The Land Promoters and Developers Federation (LPDF), of which Rosconn Strategic Land is a founding member, recently published a report bringing together research from several sources, including the housing charity Shelter. This outlines the very real consequences of the housing crisis facing the country, identifying a number of concerning statistics highlighting the problems created by a severe under provision of housing for all sectors of our community, from those struggling to get on the first rung of the housing ladder, to those in affordable housing need or those in need of specialist care.
Shelter’s publication ‘Denied the right to a safe home’ identifies that 17.5 million people in England (around 1/3 of the population) live in overcrowded, dangerous, unstable or unaffordable housing, whilst 1 in 5 adults regard housing issues as having a negative impact on their mental health. Other data shows that 3.66 million people are living in concealed or overcrowded houses. With the average age of first-time buyers reaching 34 in 2019-20 (up from 27 in 2007), the number of households renting has increased by 24% in the last 11 years, during which time average rents have increased by 46%.
The Government has set a clear ambition to use the planning system to significantly boost the supply of new housing, but recent proposals for planning reform to make the system simpler, faster and more predictable has generated fierce opposition from a number of quarters leaving significant uncertainty as to how this long-standing problem can be resolved. The LPDF have set out its ‘Agenda for Action’ to outline several ways in which planning permissions for new homes can be boosted in both the short and longer term, but a bold vision and strong leadership is now urgently needed to tackle this on-going emergency.
