John O'leary’s Post

Kate Henderson's interview with martin hilditch in Inside Housing on our #PlanForHousing campaign. 🏘️ “I think bringing forward a housing strategy in the spring means there’s an opportunity to align it with the Spending Review, and the Spending Review will obviously set out the government’s big commitments over the course of this parliament. So, it makes sense to have the strategy sit hand-in-glove with that. But what we are really keen to see with this long-term strategy is for it to be truly long-term. So, while it makes sense to align with the Spending Review, we would like to be thinking about 10 years minimum, but ideally longer – 20 to 30 years. Actually thinking about the future of housing in this country.” 📰 https://lnkd.in/epC9JB8E

This weekend, we've been listening to Angela Rayner's comments on introducing a fast track system for schemes that bring forward new homes on sites that are allocated in local plans. The planning system is a key barrier to delivering the homes we need. It is too slow, and risks being politicised by small interest groups at the expense of those who can't get on the housing ladder. Local plans should be at the heart of our planning system. They're an opportunity for local government and local communities to work together to plan for the homes and infrastructure that communities need to grow and flourish. Too many councils have failed to put, or keep in place, up-to-date local plans. It's positive to see the government taking a firm line on this. We need to see full coverage across the country. We're hopeful that MHCLG is holding councils to account, but until plans are in place, fast-track mechanisms like this one won't be enough. https://lnkd.in/e-B2qWd8

📊Our Planning Application Index, released prior to the recent election, delves into the pressing challenges surrounding housing delivery. Now, with a new government in place, it’s interesting to reflect on the outcomes highlighted in the report. Councillor John Merry, a prominent voice in local government, shares his insights: "With local authority finances under heavy strain, council leaders are consistently being put in a position where they have to make difficult decisions on even statutory services. This research sheds light on one such important service under threat: housing. And it is frustrating yet unsurprising to learn about the situation on the ground, whereby both planning applications as well as building activity for housing developments across England are slowing down." Key Cities, representing 27 urban centres across the UK, believes in granting local authorities the autonomy to drive positive change in their communities. Devolved powers and funding are crucial for long-term prosperity and stability. Given these insights, what do you think the new government will do to address the financial strains on local authorities? Will we see a stronger focus on enabling local authorities to drive housing delivery? ➡️For a detailed analysis of these challenges and more, read the full index report here: https://ow.ly/8MAk50SBnzp #PlanningSystem #EconomicChallenges #IndexReport #LocalGovernment #HousebuildingTargets #CommunityHousing #LocalAuthority

Following Rt Hon Rachel Reeves first major speech as Chancellor to the Treasury, here are some of the key take aways for the Housing sector. "Planning reform has become a byword for political timidity in the face of vested interests and is a graveyard of economic ambition" Key Points: 🔴 Building 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament. 🔴 NPPF to be reviewed before end of month including return to mandatory housing targets. 🔴 A pledge to deliver the “biggest increase in social and affordable housebuilding in a generation”. 🔴 Ensure local communities continue to shape housebuilding in their area, but where necessary, “Labour will not be afraid to make full use of intervention powers to build the houses we need” 🔴 New task force to be created to unlock stalled housing sites (Liverpool central docks, Northstowe, etc) 🔴 300 additional planning officers across the country 🔴 Deputy prime minister to use powers to recover more appeals where economic interests are key (2 data centre appeals already recovered this weekend). 🔴 Letters to go to chief planning officers to ensure universal coverage of local plans, reviews of green belt boundaries (brownfield and grey-belt land to be key targets). 🔴 Reform of planning system to deliver infrastructure that country needs. 🔴 New policy intentions to be set out for critical infrastructures with National Policy Statements to be updated by end of year. 🔴 Take a brownfield first approach, prioritising the development of previously used land wherever possible, and fast-tracking approval of urban brownfield sites. 🔴 Introduce ‘golden rules’ for house building to ensure development benefits communities and nature. 🔴 Work with local authorities to give first-time buyers the first chance to buy homes and stop entire developments being sold off to international investors before houses are even built. Let's hope this reignites the sector and delivers the urgently needed Social & Affordable housing. Here's to hoping The Labour Party engage with sector leaders on how best to deliver these targets!

