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Taking to the steps of Downing Street for what could be one of his final times, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced last week that a General Election will be taking place on 4th July 2024.

Below are some reactions and theories about what this news means for the housing and development sector and what industry experts want to see from the next parliament. 

Andrew Carpenter, chief executive office, the Structural Timer Association (STA)

‘This is a pivotal opportunity to place sustainable housing at the top of the political agenda and we urge all political parties to seize this chance to revolutionise the way we build our homes. Housing is a crucial issue for voters across the country, but it’s essential that we underline the importance of sustainability and to continue the momentum that has been garnered by the Timber in Construction Policy Roadmap, published in December last year.

‘Setting out a clear path towards the increased use of timber in construction, the Roadmap has laid the foundation for transforming our housing landscape through the integration of timber frame housing. This method of construction offers a speedy, sustainable and clean approach to meeting the current and future demands of housing – as well as utilising offsite assembly, which effectively addresses the skill shortages that are endemic within our sector.

‘Increasing the use of timber in construction presents a promising solution for the incoming government to address the pressing housing crisis and tackle net zero obligations, and it’s vital that the progress we have already made is not lost.’

Lawrence Turner, Director, Boyer

‘The housing crisis is a pressing issue that has plagued the UK for far too long. With a new Government potentially taking office on 4 July, there is hope that real change can finally be brought about to tackle this crisis head-on.

‘However, with only 100 days to make a significant impact before the end of October, it is essential that the new government focuses on key priorities that will have a lasting and effective impact on addressing the housing crisis. Here, we outline the top ten points that we believe a new government should urgently address to bring about positive change in the housing sector.

1. First and foremost, re-introducing mandatory housing targets for local authorities is crucial. Local councillors should not bear the burden of determining housing need in their communities, especially when faced with opposition from a vocal minority opposed to housing. By setting clear and objective housing targets at the national level, local authorities can focus on delivering the necessary housing in their district, without being swayed by local political pressures.

1. In conjunction with mandatory housing targets, the reintroduction of regional planning is essential. Co-ordinating housing and infrastructure needs at the regional level will ensure a more sustainable and co-ordinated approach to development, leading to better outcomes for both residents and the environment.

1. A National Green Belt Review is also imperative in ensuring that the most sustainable patterns of development are reflected in Local Plans. By prioritising sustainability and assessing the most appropriate locations for residential development closer to jobs and transport hubs, we can help reduce the need to travel and meet local authorities’ net zero carbon targets.

1. The creation of New Towns is another key point that must not be overlooked. By reintroducing the concept of New Towns, we can effectively address the growing housing need while maintaining the integrity of Green Belts and preventing urban sprawl.

1. Reversing recent policy changes in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is crucial to increasing housing delivery in the short term. The current relaxation of housing land supply requirements is only exacerbating the housing crisis. It is essential to revert to the previous standards to ensure that enough homes are being built to meet local needs.

1. Increasing resourcing for Local Planning Authorities is also a priority. With understaffed and underfunded authorities, continued delays in planning applications and local plan preparation are inevitable. By providing financial support and investing in the necessary skills and expertise within local authorities, we can ensure that the planning system functions effectively.

1. Creating a new Governmental department focused on tackling the housing crisis, along with appointing a Minister for the Housing Crisis, will help drive the agenda forward and ensure that the issue remains a top priority. With a dedicated department, plans to build more homes in sustainable locations can be properly implemented.

1. Introducing mandatory Section 106 standard template agreements and increasing funding for legal professionals within local authorities will help streamline the planning process and reduce delays in granting permissions for developments. By avoiding reliance on temporary staff and ensuring swift agreement on necessary s106 terms, construction of new homes can begin sooner.

1. Leveraging AI technology to aid in processing planning applications and engaging with local communities on planning decisions is another innovative approach that can improve the efficiency and transparency of the planning system. By using digital communication channels and social media, local authorities can effectively communicate with residents and involve them in the decision-making and plan-making processes.

1. Finally, legislating to address the impacts of phosphates on residential developments is essential. By tackling this issue at the source through collaboration with Water Companies, we can remove unnecessary barriers that prevent much-needed housing developments from moving forward.’

Antony Duthie, regional director, Lanpro

‘As manifestos are published in the coming days, it is vital that all parties recognise the importance of the planning system as a key economic facilitator and economic driver which can significantly increase the country’s productivity in addition to resolving the housing crisis.

‘The next government needs to take bold steps to resolve the many challenges that currently stand in the way of delivering much needed housing and infrastructure. People will be looking beyond the rhetoric of political campaigning and instead for evidence that manifestos can bring about real change.’

