THERE is ongoing pressure for housing in Northamptonshire to meet the demands of a growing population. Howes Percival’s latest ’round table’ discussion brought together experts from house developers to planning specialists to share their thoughts on the way forward.
“….if we’re going to fix the broken market and build the homes the people of this country need and deserve, we must start with an honest, open, objective assessment of what is needed and where.
“If we’re going to get the right number of homes built in the right places we need an honest, open, consistent approach to assessing local housing need.”
Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP in statement to House of Commons, September 2017.
A review of the Government’s housing strategy is expected to set a target of 300,000 homes to be built across the United Kingdom, throwing down fresh challenges for the housing sector.
Northamptonshire’s prime location brings additional opportunities to tap into the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Corridor which is becoming the ‘Silicon Valley’ of the United Kingdom.
The National Infrastructure Commission identified that up to 1 million homes will need to be built in the corridor by 2050 to maximise the area’s economic potential but, while developers are keen to have a slice of the action, the current system does not make life easy for housing developers. It is an issue that the participants face on a regular basis.
Planning specialist Chris May, Partner at Howes Percival, who chaired the session said: “There has to be a balance. It is necessary for relevant Northamptonshire Local Planning Authorities to engage with the Government if they want to share in the economic benefits of the corridor but will the local communities welcome this?”
It is a question facing developers like Colin Clayson, Managing Director. Clayson Country Homes who, like others, believes the planning process is in in need of urgent review.
“There is so much red tape that it so hard to get the goahead and get on with building house. The Government is aware that this is a problem but has done nothing about it.”
His views were shared by another developer Ian Sadler, Managing Director at Mulberry Homes, who said the planning process could run a lot smoother. The current process means the outline approval can be given to develop a site, but it can then take months to get final details approved.
“It takes much longer to build a house than it has ever done. What can we all do better? There has got to be something we do to build quicker and more efficiently,” said Ian.
Often one of the biggest challenges is to find suitable land with owners often surprised at the money on offer and even when a deal has been made the planning process can drag on for months or even years.
Planning approval brings with it a list of infrastructure demands for developers including installing roads and utility services. These costs need to be taken in to account before a developer makes an offer.
“The Government has made it clear there is a need for additional new homes but there is still a need for it to clarify its own commitment to invest in those developments,” said Mark Davies, Partner at Howes Percival, specialising in property development.
The current position of Northamptonshire County Council and the intention to create unitary authorities from the existing Northamptonshire authorities means that there could become a point in the near future where key decisions are delayed whilst the revised local government arrangements take effect or worse still that the region fails to benefit from the plans for economic growth.
Mark said: “There is ongoing consultation about meeting the needs for housing in the Oxford/Cambridge ARC. Other authorities are feeding these opportunities into their plans.”
In the meantime, some of the county’s current borough and district councils have been told to work harder at meeting housing quotas. David Bainbridge, Partner at Bidwells, who specialises in planning, said: “We are always reminding planning departments that the Government’s numbers are minimum requirements each year rather than a target.”
Alexandra Kirkwood, commercial property Associate at Howes Percival, noted: “Some Councils are getting it right and exceeding their housing quotas. What are they doing differently? Surely comfort can be taken from the fact that, with good governance, results are achievable”.
Whenever the goahead is given the majority of these schemes need to include a percentage of affordable homes which can lead to additional pressure on developer’s costs
Colin said: “The housing industry is being propped up by the Help to Buy scheme. Forty per cent of all new builds across the UK are sold through the scheme but five years later the owners can buy the homes at a 50 per cent discount. It doesn’t make sense.”
He added: “The demand for affordable homes doesn’t go away. We are trying to fill a bucket that has holes in the bottom.”
One of the key issues for Northamptonshire is to ensure good leadership at local levels, during and after, the local governance restructuring.
Lucy Lord, Partner at Howes Percival, specialising in commercial property development, summarised: “It’s a very fine balancing act: the need for sustainable, good quality development versus the need for an ever increasing number of houses (and quickly); the increased costs associated with developments versus the house builders’ needs for sites to be financially viable; a planning system which is improving in theory yet in practice is underfunded and understaffed meaning it struggles with the increased demand.
“A fix is no small order but, with the vast potential that Northamptonshire and the Cambridge-Milton Keynes-Oxford Corridor has to offer, it is vital that the authorities welcome and actively engage in this opportunity to maximise the benefits.”