Paper HSTF 3 - 1
Report of Housing Supply Task Force Seminar: Housing delivery in the Lothians - Edinburgh on 20 November 2007
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Introduction
The seminar took place between 09.00 and 13.00 and was attended by the majority of individuals and agencies invited to attend. A list of attendees is attached as Appendix 1.
Background
The seminar was chaired by HSTF member Brian Gegan, Chairman of SFHA. He briefly described the work programme of the HSTF agreed to date, including the geographic and thematic studies. The meeting was advised that the Minister and the HSTF was looking for actions in the short term (1-5 years) to address the blockages inhibiting an enhanced supply of housing across all tenures in the Lothians.
He described the format of the meeting which involved two group sessions to identify firstly the principal blockages and subsequently, actions to address them. It was acknowledged that some issues discussed would relate more to longer term solutions for enhancing housing supply but that the focus should be for the short term with specific reference to Lothians issues.
Outcomes
The group discussions were very productive and on their conclusion, each facilitator made a brief presentation of the principal actions that participants considered central to enhancing housing supply in the Lothians, and generally. These may be summarised as follows:
Land Supply
It was acknowledged that the planning system released land for development by firstly zoning land in development plans and, subsequently, through the granting of planning permission (consents). Whilst there were some concerns about the actual amount of land allocated in plans, it was considered that the major problem lay in translating those allocations into completed housing units. It was this "gap" that exercised participants and there was an appetite for the application of a framework incorporating project management, co-ordination and mediation skills (not present in the planning system) to oversee and direct the translation of housing land allocations into completions.
It was suggested that the Task Force should look at the structures, processes and authority needed to drive forward major housing developments. A clearly defined project management function was proposed with the skills and authority to align key elements of developments and promote multi-agency working. Should this role not be achievable within existing structures then consideration may be given to establishment of a new body. Delivery bodies of whatever status should work within the aegis of the national planning framework as the principal guide for directing resources and investment .
The Planning System
There was almost universal consensus that investment in the planning system was needed to make it "fit for purpose". There was considerable discussion on the delays encountered by users of the system and the impact this had on housing supply in the Lothians and elsewhere. A number of sources of possible investment were discussed including increased planning fees and private sector input to increase and improve the system's resources. It was agreed that a strong national planning framework was needed and that land allocations and subsequent delivery had to be able to take account of both upward and downward market trends.
Participants also considered that the system's resources had to be directed to the major development proposals that it had to deal with and that means of addressing minor proposals should be implemented sooner rather than later. There was also a need to focus on the promotion of a pro-development culture to address concerns held by local communities to encourage a flexible approach to housing supply
It was considered that in Edinburgh, the affordable housing policy was not working as effectively as it might in terms of yielding completions and this required investigation to improve the outputs.
Good Practice
Some instances of good practice were highlighted, particularly in West Lothian, but there were also instances of substantial blockages in co-ordinating/reconciling the interests of developers, local authorities, infrastructure providers and other stakeholders.
The meeting was advised that there were 7 or 8 major housing proposals representing some 35,000 potential completions in the Lothians which the HSTF was asked to investigate in some manner to unblock the movement towards achieving substantial house completions in the next 1-5 years.
The activities of the Highland Housing Alliance were cited as worthy of investigation for the Lothians and elsewhere in Scotland as this provided a less adversarial approach to reconciling the provision of affordable housing in tandem with open market products. However, it was noted that this had been initially underpinned by the Highland Council's land bank which would not necessarily be capable of replication in other areas.
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Infrastructure
There was widespread support for the creation of a rolling fund for infrastructure in the Lothians to provide up-front funding which could be re-payed once revenue from sales is realised. Such a mechanism could enable infrastructure provision to be addressed in a more realistic way financially and operationally by developers. It was acknowledged that this would probably have to be implemented on a national scale, possibly through the appropriate delivery co-ordination structures referred to previously.
The meeting acknowledged the difficulties for housing associations to address planning gain issues such as infrastructure provision satisfactorily, especially if they related to non-subsidy eligible elements
Affordable Housing
There was consensus that adequate and proper funding for the required supply of affordable housing is a priority, particularly in an area like the Lothians which is an employment centre. There was a need to enable housing associations and local authorities to gain control of land on which they intended to build affordable housing and the assistance of the proposed central body/framework in site assembly (reflecting the practice of the Highland Housing Alliance) possibly using (simplified) CPO powers was cited.
There were concerns that funding issues might make it difficult for authorities to respond if the system was to be freed up as we wished and the phasing of payments would need to be addressed.
Plenary Session
The final plenary session reinforced many of the foregoing points and concluded that the Task Force should:
As an early action, examine some of the 7 or 8 big projects in the planning system in the Lothians (representing some 35,000 potential completions) with a view to unblocking delivery.
Taking account of the lessons from that examination, begin urgent consideration of how appropriate structures and processes can be created to project manage the unblocking of delivery in major projects, mediate between parties in the progressing of major housing proposals, assist in the direction of infrastructure resources in the context of a strong national planning framework and develop and manage a rolling fund for infrastructure provision nationally. These actions will need to be linked with other activities already underway or planned, such as the review of the planning agreements system in Scotland.
Next Steps for the HSTF
This was the first of the geographical seminars and was regarded as successful by participants. It revealed a number of local/national and short/long term issues that the Task force could work on. It is seen as important for the success of the Task Force to be able to begin to progress actions identified to date. It would be useful to reflect on the process that we have followed in relation to the Lothian housing supply issues, consider the outputs that have been achieved and come to a view on how they should be addressed before proceeding with the examination of issues affecting Greater Glasgow. This need not involve a substantial delay beyond the beginning of 2008,.
Brian Gegan
November 2007