A former researcher for the National House Building Council back in the 1970s, Jones prefers to think that he has never been away from the sector. “One of the odd things about my career is its linear quality,” he asserts.
But after meeting Jones, it seems the common feature of his career – from 21-year-old councillor in his university town of St Andrews to Redrow – is that the man is oddly aroused by the planning system.
PPGs, RPGs, call-ins and planning inquiries are the stuff that get him going. Questions about planning trigger confident, mini-ministerial briefings, while discussions of other aspects of housebuilding tend to take a fast track back to his favourite subject.
How about this for dedication to the planning cause? “If John Major had sent for me to go to social security, I’d have said no.
I’d made it clear in a number of conversations over the years that I wanted a specialist role.”
At Redrow, the role of chairman will give Jones plenty of opportunity to indulge his lifelong passion. He will be providing strategic advice to chief executive Paul Pedley on sites, land use and government planning policy, with the aim of squeezing more than last year’s profit of £67.2m from £405m turnover.
Sometimes, he will even get the chance to provide more practical help. “I find myself in a town, thinking, ‘That would be a good place to build houses’. Redrow employees are well used to being asked to go and look at sites.” Jones confirms that real houses have resulted from his peripatetic brainwaves, but unsportingly declines to name locations.
With planning as his touchstone, Jones, 50, seems to have made the transition from public life to the private sector more readily than some. “It is a culture change, but not one I’ve found terribly difficult. I’ve never had any regrets about not being involved in politics.”
He views the Redrow chairmanship as a platform for publicising his favourite subject. Explaining that until now he has tactfully held back from criticising the DETR, he now feels “completely free” to let the government have the full force of his opinion.
His appearance also seems to have made a transition, with the full beard trimmed back to a cleaner, more corporate version. But his decisive manner still retains the flavour of Whitehall negotiations, and he shows a politician’s skill at burnishing his own CV, Redrow’s and those of the other businesses he represents – factory outlet operator Freeport and Framlington’s NetNet investment fund (see personal effects).
In his new role, Jones will hardly be demanding root-and-branch reform of the planning system he helped shape, but will be “arguing the housebuilders’ corner” on the issue of planning gain agreements and affordable housing thresholds.
His point is that local authorities regard planning applications as leverage to extract not just affordable housing but contributions to education budgets and, in one unattributed anecdote, “the money for the Christmas lights”.
“They don’t understand the economics. Where basic values are lower, or even negative if the land is polluted, you have to make allowances for the cost of clean-up and not over-demand contributions.”
He continues: “I strongly suspect there will come an occasion when the whole thing is challenged in the courts”, and suggests the housebuilding industry should select a suitable test case. In particular, he warns London mayor Ken Livingstone against his 50% affordable housing target for large-scale developments in the capital. “If he’s successful, he’ll stop any development happening. Even in London, it depends on the underlying value of the land.”
Jones appears to recognise that any self-respecting housebuilder has to pay its respects to the design community. “Design is hugely important. The price of density is good design,” he says. But the subject soon diverts him onto the safer ground of household projection figures; he returns to design only to rule out architect-branded developments such as those Barratt has experimented with. “Allowing a free hand to an architect is not the best way to get a market solution,” he argues.
He aligns himself with the pro-consolidation party in the industry, “if it can be brought about at the right price. But a lot of people in the sector want a premium, both shareholders and company directors”. He believes that housebuilding’s status as least favoured sector will soon change with a run of good results.
The “linear quality” of Jones’ convictions is clear in almost everything he says, and is an aspect of his personality in which he takes obvious pride. ”My officials from the days of the ministry will tell you that I took a very close interest in the detail. I haven’t changed just because I’m in the private sector,” he says.
There must be some details that are different? “Planning ministers actually make decisions, with call-ins and planning inquiries.
I do miss being that hands-on with the planning system.” Now, there’s a surprise.