Affordable Housing Finance asked leaders in our industry to predict what 2025 may hold. Ronne Thielen, R4's Director of Advocacy and Public Policy, is  particularly qualified to answer based on her more than four decades of real estate finance and investment experience including helping to establish the LIHTC program in 1986. Read the article to hear her perspective and those of industry peers. https://lnkd.in/eupweKzV

Today the Chancellor set out the new Government's ambition to reform planning. These reforms are very welcome, but many will take time to impact on the UK's housing stock. That's why Kane Emerson and John Myers have set out three 'fast wins' to get Britain building. 1️⃣ Learn from Haringey Council and let residents build up. Gentle density is beautiful and practical, allowing home-owners to use their space more efficiently, and providing housing where it is most needed. 2️⃣ Street votes empower communities to encourage densification and value creation. Schemes have been enormously successful in Vancouver, Seoul and Tel Aviv. 3️⃣ Estate renewal should be a top priority for the new government. Ambitious renewal plans can fund new council homes for every existing resident through cross-subsidy, a win-win for councils and communities. Our planning system requires radical reform. But in the meantime, gentle densification can make a real, immediate difference to the UK's housing crisis. Read the full briefing: https://lnkd.in/ep9SJX6k

https://lnkd.in/esX_xQ_t It becomes ever clearer that with the Governments 1st budget coming up, if growth aspirations are to be met, a clear long term rent settlement for RP's and Homes England grant funded development programe are really necessary.

🏡 WILL THIS BE ANOTHER OVER-PROMISED, UNDER-DELIVERED INITIATIVE? The UK government recently announced significant changes to tackle the housing crisis, aiming to: 🔧 Overhaul the planning system to boost the economy 🏠 Reintroduce ambitious mandatory housing targets 🏗️ Commit to the biggest increase in affordable housebuilding in a generation 💷 Provide councils and housing associations with rent stability to invest in homes 🔨 Build 1.5 million new homes over this parliament The Labour government has also pledged to deliver "the biggest wave of social and affordable housing in a generation." While these plans are promising, there are concerns: the year 1 target is only 100,000 properties, with no clear breakdown of how many will be social/affordable. Will this be another over-promised, under-delivered initiative? We talk about this and more in our August 2024 edition of our newsletter! Head over to this link to read: https://lnkd.in/ew9_B-uY #HousingCrisis #UKHousing #AffordableHousing #SocialHousing #PropertyInvestment #GovernmentPolicy #HousingMarket #Landlords #InvestInProperty

Today’s results deliver the stability the sector needs to confidently plan ahead for the delivery of quality housing options across the UK.    It’s well documented that housebuilding rates have struggled against the pitfalls of the planning process, and that investment has been deterred by political uncertainty.    We welcome Labour’s commitment to planning reform and its pledges to work with the private sector to get more homes built. We look forward to the opportunity to work collaboratively with the new government to ensure the delivery of a mix of housing types is accelerated across the nation.    The build-to-rent sector already provides professionally managed housing as an alternative to the notoriously unreliable buy-to-let sector. Over the course of the next parliament, a greater emphasis on emerging asset types, such as single-family housing, will ensure that high quality rental homes are available to as many people as possible. #Election2024 #BTR #singlefamilyhousing #buildtorent #homesforrent #SFH

Housing & Planning Reform: A Glimmer of Hope? Overhauling the planning system, a pledge to build 1.5 million new homes in 5 years, and compulsory housebuilding targets. It certainly was a day full of promises from the new Chancellor, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves, yesterday, and the fact that housing and planning reform were fairly near the top of her agenda is at least encouraging. We're told there will be more news in the upcoming days as the Chancellor announces further details on the proposed changes. The devil is in the detail and it remains to be seen if Labour will go far enough when it comes to real planning reform. We'll be sending a copy of our white paper to the new Government when it's published later this year, sharing proposed reforms from industry leaders from across the private sector, based on firsthand experiences from those on the coalface of house building. 📣Share Your Experience & Make Your Voice Heard We'd like to hear about your planning application experiences - good or bad - and we'll include your commentary in the report. If you want to have your say and share your experiences, take our 10-minute survey https://lnkd.in/eQQA659K