AUTUMN BUDGET – DOES THE WEST MIDLANDS HAVE THE TOOLS TO MEET HOUSING DELIVERY DEMANDS?
Following this week’s Autumn Budget, Gareth Jacob, regional managing director at Lovell in the West Midlands, is cautiously optimistic when it comes to housing. He said: “It’s positive to see that when it comes to housing delivery, we’re finally moving from ambition to action with the funding and plans from government to deliver this.
“The chancellor’s goals show a clear consensus to give power to councils and housing associations to deliver more affordable homes. Reduction in building regulatory changes unless paramount to safety, cutting biodiversity requirements for brownfield site development and changes to borrowing rates and VAT on land for social housing providers are all undoubtedly positive moves.
“But work towards high-quality, new homes that actually meet demand, didn’t start yesterday in the West Midlands. We need to learn from the partnerships that have already brought forward positive change, in order to make the newly announced housing support as impactful as possible. For more than a decade, local authorities and councils across the region have been working in partnership to deliver the homes people need. In Telford, for example, Station Quarter has revived the town centre with essential services and hundreds of homes – only possible through collaboration between Telford and Wrekin Council, NuPlace and Lovell.
“We know creating more council-owned homes on council-owned land is essential to providing vital housing across the West Midlands, as has been mirrored by the chancellor’s thoughts for the rest of the UK. However, the pathway to how this is achieved is less clear. What is clear, is the need to learn from success in the West Midlands where public and private sector partnerships have made positive strides and apply this learning to the increased budgets and improved pathways to delivery, announced yesterday.
“It’ll take full sector collaboration but it’s positive that we have already proven together we have the tools, we now have the government backing; it’s heading in the right direction.”
For more information, visit: https://corporate.lovell.co.