www.apse.org.uk

www.apse.org.uk

www.apse.org.uk

• An examination of the current context

• Case study analysis

• Survey of Council Leaders, Portfolio holders in Planning and

Housing & Heads of Planning Services’/Chief Planning

officers or equivalent

• Roundtable discussion

www.apse.org.uk

LandLand

Political

Leadership

Planning Housing

Management

Funding Construction

Sector

www.apse.org.uk

• Many authorities have a strong commitment to meeting the

housing challenge.

• All 3 governments – UK, Scottish & Welsh need to prioritise

provision of affordable and social housing.

• Survey identified a potential lack of skills in developing

business cases & attracting relevant funding streams such

as through the LEP/ Pension funds and other investors to

develop and build new housing.

Political Leadership

www.apse.org.uk

• Recommendation 1: The Government should forge a lasting cross-party

consensus that local authorities are a key part of the solution to the housing crisis,

providing clear leadership to encourage councillors and their authorities to think

boldly and in the long term.

• Recommendation 2: To enable local government to develop innovative,

financially sustainable models of facilitating and delivering new housing – of all

types and tenures – the Government needs to invest in local authority leadership

and business skills and resources.

• Recommendation 3: To engender a new debate about meeting local housing

need, councillors must provide strong political support and leadership, with a clear

vision and firm commitment to providing social and affordable housing. This

commitment should be expressed in corporate planning and as early as possible

in the Local Plan process to provide reassurance and certainty for all parties

involved, even though development may not commence for some time.

Political Leadership

www.apse.org.uk

• Councils play a vital role in coordinating land assembly and

planning.

• If a council owns land, there is a specific opportunity to

deliver across various objectives through a joint venture

with a developer

• Problems understanding the availability of land and land

ownership.c

Land

www.apse.org.uk

• Recommendation 4: Councils should play a stronger role in co-ordinating land

assembly and planning acting as lead developer to drive delivery. Where councils

own land they should explore creative opportunities to bring it forward. As the

Oxford City Council case study illustrates, joint ventures on council-owned land

provide the opportunity to share assets, skills and resources between the public

and private sectors.

• Recommendation 5: When releasing public sector land, Government should

coordinate between Government departments and agencies and empower

councils to decide how best to facilitate development in their area. Local

authorities should also be given the responsibility and support for collecting details

of unused or under-used land which can be combined into a nationwide database

of potential housing sites based upon the recently announced London Land

Commission.

Land

www.apse.org.uk

• Local Plans

• Cross-border coordination

• Viability

• Section 106 & small scale developers

• Vacant Building Credit/Permitted development

Planning

Yes No Don't know

Do you currently have an up-to-date plan

with a five year land supply?

helped hindered Don't know

Has the viability test, as set out in the

NPPF, helped or hindered…?

www.apse.org.uk

• Recommendation 6: The key opportunity for the coordinated delivery of high

quality social and affordable housing in inclusive communities is an effective and

up to date Local Plan. However, with around half the respondents not having a

plan in place with an adopted 5-year land supply, measures to properly support

plan preparation should be a key priority area for action for the new UK

Government. As such, the UK Government should produce clearer and more

comprehensive guidance on key issues such as Strategic Housing Market

Assessments.

• Recommendation 7: The expansion of combined authorities in England is a major

opportunity to recreate effective strategic planning for housing. Government

should play a role in this process by ensuring combined authorities can adopt

strategic spatial plans with statutory weight and that the scope, timescales and

content of such plans allows them to best support local planning and coordinate

cross border relationships with other city regions and combined authorities.

Planning

www.apse.org.uk

• Recommendation 8: The UK Government should introduce a national spatial

framework, looking at other models such as the approach in Scotland, in order to

re-address regional imbalances and provide a coordinated approach to housing

and infrastructure. Such a strategy should include a comprehensive laboratory of

data on population and demographic trends.

