The Gordon Brown-John Prescott double act rolled into town again this week. The chancellor's Budget was sadly lacking in the VAT reforms the housing sector has long demanded, and much of the heralded reform on housing benefit had already been announced. The reforms to stamp duty for social landlords also turned out to be less dramatic on close inspection.

Instead of money, what the sector got was a set of measures to give more teeth to the planning reform announced in the Communities Plan. This included a requirement for local authorities to make a 10-year provision for the supply of affordable homes – and a "new right for the deputy prime minister to call in developments, where local authorities are not delivering affordable housing".

The announcement of yet another review – this time lead by eminent economist Kate Barker – is also a much-needed admission that nimbyism and planning problems are still major hurdles that need to be overcome. It's hard to see, though, exactly what she can find that isn't known already. Given that part of the remit is housebuilders' finances, presumably the issue of whether they are deliberately hoarding land should be cleared up once and for all, and indeed whether off-site manufacture is the saviour of the sector.

There's been much tough talk on planning before and it really has come to nothing. But if Prescott wants more to smile about, then this time it really has to be serious.

Prescott and the chancellor have also reaffirmed the drive to join up housing and regeneration. In the Budget, the chancellor signalled a greater role for the regional development agencies with the new "regional enterprise agencies". Meanwhile, Prescott has allocated £800m from the neighbourhood renewal pot with the codicil that he wanted programmes like the New Deal to link with the Communities Plan (page 26).

On paper it is eminently sensible to have the troika of planning, housing and economic renewal pulling in the same direction. But as it tries to join up its thinking, the government is in danger of creating a morass of bodies: RDAs, regional government offices, housing boards and forums (see page 24). But there is no clear leader, or real clarity on how these bodies will work together or who will take responsibility for delivering. On the ground, many in housing feel confused about their role on the local strategic partnerships, the cross-sector council grouping that charts the course of the 88 boroughs where the new money is heading. The sector needs to make sure its voice is heard at all levels and to form alliances wherever it can without waiting to be asked, as Bishop Walker urges (page 21).

Source

Housing Today