Transcript Laying the Foundations: A housing strategy for England

Government’s Public
Land Programme
Daniel Greaves
Deputy Director, Housing Supply & Markets
Structure of presentation
• Why is Government focused on
accelerating the release of public land?
• What is Government doing to press this
agenda forward?
• Where are the opportunities?
2
Housing supply is a key political priority
“One of the most important things
each generation can do for the
next is to build high quality homes
that will stand the test of time”.
“A housing offer fit for the 21st
century, providing new homes in the
right places, is…vital for our future
economic competitiveness…”
“…a clear and pressing need for
more homes to meet growing
demand…”
Housing strategy
• Ambitious package of measures to boost
the supply of new homes – nearly £1bn of
new investment:
 New Buy Guarantee – to help
prospective buyers
 £420m Get Britain Building investment
fund
 £500m Growing Places Fund for
enabling infrastructure
 PM commitment to release public land
with capacity for 100k homes
4
Why focus on public land?
• Lack of viable, permissioned land is a constraint on housing
growth
• A significant proportion of land suitable for development sits
within public land-holdings (c. 40%)
• Much of it is in areas where there is significant need and
demand
• Accelerating release can support Government’s key objectives
of growth and deficit reduction
"The Government is one of the country's biggest
landlords, so at a time when we desperately
need more homes, we have a critical role in
making new sites available for developers and
communities.”
5
What’s the Problem?
• Lack of urgency – Ministers believe that some departments and
public bodies have been slow to release their land
• Lack of transparency – developers and community groups
sometimes find it difficult to get details about Government’s surplus
land.
• Current economic climate – constrained confidence and credit a
significant barrier to effective disposal
• Capacity and expertise can be an issue
"Up to 40 per cent of the land ready for
development in this country is simply sitting
idle in the hands of the public sector…”
6
What is Government doing?
• There are a number of strands to the programme:
 Developing land release strategies (e.g. for HCA, MoD, DfT) and
holding Departments to account for performance
 Build Now, Pay Later – to help make disposals digestible to the
market
 Technical support – HCA support through on-line tools and
specialist services such as the Advisory Team for Large
Applications – advising on preparation of large and complex
sites for release
 Commercial advice – Expert Advisory Group led by Tony Pidgley
to provide practical advice
 Working corporately to address barriers
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Land release strategies
For the first time HCA and four major landholding departments have
published disposal strategies and these are available on line
Homes & Communities Agency
http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/hca-launchesdevelopment-and-land-disposal-strategy
Ministry of Defence:
www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/DIO/OurPublications/Cor
porateInformation
/DefenceInfrastructureInterimLandAndPropertyDisposalStrategy.ht
m
Department of Health:
www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/Publicati
onsPolicyAndGuidance/
DH_129982
Department for Transport: www.dft.gov.uk/publications/landstrategy/
Department for the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs: www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2011/10/05
/pb13628-public-sector-land/
These have been scrutinised by a Cabinet Committee and there will
be ongoing challenge to ensure they are delivering
8
Progress to date – capacity
Five land disposal strategies published setting out details of sites to be
released over the Spending Review period
Dept/ Agency
Land capacity
(housing units)
Homes & Communities Agency
11,000
Ministry of Defence
29,500
Department of Health
11,000
Department for Transport
3,500
Department for Environment, Food
& Rural Affairs
10,000
Taking account of public land already disposed of, gives us capacity for over
80,000 housing units
Next step is to take the programme broader and deeper – progress report at
Budget
9
What’s this mean in London?
• The land release strategies identify potential sites in London that
could deliver significant housing capacity –
• New Covent Garden Market - a 57 acre site, in Vauxhall, South
London, to be redeveloped to provide a new modern market, 2300
apartments, a hotel, shops, a major grocery store and community
facilities including a food industry training suite.
• NHS sites including  London Chest Hospital, 1.43 ha (due for release December
2015)
 Hedgecock Centre, 1ha (release due May 2012)
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Build Now, Pay Later
• Departments have committed to use BNPL on as much land as possible –
 For the developer – eases cashflow
 For the landowner – likely to attract a deeper pool of bidders
 For Government as a whole – unlocks homes and jobs
• A summary note on BNPL has been published on the DCLG website and
guidance on the use of BNPL issued to departments
• BNPL can be delivered through a variety of models, and each site will be
considered in terms of market demand, representing value for money and
being affordable – for example it was used at Blackwall Reach
Blackwall Reach, Tower Hamlets
Owned by Tower Hamlets Council, the development has
been underway since 2007 with plans to demolish the
1960s Robin Hood Gardens housing estate currently on
the site. The new plans include creating over 1,600 new
homes, nearly 700 of which will be affordable. Construction
work will involve a partnership between the Council, the
Homes and Communities Agency and the developers
Swan/Countryside, with the land sold under the new Build
Now, Pay Later scheme.
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Support Offer
• HCA has significant practical expertise and experience of bringing
forward disposals. On-line tools and specialist services to speed up
land release, such as ATLAS
12
Progress - transparency
•
Through Community Right to Reclaim Land we are being more transparent
and enabling communities to get underused public property back in use - so
public sector bodies do not unnecessarily sit on underused land or property
•
Last summer we launched a demonstrator map to show land and buildings
owned by almost 600 public sector bodies in England
http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/1960942
•
Increasing transparency about Government
propperty holdings - http://data.gov.uk/
13
Where are the opportunities?
• Collaborative work to rationalise public estate – learning
from the Capital and Asset Pathfinder programme
• Transparency – building awareness of what is out there
• Pooling expertise – working together to develop tools and
resources
14