• Recommendation 9: The UK Government must amend the viability test in the

National Planning Policy Framework ensuring it is more balanced and allows for

the consideration of economic data on the cost and benefits to the public sector

and therefore wider economy of policy measures such as the achievement of

social and affordable housing.

• Recommendation 10: The UK Government should reverse the central

deregulation of permitted development. Instead control over permitted

development should be handed to local authorities.

• Recommendation 11: The UK Government should reverse the recent changes

which exempt developments of 10 homes or less from section 106 affordable

housing contributions and cancel the recently introduced Vacant Building Credit.

Planning

www.apse.org.uk

Housing Management

Directly managing RSLs/Housing Providers ALMOs

What is the dominant model of managing social

and affordable housing in your area?

www.apse.org.uk

Housing Management

• What more could be done to improve the

quality of your housing stock?

A council should aim to be the

‘landlord of choice’

www.apse.org.uk

Recommendation 12: Councils have an opportunity to become the ‘landlord of

choice’ rather than necessity by providing a professional service to both landlords

and tenants. They can also provide bespoke packages to meet the needs of certain

demographics, as illustrated by Flintshire County Council’s scheme to enable older

people to downsize.

Recommendation 13: Housing management and maintenance – ‘build, maintain,

improve’ - should be coordinated with other council services such as health,

education and social care, whether the stock is managed by a council, ALMO or

Housing Association/ Registered Provider. Through establishing local authority cross-

departmental working groups, working with housing association and health partners,

there is a greater opportunity for collaboration to support residents’ health and well-

being.

Housing Management

www.apse.org.uk

Funding

• Investment

• Borrowing freedoms and the HRA debt cap

• Right-to-Buy

• New Homes Bonus

www.apse.org.uk

Funding

Recommendation 14: In making the case for new housing – at least 240,000 homes

annually in England alone – the incoming government need to take a view beyond

five-yearly election cycles and work out how an ambitions construction programme

can be funded. The effective capture of increasing land values (betterment) for the

wider benefit of the community must be an essential aspect of such funding. This is a

tried-and-tested approach but requires the political will necessary to make it happen.

Recommendation 15: The UK government should lift the HRA borrowing cap which

would significantly increase local authorities’ ability to deliver new social and

affordable homes. The Government should re-visit the issue of whether investment in

housing is part of the public sector borrowing requirement (PSBR). As APSE has

consistently called for and the Association of Retained Council Housing and the

National Federation of ALMOs highlight, ‘there is a strong case for reforming public

borrowing rules to classify such borrowing separately as is the practise elsewhere in

Europe as well as by the IMF, and exempting it from the deficit reduction strategy’.

www.apse.org.uk

Funding

Recommendation 16: Government should review the overall Right to Buy policy

and immediately reduce the discount so that Right to Buy enables councils, ALMOs

and Registered Providers/Housing Associations to genuinely invest in one to one

replacement of the social housing.

Recommendation 17: UK government should review the New Homes Bonus

scheme immediately to assess whether it is delivering its objectives in a fair and

effective way.

www.apse.org.uk

Construction sector

• Construction sector will need enablement to deliver homes

on the scale required

• Councils can and do make an important contribution to this

through apprenticeship schemes.

www.apse.org.uk

Construction sector

Recommendation 18: The Government needs to support the expansion of the

construction industry, recognising the current capacity constraints on delivery

due to factors such as the availability of skilled and unskilled workers,

equipment and raw materials. Local authorities can also play an important role

in expanding the sector through apprenticeships.

www.apse.org.uk

What next?

• How can councils best meet the needs of younger people and older people?

• How can councils develop new models of delivering housing form local authority owned

housing companies to joint ventures on council owned land?

• What is the impact of the new housing standards in England and how does this compare

to the policy framework elsewhere in the UK?

• What is the impact of the RtB and how can councils ensure one to one replacement?

• How can councils help support smaller and medium size builders and ensure that they

play a role in increasing the capacity of the construction sector?

