The developer has said it feels a sense of renewed commitment from Mr Osborne following his plans to further increase funding for the development of affordable housing and welcomes his plans to relax planning legislation so that disused plots and buildings may be converted into residential property.
Linea Homes has also said it supports the Chancellor’s decision to extend the Help to Buy scheme and adapt it to the London market. However, as the year draws to a close, the developer has shared its ‘wish list’ which it calls on the government to consider:
1) Increase funding for local planning departments
Many of our schemes are delayed by as much as 6-9 months owing to a lack of staff and inefficient processes within local planning departments. As part of the Chancellor’s commitment to increase funding to support the building of affordable housing, we would urge him to allocate part of these funds towards improving the efficiency of planning departments.
2) Review existing charges and costs
Currently, local councils are entitled to apply extortionate and unnecessary charges to pre-application meetings and subsequently planning applications. In addition to this the excessive and often unnecessary reporting is also extremely expensive and can severely restrict the viability of schemes for niche developers such as Linea and the subsequent delivery of high quality homes.
3) Provide more support and guidance
We would like to see more support in place to help developers navigate through the changes to planning legislation and prepare for the impact on their businesses in advance. Navigating business growth is a challenge for any organisation, but with the pace of Government legislation set to pick up sharply next year, we would like to see more clarity from the Government and relevant trade bodies about how current and future housing legislation works in practice.
