First time buyers are a top priority in the Government's new housing Green Paper...

The Government plans to increase social housing and shared ownership housing in villages and will set a target for the number of affordable homes built in rural areas as part of plans announced today to help first-time buyers get on the housing ladder in the regions towns and villages.

The target is expected to be set this Autumn.

Actions to relieve pressure on rural housing hot-spots shot to the top of Housing Minister Yvette Cooper’s agenda as she set out a package of proposals aimed at tackling the rural ‘housing crisis’.

Steps set out in today’s Green Paper include:

• A taskforce (the Housing Corporation’s Rural Housing Advisory Group) to look into how to better meet the challenges faced in rural communities.
  
  
• Seven new innovative schemes (Community Land Trusts) to be set up in rural areas with the aim of boosting supply and financing of affordable housing.  The seven chosen areas are:  Holdsworthy in Devon, St Miniver in Cornwall, Buckland Newton in Dorset, Worth Matravers in Dorset, Carhampton and Withycombe in Somerset, Bishops Castle in Shropshire, Chipping in Lancashire.

The plans build on recent changes to planning policy (PPS3) giving councils more power to address demand for affordable housing – including the power to set affordable housing thresholds for smaller sites.

Commitment to quality

The pledge to boost supply and improve affordability came alongside a commitment to provide high quality housing that contributes to the creation and maintenance of sustainable rural communities in market towns and villages.

Rural towns and villages are already sharing in a quarter of a billion pounds set aside for more affordable housing between 2006/08.

The cash is helping to deliver 6,000 homes in small towns and villages with populations under 10,000.

There were almost 3,000 more new affordable homes built in rural areas last year compared with the previous year - a rise of over 40 per cent.

More than 50 per cent of local councils with the highest house prices to income ratio are in rural areas.

Only one in ten (11 per cent) homes in rural areas are social housing for rent – half the proportion in urban areas (21 per cent). New guidance will be drawn together for rural communities on how to get more affordable homes.

Immense task ahead

Robert Bryant-Pearson, Chief Executive, Allied Surveyors commented: “The existing planning process is cumbersome and slow. The Government’s plans to intervene and override local authority decisions should, in the long term, significantly help to ease the current housing shortage and help to eliminate NIMBYISM which is prevalent in much of our society.

 “However, a number of key issues, such as the heightened concern around global warming and the recent flooding needs the Government’s urgent attention. 

 “Previously, flood risk areas have been looked at on the basis of a one in 100 years event.  Insurers will now read that as one in 10 and, as a result, much of the home owning public will be forced to face the consequences.

“Prospective purchasers of homes in flood plains will be unable to secure a mortgage if they can't get insurance. Those people who are able get flood insurance may struggle to afford escalating premiums as those of us who 'risk assess' our locations as flood free, may object to paying extra for something we don't think we will require.

“As a result, allowing further building in flood plains should only be contemplated against a backdrop of improved flood defences and greatly enhanced storm water drainage.  Much of East London, for example, is below sea level. Whilst Hilary Benn and others refer to the Thames Barrier, this will be of little use when the water from the Thames, in full flood, is on course to meet a higher sea level held back by the Thames Barrier.

More land needed

David Bexon, Managing Director, SmartNewHomes.com, observed:  “With plans to improve nearly every area of the house building and planning process immediately, I fear these initiatives could be more of a wish list than a realistic programme. What we now need from Government is action and not words.

“Today’s paper promises some significant changes ahead which, if the Government is successful in achieving, will see the housing market undergo a drastic transformation over the next decade.

“Underpinning the success of any future housing plans is the availability of more land for development. If we are to stand any realistic chance of reaching Governments latest targets of an additional two million homes by 2016 then we need the land where we can build these homes, and we need it now.

“The recent weather conditions have highlighted the dangers involved in building on flood plains but this has and will continue to happen if we do not see drastic steps taken to release alternative land. We have been promised the release of Government owned land and tighter controls to force local authorities to release more land and to approve more planning applications but we need to see this start to happen – not in the near future but now, today.”

Team effort

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) responded positively to the Green Paper.  David Butler, CIH Chief Executive, said: “The whole of the housing sector has worked together to argue the case for a significant increase in the amount of affordable housing – including of social housing to rent – and we are delighted that the Government has accepted this case and backed it with a real increase in funding.

“The scale of the crisis is such that no one solution will be sufficient so I’m also pleased to see a role for local authorities and ALMOs in providing the much-needed new homes – and a suggestion that the Government will look further at the Buy-To-Let and particularly problematic Buy-To-Leave-Empty markets.”

He continued “It’s a comprehensive paper so we need some time to work through the detail but the headline commitment to continued work on Council and ALMO self-financing, the commitment to on-going funding for the ALMO decent homes programme and the moves on new build housing and climate change are also all welcome. We would, however, urge the Government not to forget about the wider post-John Hills reform agenda and the issues associated with the existing housing stock – housing that almost all of us live in”

Fresh approach needed

Nick Starling, the ABI’s Director of General Insurance and Health, said: “We need new homes. But they must be built in the right place and to the right design. The devastation caused by the recent floods shows the importance of planning for the future.

“We need a fresh approach to house building to take account of the increasing risk of flooding and to ensure sustainable communities. New homes should not be built in high-risk areas of the floodplain. They must be planned and designed with flooding in mind, with greater use of flood-resilient building materials.”