The government has unveiled its £22bn blueprint to build 200,000 new homes in the South East and to revitalise decaying towns in the north of England.
Much of the money is not new, but the commitment represents a 40% increase in spending over the next three years.
The Communities Plan promises £4.7bn for housing investment in London, the South East and the East between 2003 and 2006, and an additional £1bn for key worker housing.
The money will be used to help provide over 200,000 homes in the south of England, including more than 100,000 in the Thames Gateway, Milton Keynes and the M11 area south of Cambridge.
A draft regional Housing Statement is expected to be produced by July 2003.
More than £500m will go towards setting up partnerships in nine areas of the north of England to revitalise or demolish abandoned housing.
A new body, the Land Restoration Trust, will turn 3,707 acres (1,500ha) of derelict urban land into public parks, while Regional Development Agencies will be given powers to reclaim 3,459 acres (1,400ha) of brownfield land pa.
The Plan also includes a commitment to spend £446m on 14 target areas in the Thames Gateway, to “attract extra private investment”.
A new Cabinet sub-committee on the area, chaired by the prime minister, will draw up a timetable for the development of the Thames Gateway, and will establish local development bodies with powers similar to Urban Development Companies for the Thames Gateway and Thurrock.
Deputy prime minister John Prescott said that details of the allocation of the £350m Planning Delivery Grants, and a review of the government’s affordable housing guidance, would be released shortly.
Margaret Ford, chairman of English Partnerships, called the Plan “the most important strategic document on the link between regeneration and housing for a generation”.
But others were more sceptical, with Michael Ward, chief executive of the London Development Agency, which owns 600 acres (243ha) in the area, saying that “the government must release the extra funds needed to make brownfield land attractive to private developers.”
He added: “The next step is to clarify how the infrastructure vital to the success of the Thames Gateway is to be funded.
“For these developments to be sustainable, we need major strategic transport improvements such as Crossrail.”
Jo Valentine, chief operating officer at London First, agreed, saying: “We are concerned that not enough priority is being given to the new investment in infrastructure – especially Crossrail and the Thames Gateway River Crossings.”
Louis Armstong, chief executive of the RICS, said: “Prescott’s plans for new settlements will come to little unless funding can be found to support the massive new infrastructure required.”
The Plan has also been strongly criticised by some environmentalists.
The Council for the Protection of Rural England said that the Plan could only be delivered by “letting the South East economy rip” and creating “massive greenfield sprawl”.
It estimates that the Plan will require between 30,887 and 36,323 acres (12,500 and 14,700ha) of countryside to be developed for housing over the next 30 years.
But Prescott said that there was a commitment to maintain and even increase the green belt, and said that any green belt land lost because of individual developments would be made up elsewhere.
The Empty Homes Agency (EHA) has welcomed the inclusion of compulsory leasing in the Plan.
Rosie May, the EHA’s local government adviser, said: “There are many empty properties in existing thriving communities that should be brought back into use.
“The adoption of a compulsory leasing scheme would mean that owners would not be allowed to let their properties fall into ruin, housing supply would be increased and the property handed back in a habitable state.
“In areas of low demand this would be another possible tool to tackle the problem where streets of properties are owned by one landlord.”
The scheme would need primary legislation if it is to go ahead which would take at least another year.
The EHA said that it will work with councils to identify possible schemes to ensure that, once implemented, the scheme can “hit the ground running”.
EGi News 05/02/03
