Government housing policy ‘will not meet demand’ – Lords committee
February 2016

The Government has come under fire from the Lords for a housing policy that is “unlikely to meet demand for either the quantity or quality of houses we need.”

The criticism comes from the House of Lords Committee on National Policy for the Built Environment in its final report after hearing evidence over many weeks on the cause and possible solutions to the UK’s acute shortage of new houses.

The Committee was told that around 240,000 new houses are needed each year to meet existing demand but it concludes that the Government will not succeed in building the houses the country needs unless local authorities and housing associations are allowed to play a bigger role in building. The report calls on the Government to review the borrowing restrictions on local authorities and review its own decision to reduce social rents, a key source of funding for local housing provision.

The report states that the relaxation of planning restrictions and the removal of national building standards, including the zero carbon homes requirement, risks storing-up long term problems if poor quality developments are approved without proper scrutiny. The Committee states that "speed need not come at the expense of quality, and a short-sighted approach runs the risk of repeating the mistakes of the past."

Baroness O’Cathain, Chairman of the Committee, said: "It is increasingly clear that we need to build more houses in England and we wholeheartedly support that objective. However if we build those houses in the wrong place, to a poor standard, without the consent of local communities we are only storing up future misery for the people in those houses and others nearby.

"That is why we are recommending local authorities are once again empowered both to build new homes of their own, and to ensure all developments are of a suitably high quality. Spending a little bit extra on good quality design at the outset can avert massive costs to people, society and Government in the long-run.

"The Government should review the National Planning Policy Framework to make sure developers aren’t using financial viability to play fast and loose with design quality and sustainability. If developers submit substandard plans local authorities should be able to ask them to think again without builders falling back on questionable viability assessments to get their way.

"We are also calling on the Government to appoint a Chief Built Environment Advisor to work across government departments to integrate planning policy and act as a champion for higher standards and good practice. It’s important that the Government sets a good example and leads from the front on design quality.”
Other recommendations in the report include:

• The Government should reconsider the proposal to include ‘starter homes’ within the definition of affordable housing as starter homes cease to include any element of affordability after five years. The Committee says the current proposals "risks undermining mixed communities and preventing the delivery of genuinely affordable housing for the long-term."

• The Government should reconsider additional elements of the Housing and Planning Bill which would undermine the maintenance of mixed communities.

• The Government should appoint a Chief Built Environment Advisor to champion higher standards in the built environment across Government departments.

• The Government should reverse its decision to do away with the zero carbon homes requirement and Code for Sustainable Homes.

• We need a new strategy for managing our historic built environment that recognises that our historic built environment is a ‘unique national and local asset, central to place-making’ and a ‘cultural and economic asset rather than an obstacle to successful future developments.’

• The Government should make design review mandatory for all major planning applications, in order to offset the long-term burdens and costs of poor quality design.

• Local Authority planning departments need to be better resourced and the planning profession needs to rediscover the prestige it once had. The Committee calls for more bursaries for planning students, and a greater emphasis on ‘proactive planning’ from local authorities.

The report will be available on the Committees website here.