What is it?
The New Homes Accelerator Programme was announced as part of the Chancellor’s speech in July and the scheme was launched by the Deputy Prime Minister at the end of August.
The programme is in its early stages and is currently calling for evidence of large-scale blocked sites where new home delivery has been delayed due to planning complications.
The taskforce will compromise of experienced members from the Ministry of Housing and Homes England, working across local councils and the government collaboratively with house builders to identify barriers to affordable housing delivery and bottle necks in planning which are delaying new homes being built.
What does it aim to address?
The programme intends to unblock stalled schemes which have been delayed due to significant planning issues in an attempt to tackle the housing crisis and contribute to the government’s overall target of building 1.5 million new homes over the next five years. The Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Raynor said “Our New Homes Accelerator will quickly identify blockages, fix problems and support local authorities and developers to get shovels in the ground.”
Early government estimates indicate that up to 300,000 new homes could be built as a result of a potential 200 stalled large sites being unblocked. The programme intends to contribute to housing supply now and in the future, as the taskforce’s findings will be a useful tool to inform future reform to housing and planning policy.
Potential impact on affordable homes
If the programme is successful we should see a visible difference in new homes of all tenures being built which will benefit the overall housing market. With the intended influx of new homes, developers will be looking for registered providers (RPs) to team up with to fill the growing number of affordable homes. This could increase choice for RPs and allow them to be more selective in their stock. As a result of increased competition amongst developers, they may need to look to engage RPs early and attract them by offering more control in terms of specification for example, in an attempt to avoid homes being ready to complete without an RP lined up.
Perhaps the greatest challenge the government face with the New Homes Accelerator Programme is striking the balance between overcoming the obstacles to house building whilst maintaining their commitment to affordable homes delivery. This balance is particularly difficult given they have identified a "key blocker" at planning stage as Section 106 Agreements, which play a vital role in affordable home delivery as 47 per cent of affordable housing completions were delivered by way of Section 106 agreements in the year 2022-23.
We can speculate that it is possible the government may look to relax Section 106 obligations, by lowering the level of affordable homes required on sites in a compromise to unblock stalled sites to increase the overall number of homes being built. However, this would not fit with the labour government’s expressed commitment to more affordable housing.
Round up and looking ahead
It is difficult to determine whether the New Homes Accelerator Programme will have an overall positive or negative impact on RPs. The impact will be contingent on the weight the government give to unblocking sites to enable new homes to be built, against the weighting given to the role "key planning blockers" play in protecting affordable homes delivery. It is likely we will see future housing and planning reform as a result of the taskforce's findings, therefore RPs should be looking ahead to anticipate potential changes to the market.
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This article is authored by Lauren Brown, Paralegal at Womble Bond Dickinson.
This article is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice.
