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Government to bolster councils' CPO powers to speed up housing delivery
WHITE PAPER: The government will prepare new guidelines to encourage councils to use compulsory purchase order (CPO) powers to intervene in the housing market and stimulate new building.
As part of the White Paper on housing, the government has outlined plans which would see “more active use of compulsory purchase powers to promote development on stalled sites for housing” that would in theory see land taken away from under-performing developers.
The plans form part of a wider initiaitve to strengthen the powers of local authorities to speed up and build housing, and follows widely trailed reports of a “use it or lose it” power to force developers to build.
Key White Paper announcements so far
- Standardised mechanism for setting housing delivery targets for councils’ local plans
- New guidelines to encourage compulsory purchase of undeveloped land
- A new rent standard for the social housing sector post-2020
- Dropping of the 20% threshold for Starter Homes and the 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020 target
- Councils to include Right to Buy in homes built through new council companies
“We propose to encourage more active use of compulsory purchase powers to promote development on stalled sites for housing. The government will prepare new guidance to local planning authorities following separate consultation, encouraging the use of their compulsory purchase powers to support the build out of stalled sites.”
The government has also confirmed plans which were circulated yesterday to shorten the timescales for developers to implement permission from three years to two, but only in circumstances when the viability of a site isn’t put in jeopardy.
The new measures include looking at a particular applicant’s track record of delivery on other housing schemes, which will be taken into account when deciding planning applications on large-scale sites.
The White Paper states: “We are considering the implications of amending national planning policy to encourage local authorities to shorten the timescales for developers to implement a permission for housing development from the default period of three years to two years, except where a shorter timescale could hinder the viability or deliverability of a scheme. We would particularly welcome views on what such a change would mean for SME developers.
“We will investigate whether auctions, following possession of the land, are sufficient to establish an unambiguous value for the purposes of compensation payable to the claimant, where the local authority has used their compulsory purchase powers to acquire the land.”
Speaking at the launch of the White Paper, communities secretary Sajid Javid said that the government would “hold developers to account”. In a speech to the Commons Mr Javid said: “Local authorities have a vital role to play and will look at how they can use CPOs to stimulate housebuilding.”
Mr Javid also mentioned that the government is consulting on the option of allowing local authorities to hold auctions for the land following compulsory purchase orders.
