What do tigers and government reports have in common? Indeed a strange start to a piece in Mortgage Introducer. The answer? They can all be found lurking in long grass.
While a tiger may choose to inhabit the long grass, often a government report will find itself there due to neglect. The Miles Report into long-term mortgages may be classed as one such example, but last week saw the emergence of another report, which we await to see the final resting place.
The Barker Review of Land Use Planning, an interim report published last week by HM Treasury, is the follow-up to Kate Barker’s 2004 report entitled Delivering Stability: Securing our Future Housing Needs, and a prelude to a further report to be published later this year. Barker’s interim review looks at how the government has responded to the needs of the British housing market and how the planning system is helping – or hindering – the problem of housing supply.
Linda Will, managing director at Accord Mortgages, said: “Barker is saying it is too early to tell but that the government is not doing enough. There is always a great desire behind these things but there is never one ‘wham-bam’ solution. Barker is saying we have a chance to do more but there is a big danger the government is just going to see this as a chance to tick off a box.”
Scepticism
Often reports such as these are met with a lot of scepticism and usually find themselves sidelined soon after. However, Barker’s original report was launched with a promise from the government to tackle the issues raised and this interim review looks at the progress being made.
Yvette Cooper, Minister for Housing and Planning, said of the report’s findings: “The planning system has got to be able to respond to new challenges. Although progress has been made, this report makes it clear that further changes are needed to support competition and encourage growth.”
For many within the industry, this change cannot come quick enough.
Colin Dale, head of lending at Skipton Building Society, commented: “One of the biggest issues for our customers is the availability of land for building. Also, the bureaucracy involved is a big problem as there are a lot of people involved in the process and if I had to say whether anything has changed (since 2004), then I would have to say no, it hasn’t.”
This is especially so on the commercial side; the main thrust of the report. Barker found commercial land prices in London’s West End are the highest in the world, and even areas of Manchester and Birmingham are 40 per cent more expensive than Manhattan. As well as high land prices, applications for planning permission are long, drawn-out affairs and this is inhibiting the UK’s economy.
Andy Murray, general manager at InterBay, said: “There is no doubt, based on the initial report findings, that the price of commercial properties is impacted by the planning process. It leads to a reduction in the turnover of property, extending the time and cost of new development and the refurbishment of existing commercial properties.”
Environmental factors
However, while the pressure is on the government from developers to loosen the planning laws to make house-building easier, other factors must be considered. The report highlights the need for environmental factors to be taken into account, with concreting over England’s green and pleasant land not the preferred option.
The report states: “The clear evidence of changes in the global climate requires that the planning system at all levels plays its role in helping the UK meet its targets for greenhouse gas emissions. The need to protect the wider environment is also a growing challenge given the changing understanding of environmental issues.”
While no one wants to see the concreting of the countryside, an overhaul of the planning system has been demanded as cases are taking too long in the planning stage.
Tim Doherty, building support operations director at Buildstore, commented: “I’m not an advocate of sprawling urban developments as I’ve seen the negative effects this has had in other countries and I endorse tight control. However, the planning process is deeply inadequate and deeply frustrating.”
So while the report draws strong agreement from many within the industry, will the government listen to it? As it was stated earlier, these things are often greeted with a high degree of scepticism and Barker’s latest work has left people wondering if the results will once again find themselves in the long green stuff.
Bob Sturges, director of communications at Money Partners, said: “While I have no cause to doubt the quality of research that underpins the interim Barker report, I do wonder what difference it will make. I hope it isn’t allowed to gather dust, as Barker addresses serious issues that, if not tackled, will almost certainly add to the already considerable pressures on housing supply while also hampering the UK’s ability to compete at a global business level.”
