RTPI South East Housing Matters round up

The Letwin Review of Build Out Rates was discussed at a recent RTPI SE event 'Housing Matters.' It was anticipated that this would conclude that 'land banking' by developers was contributing to the housing crisis, when in fact 'absorption rates' - the rate at which newly constructed homes can be sold into the local market without materially disturbing the market price, was the fundamental driver of build out rates.

The Review, published in June this year, identified that a lack of competition within the market with the main house builders on large sites prevents greater variety of house types and design and therefore price, making it easier for fewer, larger house builders to control build out rates and prices:

"When a large house builder occupies the whole (or large part) of a large site, the size and style (and physical context) of the homes on offer will typically be fairly homogeneous. Even slight variations (in size and style) are sufficient to create additional demand." (Letwin, 2018)

This has the implication of slowing down supply and is one of the difficulties that Local Authorities face in identifying sufficient deliverable housing sites. An over reliance on larger sites, which typically take longer to come forward and are usually delivered in a phased way (to avoid flooding the market place), can leave them vulnerable to challenge in terms of their housing numbers and predicted delivery.

Neal Hudson, Director of Residential Analysts Limited, previously of Savills Research commented that actually in some cases/locations there wasn't a housing shortage, and the profile of the crisis revealed that there was a lack of appropriate, available and affordable housing to meet the varied needs of people in different locations.

The RTPI SE event held in Reading Town Hall sought to explore other alternative approaches to dealing with the housing crisis. It was a highly engaging event that delivered presentations from both the private and public sector. Dr Janice Morphet presented the recent research she has conducted of the extent to which Local Authorities are delivering their own developments to contribute towards their housing targets. This showed that many authorities are using a combination of tools to develop and deliver their own sites, such as joint ventures, City Deals or obtaining funding through LEPS or Homes England. Jenny Barker discussed the 'Graven Hill' development, which has become a template which other LPA's could replicate for a self and custom build housing scheme. This was an ex MOD site which used an outline planning permission with a S106 agreement to deliver the infrastructure, in combination with a Local Development Order, Masterplan and Design Code. This has proved successful in generating interest from local people wishing to build and/or design their own home and is an exciting proposition to meet local housing demand.