John Leiper, chief information officer, Titan Asset Management

‘UK in the out-of/no recession category, and the day inflation falls to 2.3% we see the UK Tory party announce their decision to go to the polls. Coincidence? I don’t think so. With one more print between now and vote day, and increasing odds inflation falls further to the fabled 2% number, Rishi has done all he can to increase his odds at the upcoming election. To quote James Carville, “it’s the economy stupid”. We continue to watch developments closely alongside potential implications for the UK economy and markets.’

Oli Sherlock, managing director of insurance, Goodlord

‘With a General Election now set for 4th July, the Renters (Reform) Bill and its progression is now in major doubt. This will be deeply frustrating for the whole industry, which is desperate for clarity. Should the bill not be pushed through as part of the wash-up we will be back to square one. The best we can hope for is that the next government, whoever it’s led by, puts housing and the PRS at the heart of their agenda.’

Images: Rui Chamberlain, Andrew Carpenter, Antony Duthie and Lawrence Turner 

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New permitted development rights for unused farm buildings have come into effect, allowing them to be converted in homes and other commercial developments without the need for planning application.

At the end of last month, the government announced new legislation that will grant landowners the power to diversify buildings and deliver new housing without the need to acquire planning permission. Now, just under four weeks later, the changes have successfully come into effect.

The proposals form part of the government’s Long-term Plan for Housing, which was announced in July 2023. The desire to deliver more homes on farming land came after government figures exposed that just 5,000 homes have been created on such land since April 2014. What’s more, is this project will also produce a number of job opportunities.

Plans also outline that farms have the ability to expand the number and size of buildings on site, again, without the need for planning permission. The size limit for new farm buildings on sites over five hectares has increased by 500sqm to 1500sqm, and for farms under five hectares by 250sqm to 1250sqm. The volume allowance for extensions may also increase to 25% (from 20%) without the need for prior approval.

 Aidan Van de Weyer, senior planner at Lanpro in Cambridge, has welcomed the news as he believes these reforms will ‘bring greater flexibility to the use of rural buildings.’

‘By bringing in new residents and supporting local businesses, conversions of rural buildings – those which are currently not suitable for modern farming operations – will support the long-term vitality of countryside communities,’ Aidan said. ‘At Lanpro, we are already discussing with our clients how these changes will provide opportunities. One farming client, for example, has an unused barn building that has now been brought within the scope of permitted development and is keen for us to develop a proposal to capitalise on this change in the regulations.’

Echoing a similar tone, Rachel Hallos, vice president of the Nation Farmers’ Union, has said she ‘greatly supports’ the new proposals.

She said: ‘These changes are essential opportunities for farmers who wish to diversify their business, allowing them alternative streams of income and the ability to further support their local rural economy.’

Image: Scott Goodwill

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The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) have teamed up with the Digital Task Force for Planning to accelerate the use of technology within the planning sector.

Yesterday, 21st May 2024, marked the beginning of the annual UK’s Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) and at the event, Joanna Key, director general for regeneration, housing and planning at the DLUHC and Dr Wei Yang, chief executive of the Digital Task Force for Planning, signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU).

This will introduce new software to planning systems across the country ‘to give communities more say’ on applications, and ‘improve experiences of buying or selling properties’, the government said.

In addition, the government said the new technology will also help developers to identify suitable sites for new homes quickly and ‘unblock development stuck’ in the planning process.

A spokesperson for the DLUHC said: ‘This partnership paves the way for a new age of planning, speeding up decision making while giving communities more of a say on the housing and infrastructure in their area.

‘We are already using PropTech to accelerate the planning system, helping identify new sites for homes whilst protecting biodiversity.

‘This new technology is helping our long-term plan for housing to go even further to build the right homes in the right places.’

In a bid to encourage the community to have more of a say in the planning process, the DLUHC already funds councils to speed up the adoption of technology through the PropTech Innovation Fund. As it stands, local authorities in England have received £12m for more than 10 pilot schemes.

Dr Yang has expressed her enthusiasm to begin working with the DLUHC.

‘We are delighted to have signed the MoU with DLUHC, representing a significant step forward in our efforts to reinvigorate spatial planning as a positive force in addressing the multi-faceted challenges we face through a holistic approach,’ Dr Yang said. ‘This MoU will enable collaboration across our respective digital planning programmes and draw links to digital planning’s macro-economic and environmental impacts, as well as fostering future means of collaboration with local authorities and other organisations.’

Image: UKERiiF

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Our sister publication, Air Quality News, have announced that the 2024 National Air Quality Conference will take place on Wednesday 6th November and, for the first time, will be held at London’s Prospero House.

