Housing Targets ‘Ridiculous and Unrealistic’
Green-led council at odds with Labour MP over government plans
PAUL McLAUGHLIN
Government plans to tackle the housing crisis by overhauling the planning system and introducing mandatory targets for all councils in England to build up to 1.5 million new homes across the country were met with hostility by the Green-led cabinet of Hastings Borough Council (HBC) at their meeting on 5 August.
The Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, made the announcement in Parliament at the end of July. She told MPs that the country was experiencing the “most acute housing crisis in living memory” and required a “level of ambition to match the scale of the emergency”.
In consequence, local authorities will be mandated to incorporate housing targets into their long-term plans to allocate land, and councils which fail to do so face seeing their power to block new developments curbed. In addition, the standard method for calculating local housing targets will be changed to include housing need so that new targets better reflect the urgency of supply for local areas.
Ms Rayner admitted that “the new Government’s ambitions would not be without controversy”, but she said the “need was urgent” and that “Labour would not be afraid to take the tough choices needed to deliver for our country.”
IMPACT ON HASTINGS
The Government’s plans are set to have a major impact on Hastings. The town has an acute housing shortage. There are some 500 households living in temporary accommodation. In 2019, HBC spent £730,000 on temporary accommodation. This figure is expected to rise to over £5 million this year, accounting for almost a third of the total budget, and it is one of the main reasons pushing the Council to the brink of bankruptcy.
The problem is exacerbated because much of the existing housing stock is also in a poor state of repair. The Council’s latest housing survey identified over 700 empty homes which could be brought back into use if money was available to fix them. HIP recently reported on the Housing Rebellion protest at Clifton Court where Orbit Housing have left 53 flats empty since 2021 because the property needs updating.
The Government’s proposed changes to the way housing targets are calculated based on housing need will mean that in Hastings a further 282 new homes will now be required to be built each year, in addition to the 490 existing affordable homes target identified by the previous government.
The town’s new Labour MP, Helena Dollimore, speaking in the House of Commons, said she welcomed the Government’s plans to increase house building, saying: “Labour was elected to tackle the housing crisis with a mandate to build the homes our community desperately needs, including the biggest expansion of social housing in a generation. Some parties may behave like it is a zero-sum game between building more homes and protecting the environment, but our town is full of brownfield sites that could be homes for local people but have been left derelict. Our planning reforms will force councils like ours to make the most of these brownfield sites. The Deputy Prime Minister confirmed to me in Parliament that golden rules will apply to ensure we build the homes and local infrastructure, including sewage pipes and public services that we need while protecting the environment.”
GREEN OPPOSITION
But the new target figures were described as “ridiculous” and “unrealistic” by Glenn Haffenden, deputy council leader and Housing and Community Wellbeing portfolio holder in HBC’s cabinet. His irritation was apparent on hearing an updated report to the Cabinet by Stephen Dodson, the Head of Strategic Programmes, on the landslides that impacted the Old Roar Gill and Caves Road in February.
Mr Dodson told the Cabinet there were many “complex and complicated” causes of the landslides and that coastal communities across the country had been impacted in similar ways. Global warming and climate change would result in more flooding, coastal erosion and landslides in the future. Part of the survey work currently being undertaken in the two areas most affected by the landslides, he said, was to better understand the impact of any new developments on land stability and the need to stiffen planning restrictions as a result. He concluded that the “restraints and restrictions that we have within Hastings means we were not going to meet our existing house building targets, and we will be even less likely to meet the new targets.”
Julia Hilton, the Leader of Hastings BC, shared her deputy’s cynicism. She said the Council “awaits advice as to how a small, coastal town such as Hastings surrounded by protected landscapes and bounded by the sea is supposed to deliver an additional 282 homes a year on top of our existing targets. We have also yet to see any commitment to a requirement for these houses to be built to be zero-carbon or indeed carbon-positive standards. What would be really welcome is support to bring the over 700 empty homes we have in the town back into use. Using the stock we already have is the most energy efficient solution.”
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Understandably, I am limited by word count for this comment so I will keep my comment short, a brief opening comment and a list of suggestions. No offense is meant to anyone.
Imagine centuries ago if Hastings was governed by the logic I see in this article emanating from appointed problem solvers. The area would be a fraction of the size it is now and poverty would be rampant. Life would be tough and unhappy. Julie think before you speak, a large number of homes have recently built in Hastings which meet current carbon positive standards. Study level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.
Suggestions.
1. Problem, reaction, solution, burst your bubble and think outside of the box.
2. Acquiring money to throw at failures is a temporary sticking plaster. Correct/qualified management is the solution.
3. Do not get hung up on the UN Sustainable Development Goals for housing. Study them, interpret them for application and cherry pick (think outside of the box).
4. Study the economic flows of money within housing development, the full picture. From 1990 until now.
5. Consider that many solutions are already within our diverse geographical communities. Think outside the box.
6. No matter what designation we give to land, it remains as available land when it is needed. Think outside of the box on how that land is developed. It is possible to build a housing estate with more positive green environmental features than the land had when it was not being used. Look abroad for successful examples. UN Sustainable goals.
7. As a councilor understand, the most successful businesses are managed by people who know very little about the business. (Richard Branson).They utilize qualified people. Our diverse communities are full of such people.
I know there is room for many more suggestions but this is enough for the limited context in which it is presented.