Emerging policies, Localism, the Community Right to Build and incentives for landowners Helen Kelly – Department for Communities and Local Government July.

Emerging policies, Localism, the Community Right to Build and incentives for landowners

Helen Kelly – Department for Communities and Local Government

July 2011

Context: Coalition Priorities

• Reducing the deficit

• Changing the way Government works

• - Localism

• - Decentralisation

• - The Big Society

• Creating the conditions for growth

• Reforming public services

• - delivering ‘better for less’

• Transparency

- accountability and scrutiny

For housing, this means change and reform …….

Increasing total housing supply

• Powerful suite of new incentives

• - New Homes Bonus

• - Community Infrastructure Levy

• - Local Government Resource Review

• Land supply

• - National Planning Policy Framework

• - Presumption in favour

• - Public sector land release

• - Community Right to Reclaim Land

- Community Right to Build

- Use class change

• Reducing regulatory costs and barriers

• - Commitment to reduce overall burden

• - Viability assessments

- No national brownfield or density targets

- Infrastructure and economic growth

• - LEPs

• - Duty to co-operate

• - CIL / TIF

• - HCA enabling role

Commitment to mixed, sustainable communities

But this is not a one size fits all

• Local decisions must reflect local priorities and practicalities

• reflect projected levels of need and demand

• Focus on plan based approach underpinned by strong presumption in favour of sustainable development

Facilitating affordable housing

Capital investment

• £4.5bn to help deliver 150k homes in period 2011 - 2015

Product variation

• Affordable Rent can leverage in more private investment aided by higher rent and further reduce capital grant through cross subsidy

New Homes Bonus gives an extra £350 pa for each new affordable home

Freedoms and flexibilities for landlords and tenants in the new policy framework for affordable housing

Support for First Time Buyers- FirstBuy- Affordable Home Ownership

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The Government’s vision Freedom, Fairness and Responsibility

The main measures of the Localism Bill:

• New freedoms and flexibilities for local government

• New rights and powers for communities and individuals

• Reform to make the planning system more democratic and more effective

• Reform to ensure that decisions about housing are taken locally

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Local Government

Planning

Community Empowerment

Made up of a number of interlinked policy themes with at least 40 policy areas

The Localism Bill

Housing

London

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Planning Reform Agenda: Localism Bill

• Abolition of Regional Strategies

• Duty to co-operate

• Community Infrastructure Levy

• Pre-application discussions

• Enforcement

• Nationally Significant Infrastructure

• Local Development Framework

• Neighbourhood Plans

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• Give neighbourhoods far more ability to determine the shape of the places in which people live through ‘neighbourhood plans’

• Empower communities to take control

• Neighbourhood not LPA led.

• Light-touch process

• Inspire innovation and creativity

• Exploring ways of enabling small scale community development

• Permissive regime

Planning at neighbourhood level

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Highlights of Neighbourhood Planning System

•Applicants

Parish Councils Neighbourhood

ForumsCRtB

•Neighbourhood Planning Tools

Neighbourhood Plans

NDOs CRtB Order

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Neighbourhood Planning System

•Parish/Town Council boundaries

•Electoral wards

•Community-initiated process

•LPA has a key role in designating ‘neighbourhood areas’

•Defining Neighbourhoods

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Neighbourhood Planning System

•Regard to national policy (e.g. NPPF) and guidance

•Regard to rest of development plan but..

•General conformity with ‘strategic policies and proposals’ in local plan

•Consistency with adopted neighbourhood plans

•Compatible with EU and ECHR obligations

•Working within Limits

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Restore the idea that development can be a force for good, rather than something to

be resisted at all costs

Turning Opponents into Proponents of Growth

Capturing Benefits and Incentives

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Community Right to Build

• The Bill integrates the Community Right to Build into the Neighbourhood Planning framework.

• Neighbourhood Planning is at the forefront of delivering the Government’s Big Society agenda. The Right to Build is consistent with the approach for Neighbourhood Development Orders.

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Community Right to Build

• The Community Right to Build will give community organisations the power to deliver the development that they want where it meets minimum criteria and secures the agreement of local people through a community referendum.

• It will be for communities themselves to determine the type of development they want to see including the type and tenure of any housing including affordable housing.

• Communities in both rural and urban areas will be able to use the Right to Build. We recognise that there is a pressing need for affordable housing in rural areas too so this new power will be of particular benefit to rural communities.

•All communities will be able to use Community Right to Build

•‘Neighbourhood area’ will be defined for neighbourhood planning purposes. •Parished areas - can be all or part of a parish

•Non-parished areas – the area that communities have proposed and agreed with the Local Planning Authority.

•Where no area has been defined a community organisation can propose an area through the local planning authority making a community Right to Build application

Which communities can use Community Right to Build?

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Community Right to Build

• Community organisations will need to establish themselves as a corporate body to take forward proposals for small scale development under the Right to Build.

• The benefits of the developments must be retained for the community.

• Development proposals must:

(a) meet the minimum criteria which will be set out in regulations;

(b) be subject to independent examination;

(c) gain majority support in the local referendum before a Community Right to Build Order can be approved by the local planning authority;

Sources of advice and support

• Local Planning Authority - duty to assist

• A proposed Community Right to Build support and advisory hub

• Existing sources of advice and support

Consultation and publicity

• Consultation with a limited range of statutory bodies and the opportunity for wider community involvement in the process – to hopbe prescribed in regulations

• Minimum publicity requirements – to be prescribed in regulations

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Prime Minister’s views on rural housing

“It is vital to build newhousing in rural areasto help sustain localservices such asshops and PostOffices.”

Prime Minister at the launch ofaffordable rural housing schemeat Blackditch, Stanton Harcourton 17 June 2011

Incentivising landowners

• Matthew Taylor’s report “Living, Working Countryside” included recommendations on how to incentivise landowners.

• Kent Housing Group recently published a protocol on Rural Homes – they suggested offering landowners nomination rights

• Cornwall in its draft Affordable Housing Development Plan Document proposed using departure site policies – where market housing could be used to cross-subsidise the affordable housing.

• Landowners can negotiate with housing associations to retain the interest in the land but providing a long lease.

Rolvenden

Want to get in touch

• My Contact details are:

Helen.Kelly@communities.gsi.gov.uk