Argent co-founder Peter Freeman has said he will fight for the contested section 106 contributions, while also calling for improved public land value capture and social housing funds.
Freeman answered questions from the housing committee at his pre-appointment hearing on 12 October, following his selection as the preferred candidate for Homes England chairman at the end of last month.
“I think you actually do need to keep section 106 for both major schemes that are mixed-use and multi-phased,” Freeman said. He highlighted the need for supporting infrastructure, such as schools delivered through these contributions, and said government should help capture more land value.
The government is currently consulting on measures to eradicate section 106 and community infrastructure levy contributions, to be replaced with a single developer levy to fund affordable housing and infrastructure but also council services and potentially reduce council tax payments.
Freeman said he expected to make a formal response as to the planning white paper, with a particular focus on section 106.
Asked if he would be happy to challenge ministers, Freeman said that as Homes England chair he’d hope to work closely with central government, but added: “It’s a pity if you get to a real challenge. But, ultimately, I think they are the piper.”
However, he noted the “pet projects” of previous ministers, leading to various different housing programmes at the agency. Freeman said: “I’d like to see Homes England reaching out to all parties and all constituencies and trying to set some consistent long-term policies, at the same time driving as many deliveries in the next few years as possible.”
Commenting on Homes England’s 80:20 rule of housing subsidy, which sees greater grant funding allocated to areas of unaffordability where housing is more expensive, Freeman warned of money lost on costly land purchases.
He said: “That sort of implies that some significant part is going into land and that’s producing less jobs for the recovery.”
“There’s a lot more statistical work to do and geographic mapping to work out how you deliver housing so that it delivers the most benefit to economy and communities, rather than just addressing one issue at a time.” Freeman listed employment, housing and schools as priorities. “There’s a whole matrix of things to be achieved,” he said.
Freeman agreed that Homes England could play a greater role in boosting social housing in a downturn through grant funding. “I would personally welcome that and to some extent it can also play to some of the smaller builders because actually social housing is something that is needed wherever the place, not just in major cities.”
He said there “has to be a greater sense of responsibility” from developers, in response to questions on building safety.
“I’d like to understand how all the different bits of government which monitor building safety and building materials are joined up, and Homes England ought to have a role to play within that matrix,” he added.
Freeman also said he would be prepared to step down from the board of Argent Services, where he does not have a financial interest, though would want to stay on the King’s Cross board and did not anticipate any conflict of interest. He is currently invested in King’s Cross and Mayfield projects.
He will step down from the Mayfield board, where he is currently chairman, if Homes England grant funding was allocated to the regeneration, but would not do so now “at a very substantial loss”.
The committee will conduct a private consultation before deciding whether to appoint him. If approved he will take over from interim chair Simon Dudley, who has held the role since the departure of former chair Sir Edward Lister last August.
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