Land Banking Allegations Denied by Homes England
In a stark revelation, Stewart Beasley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, has accused the government of disregarding its own evidence and misdirecting effort and resources in the housing sector. Beasley claims that over the last four years, ministers have failed to intervene on Natural England's disproportionate ban on new homes, leading to a plummeting number of planning permissions.
The government-owned housing agency, Homes England, has enough land for approximately 279,000 housing plots, according to recent reports. However, the number of housing projects approved over the course of the year in 2022 was already at its lowest rate since the data set began in 2006, with only 3,037 housing projects approved in the first three months of 2023, a 11% decrease compared to the final quarter of 2022.
Homes England states that until the homes are delivered, the land will remain under its ownership. The unbuilt land owned by Homes England is equivalent to 9,000 hectares, and a further 4,990 hectares is planned to become home to 55,000 newly constructed properties. Of these, 30,000 are expected to be delivered within the next five years.
Homes England denies allegations of land banking and refutes the claims and figures being stated against it. The agency claims it enables the right homes to be built in the right places, with a focus on affordable housing. In fact, Homes England has already built on 3,000 hectares of land, delivering 50,000 homes.
The report published by the Home Builders Federation states that the number of planning permissions being granted is 'continuing to nosedive to new record lows' across England. The report does not mention any involvement or statement from Homes England in this context.
It's worth noting that the government, in 2019, pledged to build 300,000 new homes, a target it has yet to achieve. To speed up the house building process, Homes England has disposed of around 3,000 hectares of land under a land lease to ensure the continued pace of house building.
In a separate development, the German federal government organization "Deutsche Bahn" has launched a comprehensive program called "S3" that includes planning for structural renovations. However, the organization planning more than 30,000 new apartments for realization within the next five years is not explicitly named in the search results. None of the results clearly state which organization is responsible for this specific scale of housing planning.
This housing crisis has been a contentious issue, with Beasley accusing the government of capitulating to the nimby lobby on planning. As the country grapples with a housing shortage, the focus remains on finding solutions to deliver the homes needed to meet demand.
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