A think-tank report said that, even with the release of new funding and land, the increase in housing supply needed would not be achieved without reform of the development industry. Reform was needed to diversify the industry, with an emphasis on bringing in new entrants and freeing up the supply of land.
Source: Matt Griffith, We Must Fix It: Delivering reform of the building sector to meet the UK's housing and economic challenges, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Dec
A report said that demand for new housing would outstrip supply by over half a million units by 2015: but the number of small housebuilders was at its lowest level since 1982, because of escalating costs and regulatory burdens. The average cost of building on 'micro' sites, which would be enough to meet all housing needs, was 70 per cent higher than estate housing.
Source: Tackling the Housing Crisis: A policy review and recommendations, Federation of Master Builders
Links: Report | FSB press release | Labour Party press release
Date: 2011-Nov
A think-tank report examined a range of options for financing an increase in house building. These included: institutional investment in residential property; an equity stake for local authorities in housing developments, in return for releasing public land; expanding the new Green Investment Bank into a fully fledged National Investment Bank, with the role of funding new housing; and reforming the development industry to increase competitive pressures and create incentives for development rather than mere land acquisition.
Source: Andy Hull, Graeme Cooke, and Tony Dolphin, Build Now or Pay Later? Funding new housing supply, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Oct
A report highlighted the impact of the shortage of new homes on individuals, wider society, and the economy. It identified four areas where action was needed to increase housing supply: building more places; enhancing the delivery of land; ensuring that an appropriate range of finance was available to support development; and maximizing the use of existing building stock.
Source: Diane Diacon, Ben Pattison, Jennifer Strutt, and Jim Vine, More Homes and Better Places: Solutions to address the scale of housing need, Building and Social Housing Foundation
Links: Report | BSHF press release
Date: 2011-Sep
A briefing paper examined the 'New Homes Bonus' scheme, aimed at encouraging local authorities to grant planning permission for the building of new houses, in return for additional revenue.
Source: Wendy Wilson, The New Homes Bonus Scheme, Standard Note SN/SP/5724, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2011-Sep
A report said that a new, sustainable housing investment model was needed by 2015 to ensure that a strong supply of affordable homes could continue to be viably developed. Housing associations would need to borrow at least £15 billion during the latest funding round in order to build 150,000 homes and to meet stock reinvestment and refinancing commitments.
Source: Simon Graham, 'Where next?' Housing after 2015: Creating a sustainable housing investment model, PricewaterhouseCoopers/London & Quadrant
Links: Report | PWC press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Sep
A briefing paper examined attempts by governments to use the planning system to stimulate housebuilding.
Source: Christopher Barclay, Housing Targets and Planning, Standard Note SN/SC/3741, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2011-Jul
The government announced plans to deliver up to 170,000 new affordable homes in England over the period 2011-2015.
Source: Written Ministerial Statement 14 July 2011, column 36WS, House of Commons Hansard, TSO
Links: Hansard | DCLG press release | HCA press release | CIH press release | NHF press release | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Jul
A report examined the effects of the proposed scrapping of regional spatial strategies and core strategies on the forecast supply of housing across England. It was estimated that a total of just over 31,000 houses each year would be lost – a cut of over 13 per cent in total relative to the original regional targets, and of over 30 per cent relative to actual completions.
Source: Housing the Nation: The impact of localism on housing supply, BNP Paribas Real Estate/Tristan Fitzgerald Associates
Links: Report | BNP Paribas press release | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Jun
The coalition government announced plans to release enough unused land held by government departments to build 100,000 new homes by 2015.
Source: Press release 8 June 2011, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: DCLG press release | Conservative Party press release | HCA press release | HBF press release | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2011-Jun
A paper examined the possibilities for using the existing housing stock in England more effectively to meet demand. It said that council tax subsidies for empty and second homes, which rewarded underuse of stock, should be abolished; and that local councils should be allowed to charge higher rates of tax for unused stock, and use the revenue raised to fund housing development.
Source: Taking Stock: Making the most from housing – An assessment of under utilisation of the housing stock in England, Shelter
Links: Paper
Date: 2011-Apr
A report examined how self-help housing could be supported more effectively, to maximize its contribution to tackling the problem of empty properties.
Source: Ben Pattison, Jennifer Strutt, and Jim Vine, Self-Help Housing: Supporting locally driven housing solutions, Building and Social Housing Foundation
Links: Report
Notes: Self-help housing involves groups of local people bringing back into use empty properties awaiting decisions about their future use or redevelopment.
Date: 2011-Apr
A report examined the responsiveness of housing supply to changes in prices, and the degree to which planning restrictions and other factors limited this responsiveness. Factors other than planning supply influenced the responsiveness of housing supply. Different planning targets were required for each local authority, to reflect local decision-making processes.
Source: Michael Ball, Jennifer Goody, Geoffrey Meen, and Andi Nygaard, Housing Supply Revisited: Evidence from international, national, regional, local and company data, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report
Date: 2011-Mar
A think-tank report examined how housing demand responded to three different economic scenarios. Even a faltering economic recovery would lead to demand for more than 200,000 additional homes each year. The 'best case' scenario for the economy would require more than 280,000 extra homes each year. But if housing supply continued at the rate of the previous 20 years – around 160,000 additions per year – the gap between the number of households and the number of available homes ranged from 255,000 to 1.2 million by 2025.
Source: Katie Schmuecker, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly: Housing demand 2025, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | IPPR press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Mar
A briefing paper examined local authorities' powers to tackle empty housing; discussed government action on this 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: 2011-Mar
The government published (following consultation) final details of its 'New Homes Bonus' scheme, designed to provide local authorities in England with improved incentives to deliver housing growth. Commencing in April 2011, the bonus would match-fund the additional council tax potential from increases in effective housing stock, with an additional amount for affordable homes, for the following 6 years.
Source: New Homes Bonus: Final Scheme Design, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | Hansard | DCLG press release | Consultation responses | CPRE press release | RICS press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Feb
The government announced that it would introduce safeguards restricting the use of 'empty dwelling management orders' (giving local authorities in England the power to take over the management of private homes that had been empty for 6 months). In future the use of such orders would be limited to properties that had become magnets for vandalism, squatters, and other forms of anti-social behaviour. Property would need to have stood empty for at least two years, and property owners would have to be given at least 3 months' notice.
Source: Press release 7 January 2011, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: DCLG press release | EHA press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2011-Jan
