ROOF Blog

Local authorities should not adopt a ‘one size fits all’ approach when granting planning permission for housing, and should move away from the approach to planning policy that led to large-scale construction of high-density flats on urban brownfield land, according to a report from the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit (NHPAU), a quango set up to advise government on housing policy. The NHPAU looked at the development of housing in a variety of densities and locations and concluded that while high-density housing was sometimes the most valuable, it often was not.

A Campaign to Protect Rural England study has accused developers of concreting over greenfield land, rather than build on brownfield sites, because the land is easier to build on and the houses can be sold for more. The CPRE wants tighter restrictions on the scale, location and timing of greenfield land release and more incentives for developers to build on brownfield land first.

The latest government figures have revealed an increase in the use of brownfield land during 2008. London has the greatest proportion of dwellings built on previously developed land, while East Midlands has the smallest. Across the country 78 per cent of dwellings were built on previously used land, up from 77 per cent in 2007. The Campaign to Protect Rural England welcomed the rise in brownfield use saying it showed land was being used more efficiently, but it was alarmed at the level of building on greenbelt and in areas of high flood risk.

The developers of a proposed eco-town near Stratford-upon-Avon have misled local residents about its potential benefits the advertising watchdog, Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), has ruled. MP Peter Luff challenged the claims that Middle Quinton would create more than 4,700 new jobs and 6,000 homes and questioned the claim the site would be located on brownfield land. The ASA upheld Mr Luff’s complaint and ruled the two companies, St Mowden and the Bird Group, must not repeat the claims.

The South East plan was revealed yesterday. The government cut the housing target by 1 per cent until 2026, setting a final figure of 654,000 new homes in the region, or 32,700 homes a year. At least 60 per cent of all the houses will be built on brownfield land and 35 per cent will be affordable.

However, Westminster CC has revealed plans to embark on the biggest council house building programme for a generation in May. During the next four years the council will build almost 500 homes on brownfield and under-used sites on existing estates to help ease overcrowding and homelessness. The scheme will include 104 shared ownership homes and 70 one-bedroom starter homes at a discounted rate. Most of the houses will be set aside for social rent and low cost home ownership, while more than half will have at least three bedrooms. Latest figures show that Westminster has around 1,200 families in overcrowding and 2,500 in temporary accommodation.

The value of development land fell by an average of 50 per cent during 2008, research from Knight Frank has found. Every region was affected – prime London, which had remained relatively resilient, has the largest drop with land falling 33 per cent on average in the final three months of 2008. Urban land values in Yorkshire and Humberside experienced the steepest fall at 64 per cent.

The proportion of homes built on previously developed land increased in 2007 as did the density of residential development. Figures released by the UK Statistics Authority for land use change show that 77 per cent of homes, including conversions, were built on previously developed land, slightly up from 76 per cent in 2006, and only 2 per cent of new homes were built within the greenbelt – a figure unchanged since 2004. New homes were built at an average density of 44 per hectare, compared with 41 in 2006.