Good morning.
House prices in the UK have soared over the last 15 years. 1.3 million people are on local authority social housing waiting lists. In the last three months of 2023, there was a 16% increase in the number of people who were made homeless, and last year rough sleeping rose by 27%. Last summer, 109,000 households were living in temporary accommodation, up by 10% year on year. Projections show that if nothing changes, nearly five million households will live in unaffordable housing by 2030.
The scale of England’s housing crisis is staggering. Labour has promised to tackle it head on, with the new chancellor, Rachel Reeves, pledging to build 1.5m homes over the next five years. It is an ambitious target that would create levels of housebuilding not seen since the 1950s. Yet, despite this, yesterday Britain’s biggest housebuilder announced it expects to build fewer houses this year than last.
For today’s newsletter, I spoke with the Guardian’s social affairs correspondent, Robert Booth, about Labour’s new housing proposals and how likely it is that the party will be able to fulfil them. That’s right after the headlines.
Author Archives: gambba
Our Divided Nation Examined and Exposed
open.substack.com/pub/mattgoodwin/p/terrorists-or-freedom-fighters
Matt has confirmed what I long suspected. The institutions that impact the very fabric of life in this country are being steadily undermined by political ideologies alien to our way of life.
How Gove is Repeating All of John Prescott’s Greatest Planning Policy Mistakes
Get elected, screw it all up, repeat. It’s a depressing cycle when you read it like that isn’t it? Doesn’t seem to matter what Party is in control, they all have their own particular way to damage the planning system.
Although they claim to start off overhauling the planning system with the best of intentions, their changes always end up making things worse for communities and for those needing a home. Political interference and expedience always beats sound planning arguments.
History repeats itself, ‘first as tragedy, second as farce’ as a certain well known German writer said. No more so than in the field of Planning …
How Gove is Repeating All of John Prescott’s Greatest Planning Policy Mistakes
Gove – Back to the 2011 Localism Act – Gove ‘making neighbourhood planning universal and the ultimate arbiter of local development’
Telegraph Hasn’t this been tried before. Did it work in raising housing numbers? Michael Gove is to launch a paper advocating “community-powered …
Gove – Back to the 2011 Localism Act – Gove ‘making neighbourhood planning universal and the ultimate arbiter of local development’
This article says it all. What planet is Gove on? We have elections so that the population of an area can elect people to make these decisions on their behalf. So now he and a group of his his most recently elected successors at Westminster have decided that the current system is not good enough.
They have come up with a s system that will effectively see many more decisions made by what can only be described as a collection of parish councils. Peoples’ panels will have control and decision making powers on development and some local services. Heaven help those communities that’s all I can say.
Street Votes Via Neighbourhood Development Orders – A tactically stupid combination that takes Planning Reform Backwards @ChrisPincher
I have ask how the levels of development required to meet the current housing needs will be achieved in the future, with this sort of tool in the hands of the NIMBY brigade?
Telegraph Neighbours will be given a vote on the design of housing developments on their road, in an olive branch to Tory rebels who oppose the …
Street Votes Via Neighbourhood Development Orders – A tactically stupid combination that takes Planning Reform Backwards @ChrisPincher
Bob Seeley MP Admits Opposition of Planning Reform is Just Opposition to Housing Numbers and Embracing Nimbys
He may not like the term NIMBY, but it sums up what every person feels when somebody tells you things are going to change where you live and it will effect you.
Telegraph Around 100 Conservative MPs are preparing to fight changes this autumn to planning rules which they fear could lead to unsightly …
Bob Seeley MP Admits Opposition of Planning Reform is Just Opposition to Housing Numbers and Embracing Nimbys
Unfortunately, the consistent and longstanding resistance that has become embedded in the shires and high demand areas of our country and has been supported by their MPs, has created the issues we are now facing. Had there been a steady incremental increase in housing numbers, keeping pace with the local demand, including the most affordable in the most expensive areas, a target of 300,000+ new dwelling a year, wouldn’t be needed.
Name calling is not a great way to get everybody on the same page with these new planning reforms and it’s probably expecting too much to ever expect that to happen. Unfortunately, neither is the government’s tinkering and cherry picking other country’s systems. Constant stretching of permitted development rights and the numerous eyesores this has created in residential areas, is a perfect example.
The Times – New use it or lose it Proposal – Deadlines combined with Levies
The Times – New use it or lose it Proposal – Deadlines combined with Levies
The Times – New use it or lose it Proposal – Deadlines combined with Levies
ONS have underestimated Working Age Migrants by 1.4 Million, Will Mean Housing Targets will go up not down after Brexit
Many local authorities who have large numbers of east European Migrants have long suspected this, with NHS and School rolls records widely at …
ONS have underestimated Working Age Migrants by 1.4 Million, Will Mean Housing Targets will go up not down after Brexit
Like Lying to a Spoilt Child to Avoid A Tantrum – How National Policy on Greenfield Sites Appears to Say One Thing and Means Another
Nick Boles was at least straightforward. We need to build more houses and that means more greenfield sites in local plans. That scared the horses. …
Like Lying to a Spoilt Child to Avoid A Tantrum – How National Policy on Greenfield Sites Appears to Say One Thing and Means Another
Defining ‘Left Behindness’ and a Planning Solution
Part of the problem with the ‘levelling up’ agenda as commonly reported on is a lack of definition. It is an international issue: Danny McKinnon …
Defining ‘Left Behindness’ and a Planning Solution
Interesting to note a point I’ve been making about South Holland for the last 15-20 years endorsed here.
Roger Gambba-Jones 