Council led joint venture on

council-owned land

Mark Jaggard, Spatial & Economic Development Manager

• Establishing a joint-venture

• A strong policy basis

• Processes to ensure good

design

Barton Park Oxford

Challenges

• Landlocked on the ‘wrong’ side of the A40

Northern By Pass

• Adjacent to an existing post war housing estate

- the main access could not be taken through it

• Contamination

• Substantial infrastructure costs = site unviable

with 50% affordable housing

• Initial discussions with HCA and SEEDA were

positive about investment

• Abolition of SEEDA and changes in HCA

funding regimes post 2010 required the Council

to re-think

Delivering the site - planning

• Core Strategy 2026 allocates the site as a

Strategic Development Site for 800 - 1200 homes

• Barton Area Action Plan sets out greater detail

Delivering the site

Option appraisal – looked at all options

• Developing the site ourselves

• Development Manager

• Investment Partner

Soft market testing of the options – real concern about

the OJEU process

Choosing a JV Partner

• The chosen route to development was a joint

venture with an investment partner

• City Council contributes the land; the partner

provides the capital and expertise

• Competitive process, outside OJEU

• Council objectives were:

Retain control of the site

Attractive financial package

Delivery

Quality

Establishing Barton Oxford LLP

• Grosvenor Development Ltd (GDL) selected as JV

partner, on the basis of the knowledge, financial

package and experience of similar developments

• Shared our vision for the site, in relation to quality

and community cohesion, and similar values and

concerns about reputation

• Long term investment

• Joint 50/50 Board set up

• Special project team of Council officers from

Planning and Corporate Assets to work with GDL

• Our aim was to be an active partner; a genuinely

joint project

GDL Bid Document

March 2011

Vision

Planning Strategy

Uses and delivery

Implementation plan and delivery

strategy

Structure of joint venture and

heads of terms

Funding proposal

Our Vision

A garden suburb designed for the needs

of the 21st century

A perfect blend of high quality urban

living that is in harmony with its

natural surroundings

An integrated and vibrant

neighbourhood, with a strong sense

of place and clear identity

A successful, sustainable, mixed-use

community by delivering high quality

buildings and public spaces

Outline Planning Permission

• Up to 885 homes; 40% for social rent

• Community ‘hub’ including a new primary

school

• Retail provision, potential hotel

• New pavilion, sports fields, MUGA and

LEAPs

• Linear Park, community garden and

greenways

Dutch Study Trip July 2012

Outline Planning Permission

October 2013

Illustrative Master Plan

Strategic Infrastructure

• Reserved matters for strategic infrastructure

granted in February 2015

• Responsibility of the JV

• Spine road and access across the A40

• Foul and surface water / SUDS

• Linear park and greenways

Commenced May 2015

Start on site May 2015

Housing Development process

• The JV is not a housebuilder!

• JV sell serviced plots

• Rigorous selection process; builders

required to demonstrate their commitment

to the design principles

• Hill chosen for the first 237 homes

• Reserved matters for phase 1 submitted

December 2015

• Planning Committee due March 2016

• Hill takes over their plot in Summer 2016

Phase 1 Hill

Barton Park Oxford Phase 1

Healthy New Towns

Barton Park

Grosvenor

February 2016

Healthy New Towns – Barton Park

Healthy New Towns – Barton Park

Barton Park as an NHS Healthy New

Town

How Barton Park can add value as an

NHS Healthy New Town

1. Barton as a pilot scheme to monitor how the built

environment can impact health and well-being

2. Opportunities for surrounding communities to benefit

from NHS partnership at Barton Park

3. Improving healthcare delivery at Barton Park

Questions?

Leading the delivery of new homes for rent

and sale in Birmingham.

Clive Skidmore – Head of Housing Development,

Birmingham City Council

150,000 additional people

89,000 additional households by 2031

Over 100,000 new jobs needed

• New homes completions in Birmingham have fallen

from 4,000 in 2005-6 to 1809 in 2014-15

• Insufficient delivery by partners

• Increasing demand for social and affordable housing

as result of economic conditions

• Housing waiting list at 26,000

The Birmingham Position New council-owned homes at

Loftus Close in Shenley

The Birmingham

Municipal

Housing Trust

• Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (BMHT) set up in January 2009 to lead the development of the Council’s new build housing programme.

