Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has presented the government's long term plan for housing setting out further plans for regeneration, inner-city densification and housing delivery across England.
Further expanding permitted development rights risks creating poor quality residential environments that negatively impact people’s health and wellbeing.
Mr Gove said the aim was to build one million new homes, but Cllr Shaun Davies, Chair of the Local Government Association said: “There is no doubt that we need more homes as well as to reinvigorate our high streets and town centres. However, premises such as offices, barns, and shops are not always suitable for housing.
“Further expanding permitted development rights risks creating poor quality residential environments that negatively impact people’s health and wellbeing, as well as a lack of affordable housing or suitable infrastructure.
“Councils support the Government’s ambition for the right homes in the right areas, which can have significant wider benefits for people and communities, and prevent future public service challenges and costs.
“To deliver these benefits, the Government should support our six-point plan, which would lead to a generational step-change in council housebuilding and give local government the powers and funding to deliver thousands of social homes a year.”
Rhys Moore, Executive Director of Public Impact at the National Housing Federation said it has been calling for a long term plan for housing, but whilst this is a positive start, it is nowhere near the scale or ambition that is needed.
“We have a massive housing crisis on our hands with one in six children living in overcrowded homes and 4.2 million people in need of social housing,” he continued. “We welcome the commitments to planning interventions however this is relatively piece meal given the challenge we face.
“There is also nothing in this announcement about investing in social housing which is sorely needed. We have a chronic shortage of social homes in this country, caused by decades of underinvestment by successive governments and this has exacerbated the rental crisis and increased house prices.
“Last year we only built around 6,500 social rented homes compared to the 90,000 a year that are needed. We need a strategic, nationally coordinated and properly funded long-term housing plan, focused on drastically increasing social housing across the country, which this is not.”
CIH's chief executive Gavin Smart was at Kings Place in London for the speech.
He backed some of the measures and the recognition that long term problems need long term solutions, but said the CIH would have liked to see a greater focus on much needed social housing.
“Analysis shows we need 90,000 new homes for social rent each year for the next 15 years but we’re a long way off delivering this,” he explained. “Without investment in social house building we’ll continue to see housing waiting lists grow and will continue to spend huge amounts of money subsidising poor quality housing.
“It's time for a long-term cross cutting strategy, backed by government investment, focussed on delivering more homes in the right places that people can afford. Everyone should have access to a decent and affordable home from which to build their lives."
