An audit report said that local authorities in England were taking more decisions on major housing schemes within 13 weeks: but the true extent of the improvement across the development process was not as clear as it could be.
Source: Planning for Homes: Speeding up planning applications for major housing developments in England, HC 15 (Session 2008-09), National Audit Office, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NAO press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | Telegraph report
Date: 2008-Dec
A report set out a series of measures designed to tackle the causes and symptoms of concentrated student neighbourhoods. The measures included new planning mechanisms.
Source: ECOTEC, Evidence Gathering: Housing in Multiple Occupation and Possible Planning Responses – Final report, Department for Communities and Local Government (0870 1226 236)
Links: Report | DCLG press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Inside Housing report | BBC report | Residential Landlord report
Date: 2008-Sep
An article examined the strategic-local tensions, sometimes manifest as development conflicts, within the planning system in England. It looked at three issues: why conflicts arose, focusing on the example of housing development, and how the reformed processes of local governance and planning responded to them; how a divergence in local government and planning reform might accentuate conflicts by creating two distinct, and sometimes contradictory, planning systems; and what actions might be taken to bridge these systems and ease local-strategic tensions.
Source: Nick Gallent, 'Strategic-local tensions and the spatial planning approach in England', Planning Theory & Practice, Volume 9 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Sep
A new book examined the evolution of typical urban landscapes from 1900 to the present day. It looked in detail at: the role of planning in the light of different interpretations of social change; quantity and quality in housing production; urban design in relation to housing and residential areas; and the management of neighbourhoods.
Source: Barry Goodchild, Homes, Cities and Neighbourhoods: Planning and the residential landscapes of modern Britain, Ashgate Publications (01235 827730)
Links: Summary
Date: 2008-Aug
An article examined the proposal in England for a new tax on land value increases due to planning permission, and its impact on affordable housing. Once the new tax was in place, affordable housing should be supported purely on the basis of need, and the link between the provision of affordable housing and planning obligations should be broken.
Source: Michael Oxley, 'Implicit land taxation and affordable housing provision in England', Housing Studies, Volume 23 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jul
A report compared the experiences of residents living in and around new developments in the Thames Gateway area with the plans of town developers. Residents were happy to escape overcrowded accommodation, but many were disappointed by the lack of support and services available.
Source: Penny Bernstock with Leila Baker, Neighbourhood Watch: Building new communities – Learning lessons from the Thames Gateway, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Jul
A series of articles examined the relationship between the planning system and housing supply.
Source: Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Volume 24 Number 1
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2008-Jun
An article used the example of public sector 'key worker' housing programmes to examine changes in the character of spatial policy in England. The new approach contained an explicit recognition that social policies could and should be re-oriented towards the wider objectives of accumulation and competitiveness, and this had broader implications for the organization and character of the welfare state.
Source: Mike Raco, 'Key worker housing, welfare reform and the new spatial policy in England', Regional Studies, Volume 42 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2008-Jun
The Planning Bill was given a third reading. The Bill was designed to streamline and improve the planning regime. It included provisions to introduce a single consents regime for major infrastructure projects, and to improve the town and country planning system. The Bill also included a new statutory planning charge to enable councils to capture greater levels of planning gain to support new infrastructure and housing.
Source: Planning Bill, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 25 June 2008, columns 360-464, TSO
Links: Text of Bill | Explanatory notes | Hansard | HOC research brief | RTPI press release | Liberal Democrats press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Jun
A paper said that tenants needed to be more heavily involved in the way that housing estates were planned and designed.
Source: Peter Shapely, Social Housing and Tenant Participation, Policy Paper 71, History and Policy (web publication only)
Links: Paper | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report said that plans to create 'eco-towns' were seriously flawed, and that the developments risked becoming 'eco-slums' of the future without more input from local councils. Many councils were dismayed at the way local democracy and planning processes were being by-passed in order to impose the schemes on the public.
Source: Eco-Towns: Back to the Future?, Local Government Association (020 7664 3000)
Links: Report | LGA press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2008-Jun
A report said that sustainable communities and environmental objectives would be better achieved by compact development where people, services, and amenities were all located close together.
Source: Family Housing: The power of concentration, Campaign to Protect Rural England (020 7981 2800)
Links: Report | CPRE press release
Date: 2008-May
A report called for a return to well-designed high-density living, in rural as well as urban areas. Proximity encouraged community interaction; made public transport, local services, and environmental initiatives more viable; and drove creativity – a key component of a successful economy.
Source: Rebecca Willis, The Proximity Principle: Why we are living too far apart, Campaign to Protect Rural England (020 7981 2800)
Links: Report | CPRE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-May
