Budget 2024: Planning & Social Housing
When it comes to Planning, at least, this was a budget with very few surprises. Most of the big announcements have been drip-fed to the public over the last few days…
This week, we have seen:
A written ministerial statement from Angela Rayner announcing:
- an immediate £500 million top up of the existing Affordable Homes Programme - which will last for one year.
- a consultation on a new 5-year social housing rent settlement for social housing providers - seeking views on a proposal to increase the rent settlement with Consumer Price Index inflation figures and an additional 1%; as well as other measures.
- changes to the Right to Buy scheme - reducing overall discounts and allowing councils will be able to retain 100% of the receipts generated by Right to Buy sales; and
- the following pots of money to support housing delivery
- a £56 million investment at Liverpool Central Docks to deliver 2,000 homes in North Liverpool, along with office, retail, leisure, and hotel facilities.
- a £25 million investment in a joint venture with Muse Places Limited and Pension Insurance Corporation to deliver 3,000 energy-efficient new affordable homes across the country.
- £47 million to local authorities to support the delivery of up to 28,000 homes that would otherwise be stalled due to ‘nutrient neutrality’ requirements.
and a press release from the Prime Minister announcing:
- The latest round of awards from the Brownfield Release Fund, which total £68 million split between 54 local authorities, including:
- £2.9 million for Manchester to unlock a vacant brownfield site to build 220 much-needed affordable homes
- £2.2 million to Eastbourne to transform a former industrial site, to build 100 new homes including 80 affordable houses
- Over £1.7 million to the town centre in Weston-Super-Mare to allow over 100 homes to be built on brownfield land
- £1.4 million to Northampton to transform a former bus depot and deliver 72 new homes
- that Homes England will be investing £30 million to help accelerate the transformation of the Riverside Sunderland area through a Brownfield Infrastructure Land (BIL) investment to support wider regeneration efforts.
All of which, unsurprisingly, made it into the Budget. Indeed, the consultation on the Social Rent Settlement is already open and can be accessed here, and details of the Nutrient Mitigation Fund awards can be accessed here.
Other relevant budget measures, which had not been spoiled by Number 10 or other government departments, include:
- £3 billion of additional support for SMEs and the Build to Rent sector, in the form of housing guarantee schemes, to support the private housing market.
- £46 million of additional funding to support recruitment and training of 300 graduates and apprentices into local planning authorities, accelerate large sites that are stuck in the system, and boost and upskill local planning authority capacity to deliver the government’s wider reform agenda.
- The promise of an additional £5 million to deliver improvements to the planning regime for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
- Allocating £70 million in 2025-26 to support infrastructure and housing development while boosting nature’s recovery
As well as a plethora of announcements concerning investment in transport and energy schemes, which I will let others in the team cover in due course.
There has been concern over funding for local authorities, and planning departments in particular, for some time. This does appear to have registered with the Treasury, at least in part. A 3.2% real terms increase in local government spending power has been promised in the budget, a large proportion of this, however, is specific grant funding targeted at homelessness and social care.
It should, however, be kept in mind that this budget is really only the warm-up act for the wide-ranging spending review due early next year. That is when the detail of the government's longer-term plans for the public sector will be revealed…
In short, despite the hopes and fears that this first Labour budget in over a decade has inspired, it has in many ways been business-as-usual for the planning system.
As expected, Labour is prioritising immediate funding for:
- the provision of social and affordable housing
- unlocking the delivery of housing on brownfield sites - particularly those which are already either on site or within the planning system; and
- existing funding streams - such as the nutrient neutrality fund, the affordable homes programme and the brownfield release fund.
The real terms increase in local government funding, and changes to the right to buy programme will come as a relief to local authorities; and more funding for sticky delivery issues - such as nutrient neutrality - are always welcome. That said, the real reforms for the planning system will be delivered through other means… in particular, the government's response to the recent NPPF changes*, the Planning & Infrastructure Bill and the multi-year spending review**.
For planning, at least, the real change is yet to come.
*expected in December
** due in the Spring.
3.22 The government will continue to take action to ensure that the planning system supports public and private investment. This includes:
• Responding to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation before the end of the year to confirm pro-growth reforms to the planning system.
• Implementing legislative changes to ensure a simplified and streamlined planning system, through the Planning and Infrastructure Bill to be introduced in Parliament early next year.
• Providing an additional £5 million to deliver improvements to the planning regime for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, as well as £46 million to boost capacity and capability in local planning authorities.
• Allocating £70 million in 2025-26 to support infrastructure and housing development while boosting nature’s recovery”
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