Attendees heard presentations by Mike Derbyshire, Head of Planning at Bidwells, Sasha White, QC from Landmark Chambers and Beverley Firth, Planning Partner at Mils & Reeve.
The event marked the launch of Bidwells’ latest Perspectives on Planning research which focuses on the acute need for housing and identifies the barriers that may be preventing its delivery.
Mike Derbyshire emphasised to the audience that the UK needs a combination of strategies to tackle the problem, including implementing the ‘locally-led Garden Cities Initiative’, maximising the potential of the rapidly growing Private Rented Sector (PRS) and looking at the release of publicly owned brownfield land for development.
A detailed update on the latest legal planning decisions of 2014 and how they can impact on planners was given by Sasha White. Beverley Firth looked at the traditional approach to Section 106 agreements and showed how a more enlightened view can facilitate development.
Mike Derbyshire said: “Now six months on from the introduction of the National Planning Practice Guidance, this seminar focused on setting out the strategy to meet the housing shortfall. Over the last 12 months there were only 112,000 housing completions in England, versus a requirement of 250,000 homes and no single strategy will solve this. With a growing percentage of households in Private Rented Accommodation, there is a clear need to recognise the role that this can play in overall housing provision. However with a General Election only months away, any radical developments are unlikely to be implemented if they put votes at risk”.
Beverley Firth added: “The latest statistics speak for themselves in terms of the shortfall in new homes so desperately needed. This merely highlights the importance of local planning authorities bringing forward plans as quickly as possible and working closely with developers to facilitate early approval and delivery”.
Image: Tackling the housing crisis, speakers left to right: Sasha White, QC, Landmark Chambers; Mike Derbyshire, Head of Planning, Bidwells and Beverley Firth, Planning Partner, Mills & Reeve.
___________________________________________________