News Release : 17 March 2004

STATEMENT
By Paul Bevan - Chief Executive, South East England Regional Assembly

Initial response to Kate Barker, Review of Housing Supply, March 2004

On housing numbers:

We are sceptical that increasing housing supply will significantly reduce house prices; Kate Barker herself has shown that the housing market is far more complicated than that. New house building, even at the levels suggested, will only add one or two percent to the housing stock. Prices are actually determined by household incomes, interest rates and location.

The notion that the South East should or could increase house building rates by up to 100% is wholly unrealistic, both economically and environmentally. All our growth projections for the region to 2026 show a much lower demand for new housing than Kate Barker suggests.

We have demonstrated to Government that the reasons for the current shortfall in new homes (against a target of 28,000 completions a year) are more to do with the housing industry and a lack of infrastructure than reluctant planning authorities. There are at present outstanding planning permissions for 78,000 homes across the South East that the industry could take up more rapidly if the market dictated. There are also plan allocations for a further 117,000 homes. Tellingly, however, developments totalling 40,000 homes are currently held up by transport infrastructure constraints.

On policy and decision making arrangements:

It is naïve to imagine that issues of such vital concern to people can be handled as purely technical problems; these are highly political matters on which citizens deserve, through their locally elected representatives, to have their say. We hope the Government will roundly reject proposals that will further emasculate local democracy. Yet more change to the planning system risks disruption and delay to the new regional plan for the South East that the Assembly is preparing now to tackle the challenges of growth.

On affordable housing:

Government has to bite the bullet to support those unable to participate in the housing market, including key workers and the less well-off. We therefore welcome Kate Barker’s strong advocacy of additional public funding for social housing.

On implementation, infrastructure and services:

The real focus needs to be on implementation. We are pleased that the report has taken on board our proposals that local authorities should be able to keep the extra council tax raised from new developments to fund the services to which they give rise. We also welcome the report’s recognition of our case that, especially in prosperous regions like ours, some of the increased values conveyed by planning permissions need to be systematically captured to fund the community infrastructure required by new developments.

Contact

Lesley van Dijk, PR Executive - 01483 555223

Alex Butlin, PR Executive - 01483 555221

Notes to editors:

1. Information on Kate Barker’s Review of Housing Supply is available on the Treasury Website.
2. The Regional Assembly is the “voluntary regional chamber” for the South East. It was established in January 1999 to give a representative voice to the South East region which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East and West Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, and Surrey.
3. The Assembly is made up of 111 members including elected councillors nominated by the region’s local authorities and 37 representatives from other sectors of the community (including business, trades unions, education, housing, health, sports, culture, tourism, faith groups, environmental, community and voluntary organisations).
4. The Assembly has three areas of core business:
1. It is the representative voice of the South East, engaging and representing its member organisations and, through them, the wider public.
2. The Assembly has a specific role under the Regional Development Agencies' Act 1998 to ensure the accountability of the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) to the region.
3. The Assembly has been the Regional Planning Body for the South East since April 2001. It has responsibility for proposing strategic planning and transport policies to Government.

Last updated: 21 August 2007