UK Property Development Plans Revealed!

Here's what she had to say:

“As the Group Head of Land & New Homes across Manning Stainton, Ryder & Dutton, and Mortimers Estate Agents, and has worked in property for over two decades, it’s hard to recall all the trends and changes I've witnessed. The recent switch in government has raised some interesting discussion points though and I'm glad I'm able to start on a positive note.

A welcome promise for more houses

Labour has made the pledge to provide an additional 1.5 million new homes over the next 5 years. That equates to 300,000 new homes per year, and that figure has recently been upped further to 370,000 new homes per year. That's exciting news, especially when recent reports from The House Builder Federation and Glenigan, highlighted how, up to this point in the year so far, we've seen the lowest number of housing sites consented since the data collection began back in 2006. This is pretty damning, especially when you consider this timeframe also includes the global finical crises of 2008. So, the commitment to more houses is a good thing, though let's not forget similar promises were made by the previous regime and they didn't come to fruition.

An emphasis on brownfield and grey belt development

Moving on to how the government plans to achieve their housing delivery figure the main question is where they propose to develop. The government have made it very clear the priority for new developments will be brownfield areas. Brownfield is land that has or has had a permanent structure built upon it and is now disused, rundown or in need of restoration.

Green belt land is protected from certain kinds of developments and usually surrounds towns and cities to prevent urban sprawl. However, Labour have said they'll look to develop on grey belt land within green belt areas.

Grey belt is their new term that, in their own words, refers to 'ugly' and 'poor quality' land, such as garages, car parks and wasteland, within green belt areas. This new terminology may indicate a real desire for the government to get 'Britain Building' again, but it remains to be seen whether they can use policy changes to manoeuvre the typical obstacles that have historically hampered homebuilding in the UK.

Local councils & a planning overhaul

It looks as if the government are keen to establish a collaborative approach as they've pledged to work alongside local councils. Whilst promising them autonomy, the expectation is for the councils to plan for growth in their local areas.

The government have also proposed an overhaul of the planning system, which is long overdue a modernisation and has been a topic of discussion for a long time. They plan to fund 300 new planning officers, which is certainly promising, though it's worth bearing in mind by The Town Planning Institute's estimations, this figure will only be enough to cover the planning officers who've left the industry in recent years.

Final thoughts on the development proposals

Lots of pledges and promises then as we await more details, but it's an encouraging start, as you might expect from a freshly elected government looking to get people onside early in their tenure. There are as many questions as answers at the moment, but the positive intent is clear to see, and we can be hopeful of a more thorough plan of action in the not-too-distant future.

In the meantime, we need to support the initiatives, maintain communication between the communities and industry, and hope the government capitalise on the early promise of their property development objectives.”