Archived decisions

Contact: Sue Clark, ext 5890 email: [email protected]

1. Summary

1.1 Several documents relating to work on Sustainable Communities were published recently by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM). They included:

(i) `Sustainable Communities : Homes for All';

(ii) `Sustainable Communities: People, Places and Prosperity';

(iii) `Creating Sustainable Communities in the South East'; and

(iv) Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development.

1.2 The purpose of this briefing note is to draw Members' attention to the evolving planning agenda and the most recent statements of Government policy and intention. These matters will have significant impact in Hampshire, as they will across the country. The documents referred to are available in the Environment Department library or can be viewed in full on the ODPM website (see section 7 below).

2. Introduction

2.1 A three-day ODPM Summit on delivering sustainable communities was held on 31 January-2 February 2005. To coincide with the Summit several Government documents were also launched. They can be viewed in full on the ODPM website or they are available in the Environment Department library.

2.2 Two documents -`Sustainable Communities: Homes for All' and `Sustainable Communities: People, Places and Prosperity' together form the next stage of the Sustainable Communities Plan.

3. `Sustainable Communities: Homes for All'

3.1 `Sustainable Communities: Homes for All' sets out the action the Government will take over the next five years to provide everyone with the opportunity of a decent, affordable home. Of the documents published recently on sustainable communities, this is the most important one in relation to the provision of housing. A summary of the report's aims and main proposals is set out in the appendix to this briefing note.

3.2 The report includes an extract from the Partnership for Urban South Hampshire's (PUSH) Vision Statement which states that "further growth in the area is to be welcomed and that we must plan for sustainable development and change in a way which will maximise benefit to the area". The report then states:

"We will make available up to £40 million in 2006/07 and 2007/08 to help around five areas prepare for additional growth; to make these communities more sustainable, with better infrastructure, a wider employment base and an enhanced environment."

3.3 Although no specific areas are identified in the report, the inclusion of the reference to PUSH would indicate that South Hampshire is considered to be a potential candidate.

4. 'Sustainable Communities: People, Places and Prosperity'

4.1 This report sets out action to revitalise neighbourhoods, strengthen local leadership, and increase regional prosperity to create places in which people want to live and work. It shows how, working across the whole of Government, prosperity will be promoted for all and local people will be helped to create communities they feel proud of. The strategy is built on two main principles - the need to give communities more power and say in the decisions that affect them; and the importance of working at the right level to get things done. This document should be of relevance and interest to the Local Strategic Partnership within Hampshire.

5. `Creating Sustainable Communities in the South East'

5.1 A third document, `Creating Sustainable Communities in the South East', explains what is happening to deliver more sustainable communities in the South East.

5.2 As well as the general proposals, the report mentions two projects in Hampshire:

(i) The `Liveability' pilot in Havant which is aimed at raising standards of services in the community and quality of life; and

(ii) Leigh Park, Havant - a project to enhance and regenerate the environment, involving the community and including limited development to meet modern needs.

6. Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development

6.1 Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development (PPS1) was also published at the same time as the other documents. PPS1 sets out the Government's overarching planning policies on the delivery of sustainable development through the planning system. This PPS replaces Planning Policy Guidance Note 1: General Policies and Principles which was published in February 1997. The policies in this PPS need to be taken into account by regional planning bodies in the preparation of regional planning strategies and by local planning authorities in the preparation of local development documents. This document places the delivery of sustainable development at the heart of the planning system and defines sustainability in terms of social, economic and environmental considerations.

7. List of Web Addresses

`Sustainable Communities : Homes for All' http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_about/documents/divisionhomepage/033928.hcsp

'Sustainable Communities: People, Places and Prosperity' http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_about/documents/divisionhomepage/035146.hcsp

`Creating Sustainable Communities in the South East'

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_about/documents/page/odpm_about_035165.pdf

Planning Policy Statement 1: Delivering Sustainable Development

http://www.odpm.gov.uk/stellent/groups/odpm_planning/documents/page/odpm_plan_034815.pdf

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APPENDIX

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES: HOMES FOR ALL

Summary of the Aims and Main Proposals

1. `Sustainable Communities: Homes for All' builds on the Sustainable Communities Plan which sets out a vision of sustainable communities for the next 15-20 years and a programme for immediate action, bringing together work across Government.

