You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Councils 'should be forced to provide brownfield land data'
Councils should be forced to supply data on surplus land to the proposed new London Land Commission.
That is one of a number of recommendations to increase the release of brownfield land outlined in a report by the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) today.
The report argues that the London Land Commission, announced by George Osborne in February, needs more powers to ensure it can get the information it needs to help tackle the housing crisis. The commission is intended to be a database of surplus brownfield land.
The report said less than half of councils provided information on brownfield land during a count by the Homes and Communities Agency in 2012.
LCCI said it tried to update this sample using requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) but 15 boroughs did not respond or said they did not have the information.
Colin Stanbridge, chief executive of LCCI, said: ‘Little action can be taken by the London Land Commission until it has at least a basic understanding of the brownfield land owned by local councils.’
The report makes a number of other recommendations (see box) including calling for the Greater London Authority to dispose of public land in London.
LCCI’s recommendations to help tackle the housing crisis in London:
- The government should honour the £1m annual funding commitment to the London Land Commission
- Governmental responsibility should rest with the housing minister. The minister should also sit on the commission’s board and have the power to compel government agencies to comply with its aims
- The Greater London Authority (GLA) should be given the task of disposing of government department land assets in Greater London
- London local authorities should be duty-bound to supply data on surplus land to the commission and identify a single responsible department
- Local authorities should work with business to help small developers to enter the market to dispose of smaller sites
- Local authorities working well within this framework should be awarded greater fiscal freedom as an incentive
