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Does the South East need more housing?

Land & Brand New Homes are hosting a Breakfast Seminar with specially invited guests on 14 May to discuss this important issue.

The Government needs to build 240,000 new homes a year if it's to meet a target of 3 million by 2020. However, the big question everyone's asking is ... where are they going to be built?

According to some, at least two million homes would need to be built on greenbelt land, much of it in the South East of England, while others believe there are sufficent brownfield sites, especially in large urban areas, many of them in the Midlands and North of the England, to meet demand. One thing is for sure, at present only 160,000 new homes are being built a year, which means the Government is already way behind its own target.

So what's the answer? Who are the likely winners and losers?

Some of the hotly debated questions the attendees will be asking include:

• Do we need to build so many new homes?
• Where should they be built? Greenfield or brownfield?
• What type of houses will be built?
• Who is going to live in them?
• What effect will they have on the region?
• Who’s going to pay for them?

We'd like your feedback - e-mail Heather@landandbrandnewhomes.co.uk and have your say.

The Results ...

Wednesday 14th May saw 12 of the housing market’s key figures meet at Bailiffscourt Hotel in Climping, West Sussex to discuss whether or not more new homes should be built on Greenfield sites in the South when there are increasingly more Brownfield sites coming available in the North.

The Roundtable Breakfast was hosted by Worthing based Land & Brand New Homes and Chaired by its Managing Director, Heather Hilder-Darling. Those taking part included James Appleton, Executive Head of Planning and Well Being at Worthing Borough Council, Charles Wiggins Managing Director of Cliveden Properties, Chris Posgate Managing Director, Devine Homes, Bob Hilder, Land Director of Land & Brand New Homes, Peter Errington, House Builders Federation and EU and UN Real Estate Commissioner, Malina Swann.

Many of the attendees felt there was no alternative to continued building in the South due to the sustained demand. However, it was noted that more imagination from developers was called for so to restore the sense of community to developments. Bob Hilder called for developers to bring back village greens and Malina Swann voiced concerns that the Government needed to address the ever increasing ageing population, following the lead of other European Countries, calling for “Flats or other purpose built accommodation being included in village developments to keep people in their own environments.”

“The problem, it seems is that house builders, particularly at this time of uncertainty and very slow house sales, want to build houses that they can sell quickly not speculating on areas with no likely sales”. commented James Ollerenshaw from the IOD.

“There is also a need to define what is a Brownfield site and educate the public, perhaps the Government should think of renaming it something that they can understand”, commented Charles Wiggins, of Cliveden Properties. It was also raised that lobbying the Government to change the tax system to offer incentives to get owners of Brownfield sites to release more of them to the building sector should be called for.

Many were also concerned with the complexity of the planning applications process, Peter Errington, from the HBF commenting that “the process is now more complicated than ever and Councillors in the South are being far more vocal than ever about developments in their area”. He also called for “more training for Councillors who have just been elected who lack the knowledge to make judgements on planning applications”.

James Appleton, Worthing Council Planning Department reacted by saying he “… had been undertaking training of new councillors from the last election but more education was needed so that they could engage with developers more.” He added “there is now a lack of family homes due the ever increasing complexity of planning laws and the imposition by the Government of more eco-housing on developers”.

The Chairman then asked what sort of houses we should be building.

“People don’t want town houses; I cannot remember the last time I built a detached house but it all seems to be 2 bedroom flats that the market is being asked to deliver”, commented Charles Posgate, Managing Director of Devine Homes. “Building on both Brown and Greenfield sites has changed over the last few years and there will be a need to build on both to meet Government targets”, said Peter Errington of the HBF.

Others in the room commented that there was no “grand vision” and there was a “lack of imagination from Government” increasing the gap between the people and developers. This would also look at the effect on the infrastructure of areas. “The lack of a bypass on the A27 is stopping developments in the area”, said James Appleton.