RICS has responded to Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP’s ‘New powers for councils to deliver homes for local families’.
Abdul Choudhury, RICS Policy Manager commented:
“In the first major housing announcement from the new Housing Minister Dominic Raab MP, the government has committed to allowing councils to ask government to set up new town development corporations.
“The policy, similar to RICS’s recommendation in the 2015 Property in Politics campaign, could revitalise the new town idea and create a more pro-development environment.
“This also provides opportunities to turn ‘NIMBYs’ into ‘YIMBYs’ by allowing communities to be more proactive in deciding where to place development rather than simply reacting to new developments. Reducing the prospect of objections and appeals, publicly backed schemes could deliver schemes faster and more suited to local needs.
“The new powers are a first step. Delivering a new generation of new towns will require tremendous investment in infrastructure, both hard and soft, alongside strategic planning to ensure new communities fit well both economically and socially within their regional context. As the government examines new methods of Land Value Capture and slowly revives regional planning through devolution deals, combined authorities and duty to cooperate, the pieces seem to be falling into place, albeit very slowly.”