Gloucestershire responds to plans to massively increase housebuilding
We asked those who will have to deliver the dramatic increase in housebuilding in Gloucestershire, if Government plans go ahead, what they thought - and what impact they think the proposals will have.
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We’ll take that over clickbait any day.
As for today’s story, more of a reaction piece to the Government’s plans to boost housebuilding. You don’t have to be a master at reading between the lines below to conclude this is very welcome, long overdue for a nation starved of clear policy direction for so long. But also a nation not prepared to take anything at face value either.
As one said, the devil will be in the detail. Some of that will be down to how well our local authorities respond. They, afterall, are the planning authorities. And you’ll sense too, when you read the article, that they are the least gushing of all our contributors.
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Gloucestershire responds to plans to massively increase housebuilding
We asked those who’ll have to deliver the dramatic increase in housebuilding in Gloucestershire, if Government plans go ahead, what they thought - and what impact they think the proposals will have.
When we asked those with a vested interest in housebuilding in Gloucestershire what they thought of the Government proposals announced this week to speed up planning and deliver more houses the response was unanimous.
A straw poll of experts from the construction sector – from planners, architects, housebuilders, housing associations – was in agreement, the plans as spelt out by deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, were positive and welcome.
Although only proposals at this stage, they include increasing housebuilding targets by 50 per cent, which could raise the number of homes built annually UK-wide by 100,000, reassessing green belt boundaries, and streamlining planning.
All of which it wants in place by the end of 2024.
There was a more conservative response from some of Gloucestershire’s local authorities, those whose planning departments will be charged with implementing many of those changes.
Perhaps the most telling reaction Raikes received came from charities that are vital in dealing with the impact of us not delivering enough homes; the charities that support our homeless.
Figures released by The Homeless Monitor: England 2023 said some 290,000 eligible households sought help from local authorities on grounds of homelessness in 2021/22, those judged at risk of homelessness within 56 days increased by 10 per cent over the year and 88 per cent of councils reported an increase in requests for support from those evicted from the private rented sector with 93 per cent anticipating a further increase over the coming year.
Gloucester City Homes (GCH), an independent registered housing association, owns and manages 4,552 rented homes, 323 leasehold homes, 126 shared ownership homes and 104 homeless units supporting an estimated 12,500 customers.
Guy Stenson (pictured above, left), chief executive of GCH, said “In our new five-year strategy we have committed to building at least 390 new, high-quality, affordable homes in the heart of the communities we serve.
“A significant amount of the programme is subject to successful planning outcomes and so it is good to see some practical changes to planning policy that will support that delivery.
“In addition, the commitment to rent stability and grant funding for housing associations should mean we are better placed to access borrowing so that we can invest in both new and existing homes.
“We have allocated £19 million to make improvements to our existing properties to ensure all our homes have an energy-efficiency rating of at least EPC C by 2030 (energy performance certificate).
“These changes promise greater certainty to housing associations like us and enable us to make longer-term plans and commitments.”
Many of Rayner’s proposals cover off almost to the letter discussions that took place in Cheltenham at a meeting of the Gloucestershire Property Forum on the eve of the general election, at which homeless charity Shelter was present.
Alasdair Garbutt (pictured above), head of the real estate team and a partner at Cheltenham-headquartered solicitors Willans, which sponsored that forum gathering, said: “The Government’s announcement is a step towards ending the housing emergency, as recently discussed at the Gloucestershire Property Forum.
“The plan will be particularly welcomed by our long-standing client, Shelter, in its campaign to end homelessness and build more social housing.”
Polly Neate, CBE, chief executive of Shelter, which supports and campaigns on behalf of homeless people, said: “Every year we lose more social rent homes through sales and demolitions than we build, so the Government’s commitment to reversing this could effectively mean doubling the supply of social homes in a year.
“The decision to set a clear expectation and target on social rent homes at a local level lays the foundation for councils and developers to deliver the housing communities so desperately need.
“We now need to ensure developers are delivering their fair share of genuinely affordable social homes, and not dodging their commitments.
“The Government’s ambition must keep growing until it hits the 90,000 social homes a year that are necessary to end homelessness and relieve the extreme pressure on private renting.
“Building 90,000 social homes would pay for themselves in just three years and return an impressive £37.8 billion back to the economy, including through jobs, savings to the NHS and the benefits bill.”
For those who will face the challenge of turning those proposals into a reality the wins are potentially enormous – the headline among them also being job creation and investment and a demand on their skills like they have not seen in recent times.
Simon Firkins (pictured above, second from the right), of Cheltenham-based planning experts SF Planning, was also at the property forum gathering mentioned above.
Reacting to the latest news he said: “I am encouraged to see, in the very early stages of Government, such clear and strong announcements that they will make this happen and make housing targets clear. The devil will be in the detail, of course.
“I guess what interests me in particular is to see how this will transfer to decisions taken at a local level.
