Local authorities in the South East should be granted powers to incentivise house building where development is too slow, new report argues.
The lobbying group South East England Councils (SEEC), which represents the majority of councils in the region, has called for new powers to ‘unlock’ unbuilt homes and to fund more affordable housing and better infrastructure.
The SEEC’s report Unlock the Housing Blockers noted that while 28,000 new homes were built in the South East in 2014/15, by March 2015 there was a backlog of 66,750 planning permissions granted but not built.
In order to help clear this backlog, the SEEC urged Whitehall to provide authorities in the South East with the powers to encourage developers to build on these plots.
Such powers could include charging council tax or revoking planning permissions if homes are not built quickly, they said.
‘We need greater freedoms and flexibilities to allow councils, working with developers and other local partners, to ensure more planning permissions turn into actual homes,’ said SEEC chairman Cllr Nicolas Heslop.
‘This includes powers to incentivise builders to deliver approved permissions swiftly, local targeting of skills funding to fill workforce gaps, and access to funding for councils who want to build their own affordable homes.’
The report also recommended councils be allowed to recover full planning costs through the fees they charge developers, and borrow and set how much developers pay.
Cllr Roy Perry, SEEC deputy chairman, added: ‘Councils often struggle to secure funding for the infrastructure that is vital to support new homes.
‘Setting aside a portion of locally generated taxes such as business rates or ‘first sale’ stamp duty could help fund the infrastructure necessary to support sustainable development.
‘Local authorities should also be able to set the level of developer contributions towards infrastructure on all developments – including starter homes and smaller sites that are currently exempt.’
