http://www.independentlandagent.com en-us rss_generator http://www.independentlandagent.com http://www.independentlandagent.com/images/rss_image.jpg A shake-up in planning laws will speed up the process of getting permission to expand airports or build power stations and roads, the government has said. "National planning statements" from ministers would set out the UK's key infrastructure needs for the future. They would provide the "framework" for a new "independent" commission to take planning decisions on large projects, Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly said. But the Conservatives say it will "dump developments on local communities". Ms Kelly said the Independent Planning Commission - proposed in the white paper published on Monday - would take into account the potential local impact of large projects, such as on air quality, noise and traffic problems 'Scrutiny' It would "bring together experts" like lawyers and planners to help decide policy and there would be "better public engagement at every step of the way", she added. The government's long-term planning statements would "be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and intense public debate", Ms Kelly said. Although planning is a devolved matter the white paper makes clear the large infrastructure elements are intended to be UK-wide. Other changes planned include speeding up smaller applications in England - such as home extensions and conservatories. Developers would also have a "legal duty" to consult the public, Ms Kelly said, and described the current system as "inaccessible and sometimes baffling". She promised planning laws would continue to safeguard "vibrant town centres". 'Sclerotic' But shadow communities secretary Caroline Spelman blamed ministers for a "sclerotic" planning system, which had left communities feeling "more disempowered". The government should abolish the "unelected and unaccountable" regional planning bodies, she demanded. Liberal Democrat housing spokesperson Dan Rogerson said: "All the indications suggest the changes will help Labour's friends in the nuclear and supermarket industries, rather than giving local people a genuine say in planning." Neil Sinden, policy director at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: "The planning system is there to help us debate issues.... "Inquiries do take time. These issues are complex. We need to balance national and local issues." There was a danger the proposed new system would "strip democratic accountability out of the planning system", he added. Hugh Ellis, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The planning white paper will give the green light to massive new developments while stripping away opportunities for affected communities or the wider public to input on the decisions." Dermot Finch, director of the Centre for Cities, added: "The new Independent Planning Commission should speed up the approvals process for major transport projects. "But it could also take planning powers away from elected city leaders. This risks undermining the government's devolution agenda." The white paper suggests minor projects like conservatories and home extensions should no longer need planning permission where there is little impact on neighbours. The number of private applications has more than doubled since 1995 to almost 330,000 per year, and ministers say they are costly and cumbersome for homeowners. A routine planning application can take up to three months to be decided and cost up to £1,000, they say. Yet nine out of 10 householder applications are finally agreed. It is believed the changes could reduce the number of applications by up to 90,000 per year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6675137.stm ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=3
The U.K. housing market is not overvalued and prices may increase further in the next few years because of a shortage of properties, former Bank of England policy maker Stephen Nickell said. "It might settle back a little, or remain relatively flat for a bit, but I don't think there's any fundamental overvaluation,'' Nickell, who served on the rate-setting panel from 2000 to 2006, said in a telephone interview yesterday. "Over the next few years it might keep on edging upwards.'' U.K. house prices have more than tripled since 1997 and rose 10.6 percent in the past year to average 196,900 pounds ($392,000), HBOS Plc, the nation's biggest mortgage lender, said today. People need to earn at least 55,000 pounds a year to buy a home in the capital, 58 percent more than the average wage, according to London First, a business lobby group. Britain, with 60 million people, is the second most-densely populated country in the Group of Eight industrial nations behind Japan, according to United Nations data. The U.K. has as a population double that of California's living in an area about the size of Oregon. Policy makers in the U.K. say the system for granting building permission has prevented enough homes from being built and should be streamlined. Kate Barker, a central bank policy maker who studied the matter for the Treasury, has said the system should be loosened. House values have kept rising even after interest rates rose to the highest since 2001 last month. No Supply Response "In most normal markets, if the price of the good rises because of an increase in demand there's a supply response,'' Nickell said, speaking from his office at Oxford University, where he is a professor. "In the U.K. housing market, if the price goes up, there's no supply response.'' The Bank of England's nine-member policy today kept its benchmark rate at 5.5 percent, a six-year high. The bank's forecasts last month suggested rates would have to rise again this year to keep inflation to the 2 percent target. Nickell's view of the market contrasts with Vincent Tchenguiz, one of Britain's biggest residential property owners, who said in an April 27 interview that U.K. home prices are "very highly inflated'' and at risk of collapsing. Economists at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Capital Economics Ltd. also say the U.K. housing market may be overvalued. By Craig Stirling June 7 (Bloomberg) Stephen Nickell (Chair): is currently Warden of Nuffield College Oxford. He was an External Member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee from 2000 - 2006 writing a number of pieces on the subject of the UK housing market. Until 2005 he was School Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics, following his role from 1984 - 1998 as Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute of Economics and Statistics at the University of Oxford. He has also had earlier roles as an economist at the London School of Economics, in Paris and at the University of Princeton. He has been awarded a number of academic honours including Fellow of the British Academy and Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has published widely in numerous branches of applied economics. http://firstrung.co.uk/articles.asp?pageid=NEWS&articlekey=5646&cat=44-0-0]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=4
