Making the Case For Development

Proposition

England is currently suffering from a huge housing shortage, especially in terms of genuinely affordable housing to people on average and low incomes.

Housing is needed in sufficient quantities to support economic activity, attracting and retaining skilled labour in all parts of the country. Poor quality and high cost housing generates substantial opportunity costs for the public purse in terms of poor health, educational and public safety outcomes, as well as excessive and unnecessary housing benefit expenditure and mortgage debt repayment.

Key points

Nationally, demand for more housing is incontrovertible. We have a growing population, unlike other parts of Europe, and an increase in household numbers as well. We can all relate to the issues:

Young and old want their own front door. For many, this would ideally be owned not rented.
People want their children to live nearby able to bring up their families in safe and well resourced communities.
Workers want and need to live close to their employment; for sustainability, work life balance and economic reasons.

This means change; not the same change everywhere, but it includes developing new land for housing, changing the use of some sites, and bringing back existing redundant properties into use. Doing this with the involvement of existing communities is what the government wants to do, as Housing Minister Grant Shapps said at the RICS in June 2010

"If we are really serious about supporting people's aspirations for home ownership, the real prize is we must build more homes. For the first time, incentives will create direct benefits for local communities, bringing jobs, investment and more homes for local people."

"By unleashing the aspirations of communities as well as individuals to build homes where and when they are needed, we will bring about greater certainty - certainty that will replace the conflict caused by imposing housing numbers from right here in Whitehall. Certainty that will give investors confidence to invest."

The government has recognised that certainty for individuals, businesses, developers, housing providers and investors is the key; but that is exactly what is currently missing in the short term and what is likely to prevent large scale delivery of new homes in the medium to long term.

The risks created by lack of certainty are:

Developers, providers, authorities and others don’t understand how the new system, which is currently not well defined, will work. This can be an opportunity or a threat, but is currently more likely to result in delay
Communities are unclear how to engage with any new process. Currently, the fear of change and the unknown is one of the biggest factors behind anti-development sentiment.
Investment is much harder to access. Funders want strong local political leadership.
Development activity stalls in the short term, with a consequent loss of momentum.
Activity levels slip. Expertise and skills are lost, and players go bust or move out of the market. Economies of scale are destroyed, and supply chains are broken up.
Uncertainty becomes prohibitively expensive and becomes a barrier to action.
This worsens the situation long term, as any resumption of activity will require the import of materials, retraining and relearning; all adding to future costs at a time when values will also be fragile.

As the Director General of the CBI, Sir Richard Lambert, said in his last speech before retiring in 2010, the Government is introducing barriers to growth through localism and new sustainability taxes:

"There's the localism agenda, which has thrown an extra level of uncertainty into the planning system and led to the poorly-handled introduction of the new local enterprise partnerships."

"The carbon reduction commitment has been converted into an additional tax running to more than £1 billion on business, removing the incentives for change from many companies."

Case Study:

Portobello Square, Kensington

Client: Catalyst

Role: Architecture, Masterplanning & Consultation

Project Award Winner - Housing Design Award 2011

Wornington Green is the largest regeneration scheme in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for decades. PRP has provided the masterplan for the overall redevelopment of the site and the detailed design for the redevelopment of the first phase of the scheme.

The design will complement the rich architectural history of this area and reinstate historic links between Portobello Road and Ladbroke Grove. The new development will eventually offer up to 1,000 new homes to the area and a new London square will form the focal point for this new urban quarter.

Wornington Green - Designs for a new urban quarter

wornington-green-kensington
The final design solution for the Wornington Green site is a culmination of over five years consultation with the local community and offers an exemplar model for large scale urban regeneration adjoining a conservation area. The social housing element is seamlessly integrated with the private housing to create a truly tenure blind development. Councillors particularly praised the high quality of detailing and materials which have been applied throughout, to reflect the quality and vibrancy of the local vernacular.

The 5.7 hectare site currently comprises 538 homes, along with community amenities and a public park. The new development will eventually offer up to 1,000 new homes and will maintain vital community facilities under the masterplan drawn up by PRP Architects.

Key messages

National Politicians

Stop introducing new initiatives, tweaking current ideas and clarify how what has been proposed is going to work. Do not create a vacuum. Everyone needs more genuinely affordable homes.

Local Politicians

Communicate with the industry; talk to your local developers rather than viewing them as the enemy. Visit mainstream housing association schemes, and make sure constituents understand the full range of housing association activity, including mainstream rental housing for low paid workers in your area.

Local people

The costs of not providing sufficient new homes will feed through into other costs and taxation for education, public safety, economic competitiveness, higher housing support costs and physical and mental health very quickly. Not providing new homes in your area is not a solution to anything. Make alliances with housing associations, as long term investors in your area, to provide extra support to existing community organisations.

Housing Commissioners and Providers

You have a responsibility to demystify what you do and how development works; the man-in-the-street does not understand why more housing is needed 'near them' or at all, and is very suspicious of house builders, housing associations and 'new people'.

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