Prospero House is located near London Bridge, directly opposite Borough Station.

This year’s event will be the fifth national conference and, as ever, it will bring together some of the most important policymakers and academics who are working on solutions to the challenges created by air pollution and clean air provision.

The exhibition will also profile organisations who are offering solutions to the challenges faced in delivering improved air quality.

Super Early Bird tickets are now on sale but they are limited in number. Use the form on this page to make the most of these best-value tickets.

The first speakers have also been announced:

Simon Birkett, Clean Air in London

Simon Birkett is the Founder and Director of Clean Air in London. He has championed full compliance with the World Health Organisation’s most recent air quality guidelines since 2006 to protect public health and the climate.  Simon was the first and only air pollution stakeholder on UNEP’s High Level Inter-Governmental and Stakeholder Advisory Group for its Sixth Global Environment Outlook between 2015 and 2019.  This was the top steering group for the United Nations’ most comprehensive report on the global environment since 2012. 

Fiona Coull, Cross River Partnership

Prior to working at Cross River Partnership (CRP), Fiona worked as a consultant on several sustainable transport and Air Quality projects, including the Mayor’s School Air Quality Audit Programme, an initiative aimed at reducing emissions and exposure at 50 primary schools in some of London’s most polluted areas.

Fiona manages CRP’s Smarter Greener Logistics programme, a Defra-funded project that aims to minimise the impact of freight on noise, air quality, traffic and pavement space in London by making improvements across 14 London boroughs and two London Business Improvement Districts. The programme also involves increasing the viability of river freight.

Diana Varaden, Imperial College London

With a decade of experience in participatory research, Dr Varaden has led numerous citizen science projects, including the successful Breathe London wearables study, which actively engaged children in research, enabling the collection of a large and unique data set. It simultaneously increased children’s awareness of air pollution, fostering positive changes in their behaviours to reduce exposure.

Dr Varaden is currently deeply involved in the development and delivery of the engagement, involvement, and participatory strategy for the WellHome study, a community-based research project dedicated to investigating indoor air pollution. Her work underscores the importance of involving non-experts in research and promoting public engagement in health and environmental issues.

Nick Ruxton-Boyle, Director of Environment, Marston Holdings

Nick is a chartered transport planner and urban mobility expert with significant professional experience spanning strategic planning to concept design and has gained a wealth of experience in both the public and private sector throughout his career. Nick was head of transport at the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Technical Director at Project Centre and is currently now Director of Environment at Marston Holdings. He is chair of the editorial panel at the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. An urbanist, Nick is passionate about the role transport can play in the environment, the economy and society and is currently working on a wide range of air quality projects.

During his presentation Nick will be joined by a local authority partner to outline a detailed air quality joint project ..further details to be announced.

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If you have not attended once of the conferences before, you can find a report on last year’s National Conference here, while below is a short montage of the Northern Air Quality Conference held in Manchester in March.

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Nigel Wilcock, Executive Director of the IED, explains the government should finally grant councils the right to statutory powers. It could be the only hope form stopping more from issuing the dreaded Section 114. 

Since 2018, eight English local authorities have issued Section 114 notices which indicate that the council’s forecast income is insufficient to meet its forecast expenditure for the next year, as the sector’s coffers reach breaking point.

Nigel Wilcock

More worrying, but not surprising, is almost one in five council leaders and chief executives in England surveyed by the Local Government Association (LGA) last year think that it is very or fairly likely that their chief finance officer will need to issue such a notice this year or next due to a lack of funding to keep key services running.

The magnitude of this issue, most notably at Birmingham City Council, has made front-page news. In fact, four councils in the past 12 months have declared themselves in effect bankrupt, while more have signalled drastic spending cuts as they attempt to avoid potential insolvency.

Now, this is attracting political attention at the highest level, including through the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee report on Financial distress in local authorities, published in February. In this report, the cross-party committee said that Ministers must urgently inject £4 billion into English town hall budgets to head off an ‘out of control’ financial crisis that threatens to drag well-run councils into bankruptcy and put local services at risk.

For now, following the initial Local Government Financial Settlement, councils in England have been handed an extra £600 million in funding to tackle the worsening financial crises, with £500 million available for social care, alongside a further £100 million in other funding guarantees and grants. Taking into account this new funding, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove reported that the top-up in the financial package for English councils meant an overall increase in their budgets of up to £4.5bn next year.

Whilst the LGA has said that it will ‘continue to work with government to achieve a sustainable long-term funding settlement and updated distribution mechanisms, as well as legislative reform where needed, so that local government can play its full part in delivering inclusive prosperity and growth through investment to support people, places, and the planet’, we need to think bigger about our collective approach to council income-generation activity. This, in turn, links directly to the biggest issue facing this country.

