Housing and Planning Bill

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger Excerpts

Tuesday 26th January 2016 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Hodgson of Abinger (Con)]

My Lords, I, too, congratulate the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, and the noble Lord, Lord Thurlow, on their excellent maiden speeches.

We are all too aware of the housing crisis we find ourselves in and which this Bill is trying to address. Having a home is fundamentally important to us all: it provides long-term stability and security, giving an individual a stake in our society. Thus, we need to do all we can to help more aspiring home owners realise their dreams.

Nowhere is the lack of housing more severe than here in London, as we have already heard. Soaring property prices mean that it is very difficult for young people wanting to come here to work to find somewhere to live that they can afford. It is crucial that this problem is addressed. Does the Minister have figures for what percentage of residential property in central London is now owned by foreign nationals? In recent years it would seem that there has been a crowding-out of the settled population; it is important that our own young people should be able not only to come and work in London but to buy a flat or a house.

While there is clearly a need for increased quantities of housing, I hope that your Lordships would agree that the quality of our housebuilding, specifically the design of it, is also important. Winston Churchill once remarked:

“We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us”.

Upholding architectural standards and considering aesthetic standards are, therefore, also essential in all types of housing. Our environment has a dramatic impact on our lives, affecting our outlook, our well-being and, most importantly, our health. It can be said that of all artists, architects have the greatest responsibility to, and for, the world around them. We already have many beautiful buildings in the UK—big and small—but it would seem that this aspect is all too often forgotten in new construction. ResPublica’s report, A Community Right to Beauty, highlights this.

We need to ask ourselves why the issue of planning causes such tensions in local communities. As we know, many housing developments fail due to opposition from local communities. Usually it is because they are unhappy with the housing that is being proposed. Too often there is little to distinguish one housing development from another in different parts of the country. While I believe that our localism provisions, which empower local authorities to have a greater say over local styles of building, should have helped, they are effective only if pricing is comparable. Big developers frequently ignore the specific and local context in which they are building and local materials—the beautiful honey-coloured stone of the Cotswolds, or the darker stone of Yorkshire, for example—and price carefully to make it more attractive to accept their somewhat stereotypical national designs.

I also have concerns about planning gain and that it may sometimes sway planning decisions. Existing residents need to know that new housing will enhance, not diminish, their environment, and indeed the value of their homes. If we just wave through thousands of unattractive, low-quality homes to address the housing shortage, we will not be achieving true sustainability. Moreover, ultimately it also short-changes those who purchase them. Fifty years ago we thought that tower blocks were the answer to housing. How wrong we were. We must avoid similar mistakes and ensure that we do not present our successors with similar challenges in a generation from now.

In smaller towns, there is also much resentment when new developments are simply bolted on in ways that do not reflect or complement the original communities. It is crucial that new housing fits in with the existing layout, enhancing the local community and creating cohesion. If we were to ensure that new housing was sensitively designed in relation to existing landscapes and architecture, I genuinely believe that we might see a step change in local attitudes.

I am glad that this Bill encourages building on brownfield sites. It is, therefore, essential that local authorities have sufficiently knowledgeable and expert staff to assess potential developments and to designate brownfield sites. The current framework rightly states that the construction of new buildings should be regarded as inappropriate for the green belt. However, I am somewhat concerned, as I understand that there are proposals currently under consultation to allow some local plans to also begin allocating green belt land for starter homes. There has also been a sharp increase in the number of homes securing full planning approval in the green belt in recent years. I do applaud the starter home concept: it is an innovative and necessary measure to help first-time buyers. However, allowing these homes to infringe upon our precious green belt cannot be the answer. I am sure that I am not alone in this House in valuing the countryside. The green belt is sacrosanct and should not be compromised, as once concreted over, we will never get it back. Conservation officers also have a critical role to play. I hope that the Minister will give an assurance that the Bill will continue to provide the same level of protection to historic buildings, which are also a finite resource.

One of the most important ways of ensuring that welcome and sustainable housing is built in the right places is including affected neighbourhoods in the planning process. Evidence shows that involving residents in the design of new housing delivers a range of social and economic benefits that better meet the needs of both new and existing residents and ultimately creating more attractive areas that will also influence potential investors into the community. Thus I commend the measures in the Bill to extend the designation of neighbourhood areas. I believe that this is crucial to ensuring that greater consideration is given to the appropriateness of new housing and will in turn help to reduce the gridlock of opposition to new developments; in short, everybody wins. I welcome the efforts to address the need for more homes, which are so badly needed. However, we must build homes that will last, nurture and enhance communities for years to come.