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Councils need the freedom to build balanced communities
Does the rush to solve the housing crisis run the risk of creating unbalanced communities? Cllr Michelle Lowe of Sevenoaks District Council warns that local authorities must be given the flexibility to build a strong, functioning society.
The current housing crisis and critical need for more affordable homes across the country is focusing everyone’s minds about how to achieve more homebuilding across all tenures as quickly as possible.
The danger with this approach is that it could be done at the expense of balanced communities where, for instance, affordable housing is concentrated in one area, thus storing up more social and economic problems in the future.
In last week’s edition of Inside Housing, Housing & Finance Institute boss Natalie Elphicke argued that lifting the borrowing cap only for those councils with a Housing Revenue Account leaves about half the country without this new flexibility. She said more support is needed for all councils if we want to turn additional money into additional homes.
There are a number of council areas where housing associations may not be building as many new homes as they could be. Usually, these areas have high land values and difficult planning restrictions.
As a result, the number of homes they can build in any one development may be small and can take a disproportionate amount of time and resources.
Consequently, some housing associations focus their energies in areas with lower land values and fewer planning restrictions, where they can build more properties.
This business model may work for the housing associations, but it can produce perverse results for communities.
High land value areas with planning restrictions such as national park or the green belt often have the greatest need for affordable homes, but are frequently overlooked by housing associations.
If this trend continues we will end up with huge swathes of affordable homes in some areas, and very little in others – creating unbalanced communities with social and economic problems.
A community needs people of every age and every income group in order to flourish.
“High land value areas with planning restrictions such as national park or green belt often have the greatest need for affordable homes, but are frequently overlooked by housing associations.”
Local councils are the only bodies with a democratic mandate for their areas, and therefore the only bodies 100% committed to the holistic economic and social welfare of their residents, to whom they are directly accountable.
Out of frustration, many have set up housing companies to supplement the work of their housing associations to deliver more homes for residents where they are needed.
It is a shame that councils that are committed enough to increase the supply of affordable homes by setting up these companies are not given additional freedoms and flexibilities.
Areas with too many affordable homes, and not enough executive homes, can struggle to attract businesses that need executive homes for their senior managers.
Those without enough lower-paid workers will suffer without care homes and other businesses that rely on them.
Local councils are best placed to understand their own social and economic needs and how housing fits into that.
To create strong, functioning communities for the future, it is essential that councils operate on a balanced planning field with each other – so that we build a Britain fit for the future.
