• Home
  • About
  • Subscribe
  • LATIF
  • Conferences
  • Dashboard
  • Edit My Profile
  • Log In
  • Logout
  • Register
  • Edit this post

Room 151

  • 151 BRIEF

    What's New?

  • LGA calls for government support as regulators face staffing issues

    May 19, 2022

  • WMCA signs £4bn investment agreement with L&G

    May 18, 2022

  • Bill will give UK Infrastructure Bank power to lend directly to councils

    May 18, 2022

  • £400bn pension group collaborates on climate transition initiative

    May 17, 2022

  • CIPFA rejects proposal for vote on publication of fraud hub report

    May 17, 2022

  • John Turnbull elected president of the SLT

    May 12, 2022

  • Treasury
  • Technical
  • Funding
  • Resources
  • LGPS
  • Development
  • 151 News
  • Blogs
    • David Green
    • Agent 151
    • Dan Bates
    • Richard Harbord
    • Stephen Sheen
    • James Bevan
    • Steve Bishop
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • David Crum
    • Graham Liddell
    • Ian O’Donnell
    • Jackie Shute
  • Interviews
  • Briefs

Housing strategy reveals funding boost for planning departments

0
  • by Colin Marrs
  • in Development · Funding
  • — 9 Feb, 2017

Photo: DagMary/pixabay

Councils are set to be handed new financial powers to boost housebuilding under proposals unveiled in this week’s housing white paper.

The government announced that it will allow local authorities to increase nationally set planning fees by 20% from July 2017.

The ring-fenced cash could also be accompanied by a further rise for authorities delivering high numbers of new homes, the consultation document said.

It said: “We are also minded to allow an increase of a further 20% for those authorities who are delivering the homes their communities need and we will consult further on the detail.

“Alongside we will keep the resourcing of local authority planning departments, and where fees can be charged, under review.”

The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) welcomed the move, but said that it did not go far enough, particularly with new burdens also announced in the white paper.

It said: “RTPI has strongly campaigned for more resources to be given to local authority planning departments and welcomes the government’s plans to allow local authorities to raise fees for planning applications up by 20% to be reinvested in local planning authorities (LPAs).

The government housing white paper

“However we are concerned that these measures may not be sufficient to mitigate for years of under investment and resources need to be made available to enable the LPAs to cope with the demands the new government policies outlined today will place on them.”

It also said that the white paper failed to mention mechanisms which would capture rising private land values to provide more social housing and infrastructure.

Stephanie Pollitt, assistant director of real estate at the British Property Federation, welcomed the measure. She told Room151: “Local authority planning departments are facing a resource crisis and we believe that this step will go some way in helping to alleviate the financial burdens planning departments currently face.”

Elsewhere in the white paper, the government announced an additional £25m for authorities in areas of high housing need to plan for new homes and infrastructure.

However, the document shied away from heeding demands from the council sector to remove borrowing caps on housing revenue accounts, merely saying that it would “explore options to encourage local authorities to build again”.

In addition, it will consult on plans to allow councils to dispose of land at less than best consideration, as well as new powers to assemble land for development.

Terrie Alafat, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “It is also an important step forward that government has recognised the need for councils to play an important role in house building.

“The key now is that local authorities, many of which are under increasing financial pressure, get the support they need to deliver on this ambition.”

But Martin Tett, housing spokesman at the Local Government Association, said that even more needs to be done to help councils reduce their waiting lists.

He said: “For this to happen, councils desperately need the powers and access to funding to resume their historic role as a major builder of affordable homes.

“This means being able to borrow to invest in housing and to keep 100% of the receipts from properties sold through Right to Buy to replace homes and reinvest in building more of the genuine affordable homes our communities desperately need.”

Sean Nolan, director of local government at CIPFA, said: “There are still vital roles for housing associations and councils in providing affordable housing for rent or to buy, but to do this they must be allowed greater freedom and flexibility to build new homes and replace existing stock reduced under right to buy, something that has been denied them in recent years.”

Get the Room151 Newsletter

Share

You may also like...

  • Funding structures and old tech threaten recruitment of best financial talent 9th Jul, 2021
  • Course aims to aid move from private sector to council accounting 29th Sep, 2021
  • ‘Better governance and greater transparency’ could help improve financial decision making 25th Feb, 2021
  • Stephen Fitzgerald: “Fast cash” may provide the answer to critical budget challenges 24th Feb, 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

  • Register to become a Room151 user

  • Latest tweets

    Room151 20 hours ago

    Treasury to restrict PWLB loans to councils at risk of non-repayment: The Treasury has released new guidance that restricts local authorities’ access to Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) advances if there is a “more than negligible risk” of a council’s… dlvr.it/SQhLTV pic.twitter.com/vBsS7xMJdb

