Report calls for wide-reaching reforms to planning to avoid housing “permacrisis”
A more integrated, long-term approach to governance, funding, planning and delivery will enable the transformative change needed to tackle the housing "permacrisis," a new report has suggested.
The report from Radix Big Tent Housing Commission, chaired by Dame Kate Barker until her appointment to the New Towns Taskforce, sets out 15 recommendations to help deliver the 1,000 homes a day that will be needed over the course of the next parliament for the government to meet its 1.5 million housing target.
The recommendations include a call on the government to rebuild capacity and capability within the public sector, as well as reintroduce strategic planning and a plan-led approach to house building.
The report also recommended that the government facilitate the release of public sector land for housing.
In addition, it called for reform to the current system of developer contributions through Section 106 and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), "with a particular goal to deliver more affordable housing, instead of implementing the proposed Infrastructure Levy".
Another recommendation suggested the creation of a new team inside the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to provide a "more coordinated approach to strategic planning within the department (i.e. across teams working on planning policy and delivery; devolution and city growth; housing policy)".
The report also tackled the green belt and recommended that the government commission an independent review of the Metropolitan Green Belt to identify strategic opportunities for growth, including new or expanded towns.
The commission behind the report is made up of property professionals, developers, investors, planners, voluntary sector practitioners, academics and policy experts, as well as representatives of Shoosmiths and Radix Big Tent.
In addition, the group consulted widely across the sector and took evidence from dozens of organisations and individuals.
The chair of the commission and the report's main author, Alex Notay, took over from Dame Kate Barker in August.
Notay said: "The golden thread of our recommendations is to urge the government to ensure that any policy change is assessed against every aspect of the housing ecosystem.
"Unblocking the various viability issues addressed in our report - alongside the strategic planning proposals we make - would be transformative. It is possible to do this if these bold recommendations are acted on holistically and proactively."
Adam Carey
