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Press Release
Prescott urges rethink on housing
Deputy
Prime Minister John Prescott has called for a dramatic change in the
rate of home building to meet demand and rein in house price inflation.
Mr Prescott, who has overall control of housing policy, suggested that
planning regulations may have to be revised.
He said that rural groups always opposed plans to build on greenfield
sites even when they were the most suitable places, such as when near
road or railway links.
"What are they suggesting? That I say to people in the South East they
catch the train to Hull where they are knocking down houses? They must
face up to reality," he said.
The construction programme could involve building as many as 260,000 homes per year for a decade. |
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Prescott to outline housing plan
The demand for new housing continues to grow, and that has forced the government to take action and address the issue.
But that sometimes means building on greenfield sites.
In March 2004, a report by the treasury estimated that well over
100,000 new properties would have to be built each year just to match
demand. |
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England planning overhaul urged
England
needs a new national planning body to have the final say on major
infrastructure projects such as power stations, a report has said.
The Barker Review also calls on local authorities to allow more
building in green belt boundaries in their areas. The study also says
that England's planning system must be
made both quicker and simpler, and the appeals process needs speeding up.
Yet critics of the current planning system, especially companies, have
long said the creation of a new national planning body is vital. They
argue that, at present, some local
councilors are ducking difficult planning decisions in the face of
political pressures, such as strong local opposition to a new housing
scheme.
The report's key author, economist Kate Barker, points out that
contrary to public perception just under 13.5% of England is actually
developed, while the green belt
surrounding cities covers almost 13% of the country. "Regional and
local planning bodies should review their green belt boundaries to
ensure they remain relevant and
appropriate."
The Barker Report further calls for the planning system to resume
presumption in favour, meaning that an application should be approved
unless there is strong reasons against it.
Manufacturers' organisation EEF welcomed the Barker Review;"This report lays down the
gauntlet for a major overhaul of a planning system so that it meet the
needs of a modern economy and supports economic growth," said EEF
director general Martin Temple.
"Government should move to implement its recommendations as a matter of urgency."
The CBI also backed the report, saying business had been "badly
hampered by the slowness and uncertainty of the current process".
Kate Barker is a member of the Bank of England's interest rate-setting Monetary Policy
Committee. The report was commissioned by the Treasury. |
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Call for green belt rules to be scrapped
Hilary Osborne and agencies
Wednesday January 24, 2007
The designated green belt land that has protected fields and open space
around towns and cities for decades should be abolished, a think-tank
said today.
A report for the Policy Exchange said scrapping the 70-year-old rules
would provide space to develop greener towns that were "safer, cleaner,
more comfortable and ... more environmentally friendly".
Around 13% of land in England is currently designated as green belt.
The report's authors, Alan Evans and Dr Oliver Marc Hartwich, said this
artificial reduction in the amount of land available for development
had severe consequences for society, the environment and the economy.
Writing in today's Guardian, Dr Hartwich said the green belt rules were "an unnecessary
condition".
"Far from being an urbanised country, only 10% of the UK's land mass is
developed - far less than in countries of similar population density,"
he wrote.
Today's report follows three previous publications in which the same
authors argued that most of the problems with the housing market -
including low supply, high prices, overcrowding - could be attributed
to the planning system.
Its recommendations about green belt land echo those made by the
economist Kate Barker last year when the Treasury asked her to look at
ways of tackling the shortage in housing supply and promoting economic
growth.
She argued that developing currently protected land around cities would
be less environmentally damaging than building elsewhere because people
would have less distance to travel to work.
A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said the
government was considering its response to the Barker review and would publish it
later this year. |
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