LONDON (Reuters) - House prices could rise by 40 percent during the next five years to an average 300,000 pounds because of a shortage of land on which to build new properties, a housing group said on Monday. The National Housing Federation, which represents non-profit housing associations, warned that young first-time buyers will be unable to get on the property ladder because prices will shoot up across England. "Our projections show that it isn't going to get any easier to buy a house in this country," the federation's chief executive David Orr told BBC radio. "House prices will break the 300,000 pound barrier by 2012. "At root the problem is a lack of supply. We do not have enough homes in the market to be able to accommodate everyone who needs a home. And therefore the price continues to go up. "We will not be able to house our children -- that is the consequence." He said the government's plan to build three million new homes was the "minimum requirement". "We have to have at least 70,000 new homes a year for affordable homes," he said. Orr called for a rapid increase in the availability of public sector land for development, increased government funding for social housing and faster planning processes. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20070805/tod-uk-india-necklace-b7e5c6f_1.html]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=5
Gordon Brown's plans for a massive construction programme to tackle the housing shortage will mean building millions of homes on green belt land, a think tank has said. The Prime Minister has put housing at the top of his agenda since he came to office, pledging to build three million new homes by 2020, mainly on previously developed brownfield sites. But a Social Market Foundation investigation concluded that around two million new homes would have to be built on either undeveloped countryside or on the green belt around major towns and cities. Mr Brown announced his plans to increase the rate of new development in a bid to address the shortage of new homes and the dramatic rise in house prices. Last month he told MPs: "Putting affordable housing within the reach not just of the few but the many is vital both to meeting individual aspirations and to securing a better future for the country." But Mr Brown pledged that the Government "will continue to protect robustly the land designated as green belt". Some 60% of the proposed new homes will be located on brownfield sites under the Government's plan. But the report casts doubt on the ability of brownfield land to support the proposed increase in development. The study said that even if the new homes were built on a density equivalent to London, only 2.1 million new homes could be built on brownfield land - and that would mean paving over parks and gardens. The report said that on a more realistic housing density, "almost two million homes would need to be built on non-previously developed land". Housing and Planning Minister Baroness Andrews said: "There will be no change to the robust protection of the greenbelt as the Housing Green Paper made clear last month. We believe it is possible to build the homes future generations need whilst protecting the environment and green spaces." ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=6
About two million homes will have to be built on greenfield sites to meet the prime minister's plans to tackle the housing shortage, a think tank warns. Gordon Brown has pledged three million homes will be built by 2020, mainly on previously developed brownfield sites. But a Social Market Foundation study claims two million homes would have to be built on undeveloped countryside or green belt around cities and towns. The government reiterated that it plans "robust protection" of the green belt. Realistic density Mr Brown has put housing at the top of his agenda since he became prime minister and announced plans to increase the rate of new development. He told MPs last month: "Putting affordable housing within the reach not just of the few but the many is vital both to meeting individual aspirations and to securing a better future for the country." But Mr Brown also pledged the government would "continue to protect robustly the land designated as green belt". Some 60% of the proposed new homes would be built on brownfield sites under government plans. But the SMF study suggests even if the new homes were built on a density equivalent to London only 2.1 million would be on brownfield land and this would mean some parks and gardens being paved over. The report found that on a more realistic housing density, "almost two million homes would need to be built on non-previously developed land". The SMF concluded: "It will not be possible, even if those living in towns and cities accept the loss of their gardens and parks, to meet the UK's housing needs through previously-developed land alone." 'Scrubland' It also suggested that the target of three million homes was "likely to be the minimum needed" as supply was failing to meet demand in a "fundamentally unbalanced" UK housing market. The SMF also added that the green belt, which was planned to prevent urban sprawl, contains ex-industrial sites and scrubland and "was not as green as people believe". The think tank suggests there may be a case for reconsidering the future of the green belt which often protects "neither wildlife nor areas of outstanding beauty". The SMF's director Ann Rossiter said the UK faced "tough choices" in meeting its housing need and had to tackle the "not in my backyard" mentality. She told BBC Radio Five Live: "We have to face the fact that if we want our kids and our friends' kids to have somewhere to live that's of a decent standard, those homes are going to have to go somewhere. "And maybe they have to go in the field next to our house, and maybe they have to go near the view that we've always loved - but that's the reality of the situation." Market forces But Richard Bate, from planning consultancy Green Balance, said the green belt served a number of crucial purposes. These included serving as a distinction between town and country, preventing parts of towns and cities becoming derelict and stopping nearby towns and cities merging into each other. "Simply letting the market rip in areas where it would like to go - very often in green belt areas - won't necessarily put development in the places that will do the most good for everybody in town and country alike," he told Radio 4's Today programme. Housing and Planning Minister Baroness Andrews said the government believed it was possible to build the homes needed by future generations while protecting the environment and green spaces. "Our clear priority for development will remain brownfield land - already 74% of new housing is being built on brownfield land, up from 57% in 1997," she said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6947138.stm ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=7
From Mr Stewart Baseley.

