HBF ATTACKS NATURAL ENGLAND AND NIMBYS FOR STIFLING DEVELOPMENT

[ A NEW REPORT from Lichfields, commissioned by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and property development lobby LPDF, has precipitated an attack by the HBF on the government’s ‘antidevelopment approach’ – guided by what it calls the NIMBY lobby and Natural England’s ‘aggressive interpretation of an EU Court of Justice ruling relating to nitrogen levels in Dutch waterways’ – for what it warns could be a fall in housebuilding to its lowest level since the Second World War.

Planning for Economic Failure lays bare the implications of the Government’s anti-development approach to housebuilding, the HBF says.

According to the HBF: “As well as the much publicised reforms of the planning system that will see local authorities no longer required to plan for the housing needs of its communities, the report highlights the growing list of interventions by the quango Natural England that could see supply fall from 233,000 last year to below 120,000 homes per annum in the coming years – well under half the government’s frequently espoused target of 300,000.

“Such a fall has significant social and economic implications for the country and would deepen the housing crisis and intergenerational inequalities, and cost nearly 400,000 jobs –including 4,000 apprentices.”

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of HBF, said: “The increasingly anti-development and anti-business policy environment poses a real threat to housebuilding and is inevitably at the forefront of minds when investment decisions are being made.

“The government’s capitulation to the NIMBY lobby and its mishandling of water and drainage legislation could see fewer homes built than ever before. The social and economic implications are stark and threaten to widen the ever-growing intergenerational divide while costing hundreds of thousands of jobs.

“As we try to tackle the housing crisis during a recession, with tighter mortgage availability and no government scheme to assist buyers purchase new builds for the first time in decades, shortterm political decisions to appease backbenchers seriously threaten confidence.”

The research shows that the changes to planning policy proposed by the Housing Secretary as a result of the revolt by MPs led by Theresa Villiers could result in a drop of 77,000 homes a year. Although still subject to consultation, local authorities are already adopting the antidevelopment reforms, with 47 so far having paused their local planmaking processes.

The HBF concludes: “The proposed changes to the planning system, and the free rein afforded to Natural England to impose new requirements on development, are risking the progress in tackling the housing crisis made over the past decade. The combination of these factors has the potential to see net housing supply drop as low as 111,000 per year, around 10% lower than the previous lowest-ever annual net supply during peacetime. q