Housing

We promote sustainable communities where sufficient and appropriate housing is well integrated with the wider community infrastructure.

Latest news

• The Home Builders Federation (HBF) has noted a year-on-year 62% increase in permissions for new houses across England.
• Inside Housing reports that English Councils will fall almost 30,000 homes short of meeting housing need each year under the Government's reformed planning system.
• Home from office: Colin Wiles considers the consequences of the Government's plan to allow the conversion of offices to homes.
• Plans have been published for a 5,000-home 'garden suburb' on 350 acres of land near Maidstone.
• The Centre for Cities in a new report says that kickstart policies should be focused on areas where economic growth is strong, demand for housing is high, and affordability is constrained.
• The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has welcomed the Planning Minister's announcement to offer communities new cash incentives to build new homes in their areas as a "positive development".
• Surplus Land: The Government has welcomed proposals to sell off 18 public sector-owned sites to create 23,000 new homes.

Policy changes and consultations

The Growth & Infrastructure Bill was published for England on 18.10.12.

RTPI & CIH have now made their responses to the DCLG Consultation on the Renegotiation of S106 Planning Obligations: RTPI response; CIH response.

Northern Ireland is consulting on its first Housing Strategy: Facing the Future.

The Local Housing Delivery Group, under Sir John Harman as Chair, has now published its advice. There are two reports, one covering Local Plan viability assessments and the other an interim report on simplifying housing standards. An RTPI Member Briefing is available here.

Houses in Multiple Occupation: The Scottish Government has published a circular on the provision and management of houses in multiple occupation (HMO) through the planning system, as well as advice on the interface between the HMO licensing scheme and the planning system.

The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) has published Together at Home: a new strategy for housing, the culmination of its fundamental review of housing policy and 18 months of evidence-based research. A short video summary of the report is also available.

Communities and Local Government Committee Inquiry into Financing of New Housing Supply: their report has been published.

The Government has published a Housing Strategy for England: Laying the Foundations.

As part of its fundamental Review of Housing Policy ippr has published Forever Blowing Bubbles? Housings role in the UK economy. 

Practice

• A tool called "What Homes Where?" looking at the estimating of housing needs is offered by a group of professional bodies that includes the RTPI & CIH.  It is available free.
• Meeting Local Housing Demand: this document from the Local Government Association (LGA) with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) lays out many of the options available to Councils.
• BSHF has published a briefing paper Local Authorities Role in Housing Supply 
• Delivering Effective Regeneration: This Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) research briefing outlines key learnings for regeneration policymakers and practitioners.
• Place Spotlight: The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) has launched Place Spotlight - a web-based resource to support the local investment planning process and help local authorities to identify ways to improve their delivery of great places.
• Tackling Volatility - The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has published a report from its Housing Market Task Force titled Tackling Housing Market Volatility in the UK.
• Housing Minister Grant Shapps launched a guide 'The Community Right to Build: An Opportunity in the Making'.
• DIY Housing - a BSHF report looks at how self-help housing could play a greater role in the UK. It is titled Self-Help Housing: Supporting locally driven housing solutions.
• Delivery of housing through the use of planning obligations - DCLG compilation of independent research.
• Signposting to more practice advice.

Networks

The RTPI-CIH Planning for Housing Network provides a cross-profession route to keeping well informed on and influencing developing policy and practice. Join the network.

RTPI projects

The RTPI has made Seven Commitments on Climate Change. More information on housing and climate change is on the Network pages.

Our viewpoint

We are very much aware that building rates have not been keeping pace with demographic change and the rate of deterioration in existing housing. The RTPI believes that local development plans are the proper place for competing demands for land to be resolved and therefore where land allocations for additional housing, balanced with redevelopment of worn out uses, should be made. Research has previously identified that there is more land allocated for housing thancurrent programmes are usingand this would indicate the need for better workingbetween the finance and construction sectors to increase the pace of new construction to meet evident need, including the appropriate element of social housing with assistance from the Homes and Communities Agency.

More information/events/CPD

• View our events calendar for upcoming RTPI events.
• The Housing Statistics Network (HSN) and the Housing Studies Association (HSA) are jointly running a seminar on  Housing in an Ageing Society. The seminar is being held twice; first at York on 9 April, as a preliminary to the HSA Annual Conference, and then a repeat in London on 14 May.
• Get involved: email housing@rtpi.org.uk