On Friday, a former Labour minister and a Tory grandee stood shoulder-to-shoulder committing this government to major infrastructure investment. They also redefined what infrastructure means, and very much for the better.
Lords Heseltine and Adonis were in York to launch the National Infrastructure Commission. Adonis, once a member of Gordon Brown’s cabinet remember, resigned the Labour whip earlier this month to lead the body. As transport secretary he had pioneered the plan for HS2. He should hit the ground running.
Meanwhile, few infrastructure and regeneration-focused reforms of the past half decade have been free of Heseltine’s imprint. The two of them should be a powerful combination.
But the seismic shift revealed on Friday was that the government was changing the definition of infrastructure. Now, thankfully, it will include housing within its scope. It tacitly acknowledges the scale of the housing crisis, explicitly links homes, energy and transport, and will focus decisions on long-term needs.
More than a redefinition, this is a defining moment.
One of the commission’s core tasks will be to join up local and national decision making. Much easier said than done, of course, but one apparently minor decision in south-west London this week perfectly highlights the need for broader thinking.
In July, the London borough of Wandsworth rejected plans from British Land for a mixed-use redevelopment of 56-70 Putney High Street, SW15. The scheme would have comprised 97 homes, 78 of which would be private-market, with 19 affordable.
It is a relatively modest scheme by BL’s standards, but is exactly the sort of redevelopment that has to happen if London is to have a fighting chance of delivering the 42,000-plus homes it needs.
London mayor Boris Johnson used his powers this week to overturn Wandsworth’s decision and approve the scheme in Putney, tweeting that it was his role was “to fight for Londoners who need homes”. He might have added that Putney’s is a tired high street which would benefit from further redevelopment, though that’s by the by.
Of course, this flies in the face of localism. The council was disappointed by the decision. But, had it stood, it could have had implications beyond the borough. It was right that the mayor stepped in.
Taken together these interventions from York to south-west London (via Westminster and Whitehall) show a real commitment to delivering homes.
- Housing was a central theme of last week’s MIPIM UK. Estates Gazette has produced a comprehensive review of the show. Download it on EGi now or to receive a printed edition e-mail daragh.burke@estatesgazette.com
- This year’s Estates Gazette Rich List reveals that the combined wealth of real estate’s top 250 investors has risen by 40% to top £300bn for the first time. There are 60 billionaires in this year’s league table. You will form your own views as to the desirability of concentrated property ownership in London. But encouraging stats emerge: 40 of the most philanthropic in the sector gave more than £400m to charity this year. The biggest donor by value was Ernesto Bertarelli, who gave away £67m, and the biggest by proportion of wealth was Sir Martin Laing, who donated some 18% (£24m) of his total wealth to charitable causes. But there are bleak stats too. There are just 16 women on the list.
- This week Estates Gazette launches a major new series aimed at APC students. The series will run fortnightly and will focus on the different APC competencies, starting with commercial property. Each fortnight there will be practical advice on preparing for assessment, hot topics to consider and resources to turn to. There will also be guidance for supervisors and councillors. For the first article appears in this week’s edition and if your APC years are in the dim and distant past, do pass it on to your more fresh-faced colleagues.