• BMHT is part of the Council – not arms length

• “Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust” is a brand name for the Council’s new build programme

• HRA subsidy reform made it viable for the Council to build new homes for the first time since the 1970s.

• The Council can bid for HCA grant in the same way as a Housing Association

Transforming Neighbourhoods-

Newtown, Aston – Summer

2014

• Over 1000 new rented homes completed

since 2009; 317 rented homes completed

2014 -15; 300 completed 2015-16 so far;

• All on City Council owned sites, mostly

clearance sites;

• Mainly family houses, small number of

apartments;

• Now building a new archetype – 2 bedroom

bungalows for older downsizers

incentivizing release of larger family homes

Building rented

homes

BMHT dormer bungalows; incentivising the release

of larger houses using AHP grant

Rents, costs, funding

Rent Setting

Social Rent levels – in accordance with Government “Target rent” formula. Typical level for 2015/16 is £105 per

week (varies by property size)

Affordable Rent levels (up to 80% of market rent) – BCC approach is to charge social rent + £2.74 per week, which

is around 71% of market rents. This is to ensure genuine affordability.

Construction / Ongoing Costs

Typical build costs - £120k per unit (more for smaller / more constrained sites). Assumes Council already owns

cleared site.

Funding Sources

HCA grant – approx.. £25,000 per property – properties are rented at affordable rent

1-4-1 RTB receipts – up to 30% of build costs (say £35,000)

s106 – subject to any specific requirements

Borrowing (subject to HRA borrowing headroom)

Other existing HRA resources (DRF / land sales etc)

Cross – subsidy from market sale new build – typical £20,000 per unit sold

Building Homes for Sale

•No land purchase up front;

•Planning already secured by the Council and design risk and costs already met by the Council; developer uses house types developed by the Council’s own architects;

•Contractor can modify the specification for the sale houses to include ensuites, fitted wardrobes, designer kitchens, etc;

•Using the expertise of the private sector in sales

and marketing;

•Ensuring design excellence;

•Most sales have been to first time buyers; Help to Buy has been critical to successful selling;

•Over 750 homes sold under this programme.

Being in control

Direct delivery means the Council is in control-

The Council is no longer entirely reliant on partners to drive housing supply – the Council now builds over 25% of

all new homes in the City;

The Council can control timing/phasing of developments which otherwise are subject to other partners’ Business

Plans;

The Council can directly control rents and customer service standards;

The Council can cross subsidize sites to achieve viability;

The Council can control design standards and quality on new developments in detail to achieve overall design

quality excellence;

The Council can offer a range of tenures to suit local housing markets.

Design Quality

Design quality a key theme for BMHT;

Our objective is to set high standards for

Others to emulate;

Higher space standards than Housing

Associations or private sector

Modern, not quirky; traditional, not boring;

Design of most sites has been bespoke;

Now developing palette of standard house

types;

All homes are built to Code 4, Lifetime

Homes, Building for Life, Secured by Design, Secure by Design.

• We carry out customer feedback surveys every year;

• This has helped improve design –

• Sound insulation;

• Storage space;

• Room shapes;

• Height of fencing;

• Width of car ports.

• 95% of respondents are satisfied with their new

home

• 41% of all respondents gave their new home a

score of ten out of ten

• 72% gave a score of eight or more.

• Higher satisfaction rate from tenants than owner

occupiers

Customer Feedback

• Since Councils stopped building in the 1980s the UK has failed to meet its house building targets;

• 1% rent reduction and debt cap prevent us stepping up our delivery of social rented homes;

• We are building more homes for sale and driving surpluses, without compromising on standards;

• UK will only meet its house building targets through public sector intervention.

The Future