Director of public affairs David Rose said:
“We are delighted that the Conservatives recognise that we have to make our cities places where people can afford to live.”
The Conservatives unveiled plans to introduce regeneration companies, increase the amount of development on brownfield sites and demolish the worst of the country’s tower blocks at their party conference on Monday.
The key proposal is to set up regeneration bodies. These will be funded from the single regeneration budget, but will also be able to issue bonds.
The initiative, called Believing in our Cities, comes at the same time as a DETR move to put up barriers to housing developments on greenfield sites.
The Greenfield Housing Direction, which was published on Wednesday, orders planning authorities to clear greenfield housing developments containing more than 150 units with the secretary of state for the DETR before giving permission.
The move was promised in the government’s PPG3, which was published in March.
The Conservatives' proposals for the inner cities outline a promise of tax incentives for urban regeneration, such as state aid for cleaning up contaminated sites, but give no commitment to reducing VAT on domestic improvements.
Spokesperson for the regions Tim Loughton said: “There is a move to consider all the tax incentives we will need, and the anomaly on VAT is one.”
Archie Norman, spokesperson for the DETR, said he was “sympathetic” to the issue but would not be drawn on particular measures.
The RTPI’s Rose said: “We would want to look carefully at how regeneration companies work within the planning framework.”
