Housing and Regeneration News December 2007

The South-East plans to commit to reducing carbon emissions by 20% by 2016. The South-East England Development Agency (SEEDA) has also committed to increase the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources by at least 10% by 2010. The Chief Executive said “Sustainability is hugely important in reducing our carbon footprint and ensuring a good quality of life in the South-East is what will give us a competitive advantage” See http://www.seeda.co.uk/
A report by the National Audit Office claims that government prevarification over the future of the Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders has undermined the scheme. The programme was set up in 2002 to tackle housing problems in deprived areas, and the report recommends ensuring that the programme not only fits well with developing regional and local spatial, economic and housing plans, but also complements other regeneration initiatives. It also concludes that delivery should be streamlined and funds targeted more tightly. For more details see http://www.nao.org.uk/
The National Trust has threatened to buy up land earmarked for development. Sir William Proby, Chair of the Trust said at the AGM, “the statistics are terrifying – inch by inch, year by year, the redeeming, restorative, qualities of our countryside and open spaces are being eroded. We believe access to open space and all that it can provide will be a growing demand for the future”. He used the AGM to launch a consultation on the Trust’s future acquisitions, and stressed that the protection of open spaces should be the top priority.
According to figures published by the Dept for Communities and Local Government the proportion of homes built on brownfield land in England has fallen for the first time since 1997. The government stated that the figures show that the target for Brownfield use of 60% is still being exceeded, but a spokesperson from the Town and Country Planning Association said that it’s a worrying development because all the ‘easy’ Brownfield sites have been used. See Land Use Change in England to 2006 on our publications section.
The National Audit Office has published a report claiming that house prices in the nine Housing Renewal Pathfinder areas have increased without any clearly demonstrated improvements. The report says that outside investors’ speculation has added an extra £10,000 per house on the cost of acquiring homes for clearance. For this reason, the report argues, it is difficult to assess the impact Pathfinder schemes have had. For more details see Housing Market Renewal on our publications section.
John Callcutt, former Chief Executive of National Regeneration Agency English Partnerships, has headed a review of house-building delivery. The review, commissioned by the government, recommends that councils and developers should form regeneration partnerships, that house-builders seeking public subsidy should have to meet customer satisfaction standards, that there should be an industry standard to discourage developers from hiding land assets, and that the government must define “zero carbon” by 2008. For more information see http://www.callcuttreview.co.uk/default.jsp
The government has published the results of its consultation on the proposals to make the Code for Sustainable Homes mandatory. The code, which sets out a national standard for sustainable housing construction, has been introduced on a voluntary basis, but the consultation asked the views of those involved in building new homes, from local authorities to developers, and 69% of respondents agreed that the code should be made mandatory. The government will make its response in April 2008. Find out more at http://www.communities.gov.uk/corporate
A report by the Institute for Public Policy Research North has said that government targets to boost the economic prosperity of three Northern regions is unlikely to bring them on a par with Southern parts of the country. The report does say that the regions have performed relatively well over the past few years, but forecasts suggest that the three regions will be unable to maintain this. For more details see The North in Numbers on our publications section.