“We have a Labour Government with a strong majority, but not everyone voted for them, and we have a Liberal Democrat-run local authority in Cheltenham, for example. Will they be willing to make those tough decisions locally in the face of what will likely continue to be significant objections to contentious proposals, especially in the Green (of ‘Grey’) belt for example?
“It is how the strong announcements at the national level translate on the ground that will be the deciding factor.
“On the private sector side of the fence there are enough decent planners to get the work done. But in my experience there is unfortunately a severe shortage of resources in local authority planning departments to deal with the applications in a timely way.
“There are simply not enough planning officers or with sufficient experience to deal with the high number and scale of the applications that will come about.
“The Government has talked about helping provide 300 new local authority planners, but that is just touching the surface really. That is roughly one for every local authority, and many more than that are needed now regardless of any increase in applications.
“Despite what may be an increase in applications, far from all will be approved. So it will also be interesting to see how the Planning Inspectorate respond to the directions from central Government in the appeal decisions it makes.
“If anything, they will still be turning down some applications but will be receiving so many that they will be getting more through the system.
“I think the recent announcements will create a positive feeling in the sector, especially if the draft changes to the NPPF (National Planning Policy Framework) come through as anticipated.
“Many clients have been sitting on applications for the last few years recently, waiting to see what happens, and they will now want to get them submitted and into the system.
“Currently it is still an excessively time-consuming and costly process, and for me overly technical in places with the planning system being required to deal within things that are covered by other legislation.
“I do, though, think it will get a boost. But there is a difference between submission and approval and then getting the houses built.
“There are wider questions around the labour force and supply chains, and if the economic conditions are right – if mortgages are right for people to feel they can afford to buy the homes, for example; and if large developers will continue to build homes if they have not sold the necessary amount of those already constructed.”
In an ideal world, he said, smaller and medium sized firms who used to build an estimated 40 per cent of new homes, and are now responsible for just 10 per cent, would hopefully be encouraged by a less costly journey through planning; which could in turn help deliver a more diverse housing stock and deliver them more swiftly.
We received a joint response from Cheltenham Borough Council, Tewkesbury Borough Council and Gloucester City Councils. Cheltenham Borough Homes, the housing association serving the town and its borough, is also now part of the local authority too.
“We continue to work with partners on a new plan for the Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury area, called the Strategic and Local Plan (SLP).
“It will aim to deliver homes and jobs that meet the needs of our communities and businesses, while protecting our important natural and historic environment, as well as meeting the challenges of climate change.
“We will be looking at what the Government is proposing, both as individual councils as well as a partnership, to ensure we take a well-considered approach to meeting local needs,” said the statement.
Nicola Bird (pictured above), chief operating officer of Forest of Dean-headquartered construction firm KW Bell Group, said: “As a developer it all sounds like very welcome news that planning reforms will happen. As a nation we desperately need to build more and for there to be enough housing. It will also help drive prices down.”
Bird is also one of the key architects of AccXel the Cinderford-based construction school now serving a host of construction businesses and helping bring through the next generation of talent.
It is this factor – whether there is capacity in the sector to deliver the new homes – that is a point of focus and the footnote to any conversation on the news currently.
All of which puts AccXel in a strong position, along with Gloucestershire College and its decision to build a new construction school at its Cheltenham Campus - due to open this September.
“I think as a career choice, we should be telling young people at school that construction will also be a strong sector to go into. There will always be jobs there. It is not going away,” said Bird.
“As for AccXel, we are going really strongly. We will have 130 apprentices here in September and are increasing our numbers significantly every year.”
With some of those boundaries around planning removed she said it would be up to the sector to step up – by thinking more strategically and long term, buying land and putting it through planning and developing it quicker, and by investing in the workforce.
“The sector had moaned about planning for long enough. If this all goes through, it will be up to it to deliver and take responsibility,” she said.
Tom Sheppard, design director at Barnwood-based Newland Homes, also welcomed the proposed changes to the NPPF.
“It’s been clear for many years that we’ve not been building enough homes nationally,” said Sheppard.
“Negative changes to the NPPF made by Michael Gove towards the end of last year disrupted supply and introduced massive uncertainty to us and landowners, which also negatively impacted the housing market. These proposals announced by the new Labour government reverse those changes.
“For Newland Homes, a leading regional SME, certainty in planning is absolutely vital. We were buoyed to see Angela Rayner highlight the important role that brownfield development can play, which reflects our approach at Daniels Industrial Estate Stroud, London Road, Tetbury, and Walkmills Lane, Kingswood.
“However, the planning process needs to be improved as each of these brownfield sites spent years in planning before being delivered.
“Our approach is to bring forward sites in a climate considerate and sustainable manner, delivered to the very highest energy performance and design.
“Seeing the Government acknowledge the areas for which we are best known is, in our opinion, a move in the right direction and we look forward to continuing to work with the local authorities in our operating area to bring forward homes that meet the needs of the local community and national strategy.”