A briefing paper examined government attempts to use the planning system to stimulate housebuilding between 1993 and 2010.
Source: Christopher Barclay, Housing Targets and Planning, Standard Note SN/SC/3741, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Dec
A study examined the impact of the economic recession and the change of government on the funding of social housing, and set out how affordable social housing could be delivered in the future. There needed to be a more co-ordinated assessment of how new affordable housing might be delivered, particularly under conditions of financial constraint.
Source: David Hall and Kenneth Gibb, Increasing Supply Within the Social Rented Sector, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Dec
A briefing paper examined local authorities' powers to tackle empty housing in England; discussed government action around the issue; and set out the further measures that campaigning organizations were requesting.
Source: Wendy Wilson, Empty Housing, Standard Note SN/SP/3012, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Nov
The government began consultation on proposals for a 'new homes bonus', designed to provide incentives to local authorities to increase their housing supply.
Source: New Homes Bonus: Consultation, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Consultation document | DCLG press release | HOC brief | CIH press release | CPRE press release | RIBA press release
Date: 2010-Nov
The High Court ruled that the government's decision to scrap regional housing targets in England was unlawful, on the grounds that it had misused its discretionary powers.
Source: R (Cala Homes (South) Ltd) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, High Court 10 November 2010
Links: Report of judgement | Hansard | NHF press release | POS press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report examined the underlying causes of the housing 'affordability crisis' in England. There was causal evidence that regulatory constraints had had a serious negative long-run impact on housing affordability, and had increased house price volatility. It proposed the alternative solution of providing greater incentives to local planning authorities to promote residential development.
Source: Christian Hilber and Wouter Vermeulen, The Impacts of Restricting Housing Supply on House Prices and Affordability: Final report, Department for Communities and Local Government
Date: 2010-Nov
A think-tank report examined how practical measures to change planning laws, reform capital gains tax, and change the way that social housing was financed could help solve the housing crisis – while still reducing the public subsidy. It would be possible to build 1 million new affordable homes over the following five years and still cut government spending if measures were taken to reduce the cost of building land and the interest rates paid by social landlords.
Source: Charles Seaford, One Million Homes: How to build a million affordable new homes in the next five years and still cut the public subsidy, New Economics Foundation
Links: Report | NEF press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report called on the Scottish Government to protect housing investment as much as possible, because it played a critical role in strengthening economic recovery, improving health outcomes, raising educational achievement, reducing crime and anti-social behaviour, and helping older people live at home for longer.
Source: David Bookbinder, A Fair Share for Housing: The value of housing investment, Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Nov
A report examined potential methods for improving housing delivery. It outlined four categories of possible interventions: encouraging institutional investment; creating innovative finance mechanisms, delivery structures, and investment vehicles; and maintaining the momentum of existing activities.
Source: Gareth Evans, Joe Huxley and Alexandra Notay, Exploring the Future of Housing Investment in the United Kingdom, Urban Land Institute/Homes and Communities Agency
Links: Report | HCA press release
Date: 2010-Sep
A think-tank report called for a big increase in the number of new homes being built for sale or rent in areas of high demand, and new ways for social housing tenants to get on to the first rung of the housing ladder. Local people would get a veto on how much, if any, development was allowed near them through ballots of those directly affected: cash incentives would be available help persuade them to vote yes.
Source: Alex Morton, Making Housing Affordable: A new vision for housing policy, Policy Exchange
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2010-Aug
The new coalition government announced plans for a 'New Homes Bonus' under which local communities in England that built more homes would be rewarded by getting more funding to use on things they considered to be a priority – such as council tax discounts.
Source: Press release 9 August 2010, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: DCLG press release | EHA press release | NLGN press release
Date: 2010-Aug
An annual survey (for an official advisory body) found that more than three-quarters of people in England would support more homes being built in their area, provided that local services such as family doctor surgeries and schools did not suffer.
Source: Public Attitudes to Housing 2010, National Housing and Planning Advice Unit
Links: Report | DCLG press release
Date: 2010-Jun
A report said that reusing small empty sites of up to two hectares could more than meet housing demand without building on greenfield land. This needed to be coupled with upgrading existing buildings, reclaiming and remodelling empty buildings, and converting and upgrading homes to make existing neighbourhoods attractive.
Source: Anne Power and Laura Lane, Housing Futures: Our Homes and Communities, CASEreport 63, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion/London School of Economics
Links: Report | LSE press release
Date: 2010-Jun
An audit report reviewed the data systems used to support delivery of the Labour government's public service agreement 20 – to 'increase long term housing supply and affordability' – over the period from 2008.
Source: Review of the Data Systems for Public Service Agreement 20, National Audit Office
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Jun
A survey examined what impact the lack of affordable housing was having on people at different stages of their lives, and how this was affecting their relationships, finances, and future aspirations. 21 per cent of those aged 18-44 without children (2.8 million) admitted that they were delaying starting a family because of a lack of affordable housing.
Source: Belinda Turffrey, The Human Cost: How the lack of affordable housing impacts on all aspects of life, Shelter
Links: Report
Date: 2010-May
A briefing paper examined local authorities' powers to tackle empty housing; discussed government action in relation to the issue; and set out the further measures that campaigning organizations were requesting.
Source: Wendy Wilson, Empty Housing, Standard Note SN/SP/3012, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2010-Apr
A report examined key challenges to recovery in house building. It highlighted the need for action focusing on increasing the supply of land viable for private house building (including self-build), further streamlining of planning processes, improved formulation and implementation of regulations affecting the sector, access to finance, and improving utility servicing of housing sites.
Source: Michael Ball, The Housebuilding Industry: Promoting recovery in housing supply, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2010-Apr
A report (by an official advisory body) examined the viability and affordability of new housing. It developed a model to understand how the price of a house was influenced by the mix of housing and the density of housing in the surrounding area: this was used to estimate the viability of a range of housing projects with different mixes and densities in selected local authority case study areas. The study also examined how the mix and density of the homes built on a site affected how affordable they were.
Source: Glen Bramley et al., The Implications of Housing Type/Size Mix and Density for the Affordability and Viability of New Housing Supply, National Housing and Planning Advice Unit
Date: 2010-Mar
An article examined the 'housing trajectory' (designed to help policy-makers make better decisions about housing delivery) within the framework of evidence-based policy. Government guidance on trajectories was deficient, and there were shortcomings in the relationship between planning policy processes and housing delivery. There was little involvement of stakeholders. This gave rise to concerns about the reliability and accuracy of housing delivery forecasts. Nonetheless the housing trajectory was useful in helping local authorities manage housing delivery.
Source: Stephen Barton and Trudy Harpham, 'Evidence-based policy in planning: an analysis of housing trajectories in England', Local Economy, Volume 25 Number 1
Links: Abstract
Date: 2010-Feb