Sir, You are absolutely right to note that the planning system must allow more houses to be built. Between 1997 and 2003, the amount of land made available for new homes fell by 10 per cent. Yet the latest government figures show that new households are being formed at the rate of 223,000 per year, leaving a shortfall of 60,000 homes every year in England.

According to the government, if homebuilders are not able to increase supply, seven out of 10 of today's 10-year-olds will not be able to afford their own home as adults. This is in a country in which only 8 per cent of its land mass is urban - half the figure in The Netherlands and lower than Belgium, Denmark and Germany.

With the average home now costing 10 times a nurse's salary in London, those who advocate the restriction of the supply of land for new homes urgently need to face up to the consequences of their arguments.

Stewart Baseley,

Executive Chairman,

Home Builders Federation

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/ed10c6c2-ed49-11db-9520-000b5df10621.html ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=8
June 7, 2007 The future of house prices: 10 times pay Gabriel Rozenberg Economics Reporter The next generation of first-time buyers will face house prices equivalent to ten times their average incomes, putting home ownership out of reach for the majority of young people, a new government agency says today. The average home in England currently costs seven times annual earnings, but that is set to rise to ten times by 2026 even if the Government succeeds in its aim of sharply increasing the rate of homebuilding, the analysis reveals. Campaigners said that the developing crisis would “stop social mobility in its tracks”, and force young people to live in overcrowded conditions and take out ever-riskier mortgages. The stark warning comes from the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU), a government agency that officially comes into being today. New planning rules will force all councils to consider affordability and consult the expert panel when making planning decisions. Stephen Nickell, the Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, who chairs the NHPAU, said he accepted that he might become the focus of anger from “not in my backyard” home-owners if developments were driven through their neighbourhoods. “There may be some flak,” he said. “But we can’t order planners about. All we can do is say, ‘There are the consequences of your actions’.” Professor Nickell, a respected economist who until last year sat on the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates, said: “Demand for housing is growing and unless action is taken, pressure on the market will only get worse.” ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=9
George Wimpey, Britain's fourth largest housebuilder, is ready to up its spending on land to more than £1 billion a year to replenish its housing stock after pulling out of the £2 billion bid battle for Wilson Bowden last month. Further details at http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article1418956.ece ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:53 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=10
Homeowners will be able to build kitchen extensions, loft conversions and conservatories without planning permission under sweeping changes to speed up housing developments, The Times has learnt. The proposals, to be announced by Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, on Monday, are part of the biggest shake-up of planning laws for 20 years. They will be welcomed by thousands of would-be home improvers who cannot afford to move due to stamp-duty rises. But neighbours may find it much more difficult to stop extensions or conversions next door which could overlook their gardens or shut out some of their sunshine. At present homeowners have to pay up to £1,000, including drawings, to obtain planning permission for minor alterations which can take between eight and sixteen weeks. Permission is needed for solar panels, satellite dishes, wind turbines, loft conversions, porches and extensions to the back or sides of properties. Planning authorities process 350,000 domestic applications a year, of which more than 90 per cent are granted immediately because there is no damaging impact on a neighbour’s property. Under the new proposals, to be published in a consultation paper, most home improvement developments will be able to go ahead immediately provided that they comply with height and depth restrictions and meet an “impact test”. As a result councils will be able to focus their resources on more complex applications for the