LHTs - a housing revolution?
Housing minister Grant Shapps believes Local Housing Trusts will spark a "revolution" in how residential property is delivered.
Edited by Bob Witham.
The government will bring forward legislation that will spark a "revolution" in how new residential property developments are planned and delivered, housing minister Grant Shapps has said.
Speaking at a Community Land Trusts event in London, the Conservative MP said the upcoming decentralisation and localism bill would include proposals to help communities in "providing homes for themselves".
Local Housing Trusts (LHTs) would not be required to submit specific planning applications for schemes, but would have to meet some basic criteria and demonstrate "overwhelming" neighbourhood support for their projects, he added.
Any profits generated by their developments would have to be reinvested locally, while the land used for building would remain in the trust's possession indefinitely, regardless of what happens to the homes constructed on it.
Mr Shapps said the traditional English villages that "captivate the world's imagination" demonstrate the benefits of allowing people to deliver the properties that meet their needs.
"Essentially, I want communities to have the freedom to decide on the type and quantity of housing without external restrictions imposed by a centralised planning system," the minister told the conference.
Industry groups will no doubt examine the proposals for LHTs closely, as a number of bodies have already called for greater clarity in the planning system.
Steve Turner of the Home Builders Federation recently told Construction News that the coalition government's decision to scrap Regional Strategies, which prescribe the number of properties to be built in a particular area, risked the creation of a "complete void" in planning that could hold up the delivery of much-needed housing.
Elsewhere, Town and Country Planning Association chief planner Dr Hugh Ellis has called for ministers to introduce "transitional arrangements" to ensure that house building, green home improvements and the wider economic recovery are not inadvertently damaged by the removal of the regional frameworks.
The decentralisation and localism bill is scheduled to be introduced to parliament in the autumn.
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