Government’s Public Land Programme

Daniel GreavesDeputy Director, Housing Supply & Markets

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Structure of presentation

• Why is Government focused on accelerating the release of public land?

• What is Government doing to press this agenda forward?

• Where are the opportunities?

Housing supply is a key political priority

“One of the most important things each generation can do for the

next is to build high quality homes that will stand the test of time”.

“A housing offer fit for the 21st century, providing new homes in the right places, is…vital for our

future economic competitiveness…”

“…a clear and pressing need for more homes to meet growing

demand…”

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Housing strategy

• Ambitious package of measures to boost the supply of new homes – nearly £1bn of new investment:

New Buy Guarantee – to help prospective buyers

£420m Get Britain Building investment fund

£500m Growing Places Fund for enabling infrastructure

PM commitment to release public land with capacity for 100k homes

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Why focus on public land?

• Lack of viable, permissioned land is a constraint on housing growth

• A significant proportion of land suitable for development sits within public land-holdings (c. 40%)

• Much of it is in areas where there is significant need and demand

• Accelerating release can support Government’s key objectives of growth and deficit reduction

"The Government is one of the country's biggest landlords, so at a time when we desperately need more homes, we have a critical role in making new sites available for developers and communities.”

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What’s the Problem?

• Lack of urgency – Ministers believe that some departments and public bodies have been slow to release their land

• Lack of transparency – developers and community groups sometimes find it difficult to get details about Government’s surplus land.

• Current economic climate – constrained confidence and credit a significant barrier to effective disposal

• Capacity and expertise can be an issue

"Up to 40 per cent of the land ready for development in this country is simply sitting idle in the hands of the public sector…”

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What is Government doing?

• There are a number of strands to the programme:

Developing land release strategies (e.g. for HCA, MoD, DfT) and holding Departments to account for performance

Build Now, Pay Later – to help make disposals digestible to the market

Technical support – HCA support through on-line tools and specialist services such as the Advisory Team for Large Applications – advising on preparation of large and complex sites for release

Commercial advice – Expert Advisory Group led by Tony Pidgley to provide practical advice

Working corporately to address barriers

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Land release strategiesFor the first time HCA and four major landholding departments have published disposal strategies and these are available on line

These have been scrutinised by a Cabinet Committee and there will be ongoing challenge to ensure they are delivering

Homes & Communities Agencyhttp://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/news/hca-launches-development-and-land-disposal-strategy

Ministry of Defence: www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/MicroSite/DIO/OurPublications/CorporateInformation/DefenceInfrastructureInterimLandAndPropertyDisposalStrategy.htm

Department of Health: www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_129982

Department for Transport: www.dft.gov.uk/publications/land-strategy/

Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: www.defra.gov.uk/publications/2011/10/05/pb13628-public-sector-land/

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Progress to date – capacity

Dept/ Agency Land capacity (housing units)

Homes & Communities Agency 11,000

Ministry of Defence 29,500

Department of Health 11,000

Department for Transport 3,500

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs

10,000

Five land disposal strategies published setting out details of sites to be released over the Spending Review period

Taking account of public land already disposed of, gives us capacity for over 80,000 housing units

Next step is to take the programme broader and deeper – progress report at Budget

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What’s this mean in London?

• The land release strategies identify potential sites in London that could deliver significant housing capacity –

• New Covent Garden Market - a 57 acre site, in Vauxhall, South London, to be redeveloped to provide a new modern market, 2300 apartments, a hotel, shops, a major grocery store and community facilities including a food industry training suite.

• NHS sites including - London Chest Hospital, 1.43 ha (due for release December

2015) Hedgecock Centre, 1ha (release due May 2012)

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Build Now, Pay Later

• Departments have committed to use BNPL on as much land as possible – For the developer – eases cashflow For the landowner – likely to attract a deeper pool of bidders For Government as a whole – unlocks homes and jobs

• A summary note on BNPL has been published on the DCLG website and guidance on the use of BNPL issued to departments

• BNPL can be delivered through a variety of models, and each site will be considered in terms of market demand, representing value for money and being affordable – for example it was used at Blackwall Reach

Blackwall Reach, Tower Hamlets

Owned by Tower Hamlets Council, the development has been underway since 2007 with plans to demolish the 1960s Robin Hood Gardens housing estate currently on the site. The new plans include creating over 1,600 new homes, nearly 700 of which will be affordable. Construction work will involve a partnership between the Council, the Homes and Communities Agency and the developers Swan/Countryside, with the land sold under the new Build Now, Pay Later scheme.

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Support Offer

• HCA has significant practical expertise and experience of bringing forward disposals. On-line tools and specialist services to speed up land release, such as ATLAS

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Progress - transparency• Through Community Right to Reclaim Land we are being more transparent

and enabling communities to get underused public property back in use - so public sector bodies do not unnecessarily sit on underused land or property

• Last summer we launched a demonstrator map to show land and buildings owned by almost 600 public sector bodies in England http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/newsroom/1960942

• Increasing transparency about Government propperty holdings - http://data.gov.uk/

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Where are the opportunities?

• Collaborative work to rationalise public estate – learning from the Capital and Asset Pathfinder programme

• Transparency – building awareness of what is out there

• Pooling expertise – working together to develop tools and resources