Transcript Title of presentation EVENT DATE

ESRC seminar:
Housing and planning futures: delivering
homes and sites: setting the context
Siân Sankey, Policy Manager, CIH
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Overview of today
• To set the context for Gypsy Traveller housing
policy in relation to housing needs/supply
• Investment in housing supply and affordable
homes
• Traveller pitch funding, new homes bonus funding
• GT numbers and housing need
• Localism Act and National Planning Policy
Framework
• Potential mainstream housing policy and relevance
for GT communities
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Investment in housing supply
Direct investment
Supporting investment
• £1.8bn for 170,000 sub-market
rent
• £300m for 15,000 affordable
homes & 5000 empties
• £200m for 5000 private rented
homes
• £570m for 16,000 stalled homes
through Get Britain Building
• £30m for self build
• £60m for Traveller sites 20112015
• Debt guarantees up to £10bn
• Support for REITs and Build to Let
• Public sector land release / Build
Now Pay Later
• S106 renegotiation
• Planning appeals on viability
• Experts to help councils
• £730m Growing Places for
infrastructure
• Community Right to Build
• New Buy
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Housing development stats
• Need 232,000 new homes per year
• 5 million households will form in next 20 years
• Only 114,160 homes built in 2011 (7% up on
2010)
• Building starts down 30% since government took
office
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Traveller Pitch Funding
Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) – funding for
Traveller pitches provided in similar manner as
funding for affordable housing
• £60 million 2011 – 2015, bids on a continuous
process but only 4/32 bids signed so far
• However:
No regional criteria so funding not necessarily going to
areas that need it
 Many bids don’t have approved planning applications
so may not get built
 FewerLearn
bids
expected
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
New homes bonus funding
• Match funding for LA for increasing new housing supply –
funding for new builds; for converting empty properties;
extra funding if affordable housing (£350 a property); and
funding for provision of new GT pitches
• Funding equivalent to 6 years council tax funding –
around £1400 a property a year (band D)
• Is this sufficiently attractive to LA/councillors to increase
GT site provision in local areas?
• July 2011 – July 2012
 184 new pitches built (96 pitches social rented
pitches and 88 private rented funded pitches)
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Gypsy Traveller caravan numbers
• Only ethnic group we count twice a year…are these
the real figures?
• July 2012 – 19400 caravans, of which:
• 84% on authorised sites
6800 social rented (increased 200 from July 2011)
 9400 private sites (increased 1300 from July 2011)

• 16% unauthorised sites
1800 unauthorised development GT land (decreased
200)
 1400 unauthorised encampment not GT land
(decreased
600
but with
540us.due
towith
Essex
festival in 2011) 7
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
What is housing need?
• Strategic v individual and need v demand
• Normative concept - judgement call about what
is considered need on an acceptable standard
• Decisions on priority basis?
• Localised decision making now key through
allocations process
• But – in context of electability, political stability,
local agendas and leadership …
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Gypsy Traveller housing need
• 3200 caravans on unauthorised sites in July 2012
• Doesn’t include those in housing who want to go
back to sites
• BUT: very small numbers in comparison to the
need for 232,000 properties a year overall
• Hence difficult political picture for development
of new sites but pressure to ‘deal with’
unauthorised sites
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Localism Act 1
• Decision making locally through decentralisation
• Bigger powers to communities

Could argue in giving power to LA and residents – this has
taken away from GT communities
• Removal of regional spatial strategies


Loss of GT pitch numbers at regional/local level
LA becoming seat of contentious pitch allocations/site delivery
• Councillor role changed

Communication role between resident groups/neighbourhood
fora increased but role between LA/GT groups not necessarily
more visible
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Localism Act 2: mechanisms
• Neighbourhood planning

‘To empower communities to have more say in development in
their area’; local people taking an interest in planning, shaping
what development looks like in their area and incentivised to
accept increase in supply
• Community right to bid and right to challenge


Take over local community facilities assets of community value
Allows community groups to challenge LA service delivery
• Community right to reclaim land

Underused land by public bodies
• Duty to cooperate - between councils/public bodies in plan
making and engagement
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National Planning Policy Framework
(NPPF) and Gypsy Travellers
• I’m sure the RTPI will say more on this…
• GT planning site guidance published separately
to main NPPF; not incorporated yet into main
framework - but many of same principles
Still need to engage GT communities in
accommodation needs
 5 years worth of sites and more
 12 month transitional period before 5 year land
supply must be demonstrated otherwise will be
material consideration in temp planning
permissions

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Clear government focus on
private sector supply …
• Clear government focus on private sector delivery
of supply
Montague report into institutional investment in PRS;
 REITS real estate investment trusts for social housing;
 Use of Pension funds for housing delivery;
 Developers solving the housing crisis

• BUT… GT sites aren’t built by large scale house
builders/developers, pension funds or investment
vehicles so private sector influence on site
design/planning/building/management is minimal
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Potential mainstream housing policy and
relevance for GT communities
• What current areas of housing policy could GT
community groups, LAs/housing providers look
at to fund/build GT sites?
Access to land via public sector land release
schemes
 Custom build/self build schemes
 Increasing use of community land trusts (e.g.
Wessex projects in Somerset and Mendip)
 GT resident groups accessing empty property
funding – homesteading/employment

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Training/good practice
• What seems to be needed?
Training in site design/management (LA/housing
providers and community groups)
 Training in understanding site GT culture (Councillors,
planners, neighbourhood groups)

• 1) Level 3 national certificate in traveller site
management and housing practice – CIH accredited
• 2) Understanding GT culture/society - Housing EAcademy course
• 3) Contentious spaces JRF/DMU 2007
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L3 Nat Cert Traveller site management
and housing practice
• CIH accredited; offered by AdEd Knowledge Company;
• Norfolk successful programme 2011
• Who: site managers, GT community, stakeholders, LA,
health, fire, police services (12 students)
 No formal education requirements
• What: 2 days a month for 6 months,
• Covers: Grounding in history/culture, legislation and
planning rights, access to services, ownership and
management of sites, and site design
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L3 Nat Cert Traveller site management
and housing practice
• Outcomes: 2 students to further accredited learning; 1
full time employment; 1 self employment;
• And increased understanding of GT needs by service
providers, shared context
• Needs funding and supporting by stakeholders – this
one had funding from HCA, LA and statutory partners
service providers (Fire/Police etc)
• Previous programmes also similar outcomes!
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Understanding Gypsy and Irish Traveller
Identity in Society
• 2 hour online course developed with Leeds Gypsy
and Traveller Exchange (GATE)
• Delivered by Housing E-Academy and Virtual
College [email protected]
• www.housingea.co.uk/Gypsy_IrishTravellers
• Course covers:

Past/current and future issues; way of life;
attitudes/media’ social and political context in UK
• Who for:

Anyone with an interest in and wants to learn about
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GT population
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Providing Contentious Spaces
• Providing Gypsy and Traveller Sites:
Contentious spaces 2007 JRF/DMU/CIH
• JRF bookshop - contentious spaces
• CIH bookshop - JRF contentious spaces
• Identifies case studies; management of sites;
management of unauthorised sites; leadership
issues in localities; consideration of new site
development
• Still relevant, still good practice
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Contact
• Sian Sankey,
• CIH Policy Manager
• Chartered Institute of Housing
• Email: [email protected]
• Tel: 024 76 85 1741
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