Regional house-building targets have been scrapped

The Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has scrapped Regional Strategies and their centrally-imposed building targets – fulfilling a commitment which the Government made in its Coalition Agreement on 20 May 2010.

Back in May, the Government promised to bring in new legislation that would scrap ‘top-down’ house-building targets and give local authorities the freedom to make their own decisions on what is built in their communities. Mr Pickles then followed this up by writing to local authorities, asking them to act as though the Regional Strategies had already been scrapped (even though they officially hadn’t.) The result was that many local authorities decided to hold off making decisions on some development proposals until the Government clarified its position, leaving many developers in limbo. 

However, the Government has now made a statement to Parliament to end the imposition of the Regional Strategies with immediate effect: an order revoking the Strategies was laid before Parliament on 6 July, and instead of centrally imposed house-building quotas, local authorities will be offered “powerful new (financial) incentives” to encourage support for the construction of new homes in their locality. The Chancellor has suggested that the “financial incentives” could be passed onto local residents via council tax or business rates.

This move is another step by the Government to transfer centrally-held powers to local communities. In this instance, the Government believes that the changes will increase house-building, help local councils protect green belt land, and allow local communities to decide what should be built in their areas. Towns that were planning to make green belt land cuts because of centrally-imposed targets will now be able to make their own decisions where new development is built. They include Guildford, Harlow, Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead, Stevenage and Welwyn.

Some MPs and the British Property Federation (BPF) have warned that the change raises a number of serious questions for local authorities, and that further clarification is needed to ensure a smooth transition. No doubt developers will agree.