National housing targets must be prioritised over local objections, says think tank

The government must prioritise national targets over local objections if it is serious about housebuilding, according to a report by thinktank the Institute for Government (IfG).

The report, which draws on interviews with current and former politicians, officials, housebuilders and experts, said successive governments have not dealt with the fundamental problem that local objections to development have overridden national housing targets. 

The IfG pointed out that the most successful planning reforms in recent decades have been top-down measures that make it harder for local authorities to fail to plan and grant permissions for enough new housing to meet local needs.

Published today, ‘From the ground up, how the government can build more homes’, states that the new Labour government has made clear that it intends to prioritise national targets over local objections.

On 8 July, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, warned that the government would “not hesitate” to review applications where it feels planning authorities have blocked a development that would benefit the regional and national economy.

At the end of July, Angela Rayner, announced a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that proposes to reinstate mandatory housing targets, and change the standard method used to calculate them.  This will mean that local planning authorities will produce local plans that collectively deliver enough planning permissions to meet the government’s target to build 370,000 homes per year.

Rayner stated that local authorities will choose “how to deliver new homes, not whether to”. The report notes that these kind of “top-down” measures have worked well for governments in the past.

However, the IfG states that ”the government now needs to succeed where others have failed and maintain a long-term consensus behind these reforms so they stick and survive changes in ministers – and governments.”

The government is currently consulting on the proposed changes to the NPFF. The IfG added that ”whatever changes it [the government] makes in response to feedback, it should remain firm on its commitment that national targets trump local objections.”

In addition, the think tank’s report recommends that the deputy prime minister and chancellor should continue to lead the housebuilding brief over this parliament. Housebuilding should be also be prioritised within central governance structures, such as mission boards.

In addition, it suggests that the government ensure the housing minister remains in post over the full course of the parliament.

Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition came to power in 2010, and through subsequent Conservative governments, there have been 16 different housing ministers.

Interviewees noted that the frequent changes in housing ministers create practical challenges, as civil servants must constantly adapt to working with a new minister. This instability is also seen as “terrible signaling” from the government to the housebuilding industry.

>> See also: Rayner sets up ‘accelerator’ team of officials to boost development on 200 stalled sites

>> See also: Planning reforms alone will not boost housebuilding to 1.5m homes

According to the IfG, the government should have a long-term strategy which sets out a 10-year vision for what outcomes it wants to achieve from its housebuilding programme and the impact on affordability that it is aiming for.

The strategy should also include a detailed five-year plan setting out what it expects to achieve within one parliament, and the critical steps to get there.

IfG researcher and report author, Sophie Metcalfe, said: “England’s housing shortage is a chronic policy problem that successive governments have tried and failed to tackle. The new government has bold plans which set out encouraging first steps, but its housebuilding programme poses huge delivery challenges as much as it does political ones.

It will need a clear long-term vision, a robust delivery plan, and an eye ahead to future challenges if it is to set and maintain a better record on housebuilding than previous governments.”