2. This plan sets out the next phase of delivering that agenda. Its aims are to:

(i) make sure that there are enough high quality homes across the whole spectrum of housing - owner occupied, social rented and private rented;

(ii) help more people to own their home;

(iii) make sure that all social tenants, and seven out of ten vulnerable people in the private sector, have a decent home;

(iv) create sustainable, mixed communities in both rural and urban areas, with the jobs, services and infrastructure they need to thrive;

(v) provide for those who need more support to meet their housing needs and aspirations, including halving numbers in temporary accommodation;

(vi) provide for those who choose alternative types of accommodation, such as Gypsies and Travellers, but crack down on unauthorised development; and

(vii) protect and enhance the environment, our historic towns and cities and the countryside.

Homes Where They Are Needed Most

3. The Government intends to increase housing supply. Its aim by 2016 is to build an extra 200,000 homes in London and the South East, above 2001 plans. The report gives details about investment in the four growth areas already identified in London and the South East and mentions additional growth points in the wider South East.

Sustainable Home Ownership

4. Policies to increase housing supply will contribute to wider home ownership over time. But in the short term the Government is taking steps to help some groups, streamlining existing home ownership schemes, and providing more coherent advice and information on the costs and responsibilities that home ownership brings. Proposals include a new scheme to help first time buyers, by using public land for new homes and so keeping costs down.

5. A new package - Choice to Own - will give social tenants a choice about how to move into home ownership. Right to Buy will continue as part of this package to give people more choice and promote mixed communities. Choice to Own will include an extension to Homebuy to give social tenants the chance to buy a share in their home - and over time to buy the property outright if they can afford it.

6. To promote home ownership higher-quality homes are needed while keeping costs low. A competition for developers to build a "£60,000 home", to show what can be achieved is proposed.

Quality and Choice for Those Who Rent

7. The Government is putting in the resources to make all social homes decent by 2010 and to ensure that at least 70% of vulnerable households in the private sector have homes that are decent.

8. The Government is more than doubling investment in social housing from 1997 levels and expects to build an extra 10,000 homes a year by 2008 - a 50% increase compared to current rates.

9. The expansion of choice-based lettings will be supported to give tenants the maximum possible choice over where they live. MoveUK, an online service that brings together information about jobs and housing nationwide, will also be launched.

10. Local authorities are to have a new strategic role in housing. This will involve working with partners to assess the need for housing and with the regional assembly to develop Regional Spatial Strategies that integrate housing, economic development and new infrastructure.

11. Local authorities will need to build strong working relationships with house builders, infrastructure providers and regeneration agencies. They will also need to involve and engage the local community in plans for new development. They will use their own resources and lever in others to deliver infrastructure and services alongside housing.

12. There are now three ways in which local authorities can be involved in building new social housing: the expanded housing Private Finance Initiative; funding building by housing associations; and bidding in partnership with private developers for funding from the Housing Corporation.

Reviving Communities and Housing Markets

13. The sister document to this five-year plan - `Sustainable Communities: People, Places and Prosperity' - shows what is being done to help the most deprived neighbourhoods. The long-term aim is to eradicate the problems of low demand housing by 2020. It is proposed to pilot a more intensive approach to creating mixed communities in a small number of selected estates.

Support for Those Who Need It

14. The Government is focusing on temporary accommodation, aiming to cut its use by half by 2010.

15. It will invest over £5 billion in housing related support over three years, helping 1.2 million people, many of them older or disabled people, to live independently in their homes.

16 The Government will also make provision for the accommodation needs of Gypsies and Travellers, while taking action to tackle unauthorised development.

Enhancing the Environment

17. The Government wants to create cleaner, safer, greener communities with a real sense of place. It will extend the powers to prevent low-density developments in areas of high housing demand to areas beyond the South East.

18. A new Green Belt Direction will strengthen protection of the green belt.

19. The average energy efficiency of all domestic homes will be improved by fifth by 2010. The decent homes programme will continue to improve the energy efficiency of social homes. A new Code for Sustainable Buildings will be piloted.