Sustainable economic growth is urgently required to help deliver the funding for government to tackle significant areas of under-investment. With an aging population this will require significant improvements in productivity but at present the UK economy is flatlining and the high inflation of 2022 and 2023 has impacted on living standards and consumer expenditure. Serious questions are now being asked about current approaches to stimulating growth.

The nationally-led approach to stimulating growth has under-delivered for decades, and the National Audit Office found that since 1975 successive governments have introduced more than 55 separate policies targeting economic growth in England, with £18bn being spent between 2011 and 2020 alone. Put simply, this is not working, and it is time to enable effective action to drive economic growth that is locally led.

With the government transferring Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to local government, the pivotal economic role of councils for realising the country’s growth ambitions has been articulated. This is why the Institute of Economic Development (IED) has recently launched its Grow Local, Grow National manifesto for change calling for councils to be given statutory powers over economic development so they can help create high-quality jobs, attract investment into local areas, and turbocharge the UK plc.

Giving local authorities a legal duty over economic development would create a clear accountability structure, which in turn would make it simpler and more attractive to UK and international firms and financial institutions to invest in places. It would also enable the development of local strategic economic development plans that respond to the views of local businesses, as well as the wider community.

Enhanced local focus on tackling stagnant growth and inequalities, in particular through resources invested in regeneration and boosting residents’ skills, would be facilitated and council staff upskilled with the tools and knowledge to help drive real economic growth.

With the right level of resources, councils can stimulate growth across the country, addressing the social, regional and financial inequalities that exist between places, delivering the productivity our economy so desperately needs.

Economic development’s role in understanding the drivers of growth and the needs of communities is clear, but the detailed work required to create positive change requires local understanding.

Without recognition as a statutory function, the importance of economic development can be under-prioritised as difficult funding decisions are made, although in the medium term a solid economic development strategy can create the foundations on which local areas can improve financial performance. A strong economic development function can also ensure government priorities in areas such as levelling up are developed more effectively at the local level.

The IED believes that it is only through this approach that national policies can be consistently implemented at a local level – and that economic development can make a difference to residents of areas at the local level. Alongside this overarching call to action are a series of recommendations (read our full manifesto for the detailed asks) sitting within six supporting pillars which we deem critical for success.

These six pillars include:

1. Devolution

As increasing local devolution moves up the political agenda, it will be essential for local authorities to have in place the models to ensure that local evidence can be gained, effective policies developed and implementation delivered.

2.     Funding and Pipeline Stability

Underpinning all economic development and associated projects is a requirement for a more stable and long-term funding landscape.

3.     Net Zero

The IED fully supports the mission of the Blueprint Coalition’s Manifesto for Local Climate Action, a core part to this being recognition of the need for a place-based approach to tackle climate change and move towards net zero.

4.     Business Development, Trade and Inward Investment

Growing our businesses, attracting investment into our local areas and supporting exports is a fundamental part of any locality’s economic development remit, helping to increase pay, employment and productivity.

5.     Labour Market and Skills Activation

A statutory economic development function would be involved in assessing local skills, key sectors and provide skills intelligence for local skills providers, employers and the workforce. Skills development, workforce assessment and the development of clear pathways into work would be a key element of the economic strategy.

6.     Workforce and CPD

Legal duty for economic development remit would need to be underpinned by an experienced and stable workforce. Under-investment in economic development and funding settlements for local authorities has meant important economic development skills have been lost to the profession and there is a need to rebuild them.

It is no surprise that both the government and opposition parties have made growing the economy a key focus for the forthcoming general election.

With a stagnating economy, and as increasing local devolution moves up the political agenda, it is essential for local areas to have in place the economic development models to ensure local evidence can be gained, effective policies developed and implementation delivered.

This is the core role of any economic development function and it seems unthinkable that despite moves towards devolution, economic development is not one of those areas deemed as a statutory responsibility of each local authority.

Councils could deliver so much more if they were given statutory powers, with their unique understanding of local economies, to better ensure policies are adapted to local conditions and make the most of the strengths of local places.

Having discussed our manifesto with key decision-makers, and with more Westminster meetings held or scheduled, we welcome further engagement with all parties to improve decisions on economic and industrial strategy development, leveraging the unique experience the economic development profession has of delivery.

We call on all parties to recognise the critically important role that economic development practitioners have in delivering levelling up and place-based economic transformation.

Images: Hansjörg Keller, Nigel Wilcock and 

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