The government is working on a comprehensive strategy to manage Londons growth and tackle the chronic undersupply of housing in the South East.
The document, called the Community Plan, will be produced towards the end of the year and will be based on detailed audits of each local authority.
According to senior civil servants, the plan will be “the most comprehensive needs survey ever undertaken in the UK”, as well as being a “hard-edged action plan”.
A spokesman at the ODPM said the plans aims would be to find ways of ensuring that growth in London and the South East was sustainable and to deal with the undersupply of housing, especially for people at the lower end of the market.
The plan will also look at how incentives could be used to get more and better-quality houses planned and built faster. It is understood that English Partnerships and public-sector estates, such as the MoD and the NHS, will be used to supply land specifically for fast-track housing developments.
The local authority audits will also be used to distribute the £350m fund for improving the planning system, which was announced by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in July, with the focus being on authorities with large housing development opportunities.
EGi News 30/09/02
