• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Thorncliffe | Your Shout

Planning committee approval | Community consultation

020 7587 3040

hello@thorncliffe.com

  • Home
  • Book a demo
  • WhatsApp & Email

Housing White Paper

When I met Sajid Javid last night, he was relaxed in anticipation of his big day today.
The linking theme in the White Paper is Britain’s low rate of housebuilding, with the carrot and the stick both used to increase it. Carrots include a change in planning policy to encourage higher densities on urban sites. The Government is careful that higher densities does not necessarily mean taller buildings and there is a hint of lower space standards.
Councils have always found making planning policy a neverending cycle; under the White Paper they will have to review housing targets every five years. Since the abolition of national and regional housing targets, councils have faced difficult decisions (and local political dispute) over how many homes to propose, knowing that the wrong number may result in their plan being ruled unsustainable and then losing control over development. The White Paper’s solution is a standardised national approach to working out how many homes they need. The process of making plans is set for change with the intention of making it simpler.
For all the media coverage over Green Belt development, there is only two thirds of a page in the White Paper about it, and no significant changes proposed.
Sticks being sharpened to force housing delivery include a new consideration in planning policy of whether a permission is deliverable; there’s a consultation on whether councils can take account of the individual developer’s track record. Also being considered are cutting the time for implementing a permission from three years to two. If developments stall, the government want councils to think about compulsory purchase.
To help promote delivery, the Government wants to diversify the housing market, and the White Paper is now clear that Build to Rent is encouraged for councils and investors. New PRS homes may see longer tenancies of up to three years, accepting that a form of tenure designed for mobile young people in the 1980s is now permanent housing for families.
This is part of a subtle shift away from promoting ownership at all costs, and towards rented housing. Starter homes, which were the big idea introduced only last year, are now downplayed in favour of “a wider range of affordable housing”.
For all the changes in the White Paper, Labour’s response “Is this it?” has a point – changes are evolutionary and shifts in policy are subtle. That may be because changes in the housing market don’t occur overnight and new policies always take years to filter through. Secretaries of State need to be relaxed but determined.

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

What people say about us…

Top work

Thank you to the team! They did top work on this.

Smooth operation

Many thanks for last night: a very smooth operation!

Message was very welcome

Was a great result – especially to receive unanimous approval! Many thanks also for you and your team’s work in the run up to the committee. Getting those messages across really helped and was evident by the feedback given by members on both sides of the political spectrum … notably on the successfully engagement with residents and how the scheme responded accordingly. Message was very welcome!

On point

Harry was on point and has been the whole way through. We are all very chuffed. We are already preparing for another rather testing application on another site and you can be certain that we will engage you

Appreciated

Thanks Richard, your help has been much appreciated. Will let you know when the next job comes up!

Big guns!

Thanks for your and the team’s help. It was good to know we had the proverbial big guns in our armoury!

You kept calm

Many thanks for that: your team did very well, and kept a lot calmer than me! Matt was a sensible wise head, as was Alex, but he also made me think succinctly for the questions and how to answer, which is a great skill to try and acquire. Especially for someone as verbose as me!

A unanimous approval

Councillors praised both officers and the developer on their work and engagement.

A unanimous approval 5-0

With your help

Really pleased to hear the news this evening

With your help, we got it through !!!!

Best Regards!

Truly excellent example

Great news that we approved 60 houses on green belt last night.

It was tremendous that the Chair said that this was a “truly excellent example of good consultation…”

Gave me more confidence

Thank you – we were both somewhat surprised given the level of objections but in fact the committee hardly discussed the scheme at all before consenting it.

Thanks to your team for preparing me well for the committee which certainly gave me more confidence.

A big relief

Thank you. A big relief. As I am sure you can appreciate, we are delighted!

Your team did a great job, especially Matt who was integral.

I look forward to catching up soon.

Unanimous

196 flats approved unanimously, thanks to all involved.

Professional and effective

I wanted to thank you and all at Thorncliffe for managing the consultation process so professionally and effectively. This, without doubt, played a crucial role in gaining the approval.

Once again, all our thanks.

Was a good result

Cant remember the last time I got anything through unanimously!

Was a good result, it’s the right scheme for the site and of course we had a great team including yourselves working on it,

First class troops

Richard. Your troops did a first class job as always. Many thanks

Praise for communityUK

Well done for the way you presented tonight’s online consultation. I thought it was an excellent format.

Great result last night

I just wanted to say thank you again for all your help with the great result last night.

You have been tremendous and it is much appreciated.

whatsapp button

020 7587 3040

hello@thorncliffe.com

  • Our office location
  • Recruitment
  • Externally-enforced code
  • Our social values
  • How we work
  • The story so far

localcouncils.co.uk

communityUK

© 1999–2021 Thorncliffe Communications Ltd, 28 China Works, 100 Black Prince Road, Albert Embankment, SE1 7SJ | 020 7587 3040