    Room151 20 hours ago

    Mixed reaction to proposed government intervention powers: There has been a mixed reaction to the government’s legislative plans to strengthen its intervention powers over local authority finances. The Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill has proposed… dlvr.it/SQhLMB pic.twitter.com/50foWxpPGs

    Room151 21 hours ago

    Post-Brexit struggles for national and local government regulators. @LGAcomms @NAOorguk Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/lga-call… #Brexit #government pic.twitter.com/s3c8ySGy5G

    Room151 1 day ago

    CIPFA: a question of transparency: Roman Haluszczak’s campaign for publication of the independent report into the collapse of CIPFA’s London Counter Fraud Hub has been rejected again by the institute. He is now calling for[...] dlvr.it/SQgC5V pic.twitter.com/08fWsHFF4g

    Room151 2 days ago

    Back to the future for the PWLB: The Public Works Loan Board is tightening its lending criteria to ensure that loans will be repaid by local government borrowers. But, asks Peter Findlay, shouldn’t they have been doing[...] dlvr.it/SQcmmm pic.twitter.com/bVv4fe0Xlv

    Room151 2 days ago

    Great piece from Peter Findlay on the PWLB’s tightening of its lending criteria. He raises some pointed questions for the Treasury and explains why the ‘casino council’ characterisation was simplistic and inaccurate. #PWLB #localgov room151.co.uk/treasury/back-…

    Room151 2 days ago

    The Queen's speech highlighted the need for accelerating UK infrastructure investment into levelling up projects and cutting emissions. @UKInfraBank #QueensSpeech #ClimateAction #emissions Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/bill-wil… pic.twitter.com/hFmF2veVIa

    Room151 2 days ago

    Huge funding heading to the @WestMids_CA from @landg. @andy4wm #LevellingUp #netzero #regeneration Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 room151.co.uk/brief/wmca-sig… pic.twitter.com/ajhZhia6mx

    Room151 2 days ago

    LGPS governance, Cagney and Lacey style: What regulatory response can be expected following the publication of the Good Governance project’s Phase 3 report and the closure of the Single Code of Practice consultation? Susan Black offers[...] dlvr.it/SQbfXf pic.twitter.com/xwqHOEu2AP

    Room151 3 days ago

    More evidence of the importance of emerging markets in the journey to net-zero. @BordertoCoast @BrunelPP @northernlgps @EAPensionFund @WYPF_LGPS Click the link below to read 🔻🔻 #LGPS #NetZero #NetZeroCarbon #EmergingMarkets room151.co.uk/brief/400bn-pe… pic.twitter.com/qCm0EGxzLn

    Room151 1 week ago

    ‘Urgent consultation’ issued in response to continuing audit delays: CIPFA and the Local Authority Scotland Accounts Advisory Committee (LASAAC) have announced another “urgent consultation” to consider proposals to address the latest issue that has led… dlvr.it/SQJ0kV pic.twitter.com/s6vw0bnGXO

    Room151 1 week ago

    Bags of capacity – now to housing delivery: HRAs have been freed up and councils are starting to invest, but some remain cautious, writes Steve Partridge. He suggests that a minimum of £10bn of additional borrowing could be[...] dlvr.it/SQDvxk pic.twitter.com/yZmoWzHv6U

    Room151 1 week ago

    Bags of capacity – now to housing delivery room151.co.uk/treasury/bags-…

  • Categories

    • 151 News
    • Agent 151
    • Audit
    • Blogs
    • Business rates
    • Chris Buss
    • Cllr John Clancy
    • Council tax
    • Dan Bates
    • David Crum
    • David Green
    • Development
    • Education
    • Forum
    • Funding
    • Governance
    • Graham Liddell
    • Housing
    • Ian O'Donnell
    • Infrastructure
    • Interviews
    • Jackie Shute
    • James Bevan
    • Jobs
    • Levelling up
    • LGPS
    • Mark Finnegan
    • Net Zero
    • Private markets
    • Recent Posts
    • Regulation
    • Resources
    • Responsible investing
    • Richard Harbord
    • Risk management
    • Social care
    • Stephen Fitzgerald
    • Stephen Sheen
    • Steve Bishop
    • Technical
    • Transport
    • Treasury
    • Uncategorized
    • William Bourne
  • Archives

    • 2022
    • 2021
    • 2020
    • 2019
    • 2018
    • 2017
    • 2016
    • 2015
    • 2014
    • 2013
    • 2012
    • 2011
  • Previous story Agent151: Nuclear chickens and the cost of caring for the elderly
  • Next story News round-up: Surrey denies ‘sweetheart deal’, outsourcing spike, IR35 ’emergency’, Islington says postpone rates revaluation

© Copyright 2022 Room 151. Typegrid Theme by WPBandit.

0 shares