessary to support housing growth, so that their local areas remain sustainable for the long-term.

It is in no one's interest - developer, local resident or local authority - to wait for the infrastructure that is necessary to support housing growth. Whether projects are approved or refused, the system should work faster, and have clearer accountability and opportunities for public consultation.

CSR07 Policy Review on Supporting Housing Growth

All new homes will need access to schools, to hospitals, to roads, to public transport, to water and waste water supply, to energy sources and to public space. Indeed, we need to think especially about the provision of environmental infrastructure. The recent floods should have reminded all of us that we need to consider flooding as an key issue, as we should the provision of water and waste water to new homes. The Environment Agency's recent report on 'Hidden Infrastructure' was very helpful in highlighting environmental infrastructure needs.

The provision of infrastructure is key if we are to succeed on our housing growth ambitions. That's why my Department - Communities and Local Government - has been playing a leading role in HM Treasury's Policy Review on Supporting Housing Growth.

As Government, we need to ensure that we're joined up across all of our Departments to deliver on housing growth and the infrastructure that communities need to support it. The Review has identified three key areas where departments will be expected to contribute over the next Comprehensive Spending Review period and beyond:

• The proposed future Public Service Agreement on housing growth (on which Communities and Local Government will lead);
• Agreed changes to departmental allocation mechanisms; and
• Investment in infrastructure to support housing growth

Comprehensive Spending Review and a new Housing and Planning Delivery Grant

As you are no doubt aware, the Comprehensive Spending Review is yet to be concluded, but I want to assure you now that you will see the Government is committed to the housing growth agenda, not just in rhetoric, but in funding also.

A shared endeavour

But it's not just about what Government can do. We can only set the framework and provide the funding streams. That's why I'm saying to you now, this must be a shared endeavour between all of us:

• with political leadership and delivery support shared between national, regional and local levels;
• with private, public and third sector delivery providers all playing full roles; and
• involving local communities. Indeed, it is imperative that local people are effectively involved in the debate about housing growth and associated infrastructure provision in their communities.

Everyone needs to take responsibility and account for the part they play in delivery.

Much of the drive for more and better homes will be driven by those at the local and sub-regional level - by the local planning authorities, local delivery vehicles, other public agencies and developers. Building on the devolutionary approach recently set out in the Local Government White Paper, local planning authorities will be central in their natural roles as place-shapers - building more and better homes in sustainable communities where people want to live and work.

The Government set out very clearly at Budget and in our Planning White Paper this year that one of the key ingredients of delivering on this will be better infrastructure delivery planning at the local and sub-regional level. And to make this happen, we need central government, local government, developers and others to be working together in a shared endeavour.

The Government believes there is merit in brining together such evidence and information into a single place to ensure that local communities are equipped to resolve the problems of housing locally. We need to work with all of you to build this toolkit (PP).

Public Sector Land and a New Homes Agency

As part of our proposed Housing Bill, we will seek to make more public sector land available for homebuilding.

We are proposing a new homes agency, which will play a key role in helping local government to realise its place-shaping role.  It will bring together English Partnerships, investment functions from the Housing Corporation and key delivery roles from Communities and Local Government. It will be an expert partner for local government, working jointly and imaginatively with local partners to develop a vision for an area and then make it happen. The new homes agency will ensure that scarce skills are better harnessed across the sector. It will pioneer innovative ways of working with markets and with key partners in the public, private and voluntary sector (PP).