Small plots of brownfield land add up to 1000 ha of potential building space, says SEEDA
Land for 70,000 extra affordable homes has been identified in towns in south-east England, with similar amounts said to be available in regions across the rest of the country.

The South-East England Development Agency has found that there are 1000 hectares of small plots of disused land, such as old petrol stations and vacant street corners, that could be used for new homes. SEEDA’s Brownfield Land Assembly Trust thinks the plots can be combined using SEEDA’s compulsory purchase powers and offered to developers as packages (HT 1 August, page 12).

SEEDA chief executive Anthony Dunnett said: “There are about 1000 hectares across the South-east that don’t appear on capacity studies due to their [small] size. The land assembly trust will be parcelling these sites over the next 12 to 18 months.”

Dunnett said this could also apply to other regions: “If you walk down any high street I guarantee you will see a number of vacant sites that could be used for housing.”

Dunnett said it was easier for private developers to keep smaller brownfield sites, while pushing access to larger, more easily developed greenfield sites. He added that the BLAT would be working with registered social landlords and councils to deliver affordable housing on the sites, the average size of which is a tenth of an acre.

The announcement forms part of the urban renaissance agenda that SEEDA is pursuing in the wake of the 1999 Urban Taskforce report and the urban white paper in 2000.

In November, SEEDA will launch an action plan that runs to 2004. It will include construction skills training and the establishment of a regional design panel in conjunction with the government’s design watchdog, the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

Source

Housing Today