Mayors to get new powers to speed up housing delivery

Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister and secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said: “We were elected on a promise of change, not just for a few areas cherry-picked by a Whitehall spreadsheet, but for the entire country.

“It was never going to be easy to deliver the growth our country desperately needed with the inheritance we were dumped with.

“But that’s why we are opting to devolve, not dictate, and delivering a bill that will rebalance decade-old divides and empower communities.

“We’re ushering in a new dawn of regional power and bringing decision-making to a local level, so that no single street or household is left behind and every community thrives from our Plan for Change.”

The bill will also make local ownership of pubs, shops and social hubs easier through a new Community Right to Buy. This means communities will have the first opportunity to purchase local assets when they are put up for sale, and be given an extended 12-month period to raise funding.

There will be a ban on upward-only rent review clauses in commercial leases, which pit landlords against businesses and can make rents unaffordable and cause shops to shut.

There will also be a new requirement for local authorities to put in place effective neighbourhood governance to give residents more of a say in shaping their local areas.

Jim McMahon, minister of state for local government and English devolution, added: “For too long, power and opportunity have been concentrated in Westminster and Whitehall, while the local councils millions rely on have been frustrated and diminished.

“This failed approach has held back growth across our country for far too long. Local people see this in the job market, on the high street and in their own household security and prosperity.

“Devolution begins the work of fixing that, with this bill delivering freedom to local leaders to make decisions for their local areas in partnership with local communities, unleashing more growth and more opportunities for people as part of our Plan for Change.”

Paul Dolan, chief executive of Riverside housing association, said: “We warmly welcome the introduction of the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.

“As one of the largest providers of social housing and homelessness services, we currently operate across 159 local authority areas. We repeatedly see the need for more local decision-making powers and more funding to help councils and communities to build new homes, amenities and infrastructure.

“As an organisation, we have seen first-hand how regeneration projects improve the quality of homes, neighbourhoods and the health and economic prospects of their residents.

“The new devolution powers will help to unlock more urban and suburban regeneration projects across England, while also increasing the supply of social and affordable homes which people desperately need.”

The Royal Town Planning Institute said the bill represented a “significant step forward” in extending mayoral planning and regeneration powers outside London. 

However, Robbie Calvert, head of policy and public affairs at the organisation, warned that there will be practical challenges in rolling out changes.

He said: “Equipping elected mayors with extensive new delivery powers could strengthen investor confidence across all types of development and help accelerate the delivery of much-needed housing and infrastructure.

“The bill also lays out further wide-ranging duties, including addressing health inequalities strategically across various areas.

“We are encouraged by the additional clarity the bill brings on the role of strategic planning authorities in coordinating development across wider areas, which has the potential to deliver better outcomes for communities.

“However, we remain concerned about the practical challenges of implementation – in particular, the resourcing gap, with 150-200 additional planners likely to be needed to deliver strategic development strategies effectively.

“It is also vital that communities are brought with us on this devolution journey. Meaningful community engagement must be embedded in the preparation of strategic development strategies to ensure the benefits of growth are widely shared.”

At a conference last month, Inside Housing reported councils said they faced a “real challenge” in attracting talent and upping their capacity to leverage greater devolution to meet local housing needs.