building of new homes. Those owning detached homes will be able to extend the width of their properties by 50 per cent without planning permission. They will be able to build out at the back by four metres and up to the height of the roof. They will also have much more flexibility to build garages and bike sheds in their gardens. The planning White Paper will also allow councils to fast-track small domestic and commercial extensions, unless they are proposing a change of use. These account for a further 300,000 small applications. In addition the paper will propose a new independent commission which will take decision-making on all major planning developments away from local communities. This will cover nuclear power stations, road and rail projects, airports and all big housing developments. The paper is also expected to make controversial proposals to allow more supermarkets on the edge of towns and change green-belt boundaries to allow more building on the urban fringe. All the proposals, backed by Gordon Brown, are designed to cut through bureaucracy and speed up economic development. Ministers are concerned about the relentless rise in household planning applications, up 11 per cent since 1995, as homeowners improve rather than move, which is clogging up the planning system. The changes to household planning alone are expected to reduce the number of domestic applications that have to be processed by 90,000 – 25 per cent of the total workload. A Whitehall source said: “The local planning system should support people’s aspirations to improve their homes rather than act as a barrier. Many people do not want to move but do want more room.” Planning experts last night welcomed moves to cut through red tape but gave warning that impact assessments could cause difficulties. Gideon Amos, chief executive of the Town and Country Planning Association, said: “Freeing up household applications must be used to speed up other major and more complex developments, not create problems.” http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/buying_and_selling/article1811274.ece ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:59:04 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=2
The booming property market has pushed the total value of Britain's private homes to a record level, according to the country's largest mortgage lender. The annual housing stock review from the Halifax showed the UK's private housing stock was worth £3.8 trillion in 2006, up by £410bn or 12% from the previous year. The rise is equivalent to four times the total budget for the National Health Service. While underlying retail price inflation has only come to 14% over the past five years, the value of residential housing has climbed by 78%. The latest figures will add weight to calls from campaigners and economists who argue for a tax on property or land price gains. Last year, for example, inheritance tax and stamp duty raised only £8bn, just 2% of the annual rise in housing value. The steep climb in property values means housing equity now significantly outweighs mortgage debt. While housing assets jumped by more than £400bn, mortgage balances increased by less than a quarter of this. "The UK's household balance sheet is in good shape," said Tim Crawford, economist at Halifax. "Total housing assets [£3.8 trillion] are now worth 3.5 times the overall level of housing debt. Ten years ago, 2.9 times was the equivalent figure." A breakdown of the data revealed that Northern Ireland saw the strongest rise in the value of its housing stock over the past five years, up 165%. The north saw the largest rise of the English regions, with a gain of 130% over the same period. However, every region has experienced gains of at least 50% since 2001. Cities accounted for over one-third of the value of total housing wealth at £1.3 trillion. London makes up around half of that figure, helped by demand from City workers looking to spend their annual bonuses. But northern cities have seen the sharpest rises in recent years, with Lincoln, Kingston-upon-Hull and Salford leading the way. Despite robust price rises in London and the south-east, the report said the north-south housing wealth gap had narrowed in the past five years. In 2006, the south accounted for 55% of total housing assets, compared with 62% five years ago. However, the Halifax said the north-south divide had held steady during the past year. http://money.guardian.co.uk/houseprices/story/0,,1990512,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1 ]]> Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:58:55 -0400 http://www.independentlandagent.com/index.php?page=news.html&newsid=1