Perimeter Land

Government Policies and Land Investment

Parliamentary Pressures

Every government since the war has made housing a part of their manifesto and Gordon Brown has made the housing issue a main point of his political stance. He has increased the target for newly built homes from 185,000 to 245,000 per year. In other words, it means 3 million new homes to be built by 2020.

Recently, there has been a substantial change in the Government’s stance regarding the release of land and the building of new homes. The UK is facing a massive housing shortage and that’s why residential land for sale with or without planning permission is increasing in value and becoming a popular investment option.

The Government has stepped in to ensure the local authorities address the shortfall in housing. This has traditionally been a sensitive area for councils, but now it is becoming increasingly likely that the development of Greenfield land will be a necessity and indeed the only way to meet the needs of the country.

If we are to meet the aspirations of every young couple to do the best for themselves and their children, then we need to build new homes and we need to deliver well planned, green and prosperous communities where they will want to live. And I say to those who always say ‘yes, but not here’, you are denying people their rightful aspirations and you are condemning our children never to put a foot on the housing ladder.
Gordon Brown

To extend home ownership to another million people in the next five years and take the UK towards the government’s aspiration of 75% home ownership, Britain must – as Kate Barker recommended – put in place long–term reforms to planning and to the mechanisms by which new housing and infrastructure is financed and delivered in both the private and public sector
Gordon Brown

The Need for Housing

The UK Treasury commissioned economist Kate Barker to investigate the conditions governing the supply of housing in Britain. The investigation led to two reports: a report on housing in spring 2004 and a planning review in winter 2006.

The report proposed four objectives:

1. House prices need to be more affordable
2. Create a more stable housing market
3. Building of houses in the areas of the greatest need
4. Provide homes with public funding for those who need it

Barker and Planning
Having identified the need for more housing, Barkers second report identified changes urgently needed in the planning system to make more land available. No one needs reminding that Britain is a small, densely populated country.
Consequently over the coming decades, decisions on where developments should be located are likely to become more
difficult.

For Perimeter Land’s investors the key recommendations in the Barker report are as follows:

• Encourage a positive culture in which planning applications are approved unless there is evidence to indicate that the social and financial cost and impact on the environment becomes excessive.
• Ensure that all new developments outside of cities occurs in the most sustainable way, by encouraging the planning agencies to review the relevant town boundaries and to adopt a more positive approach to applications which enhances the quality of these towns.

Barker’s two reports make it clear that more housing is needed and that more land must be made available.