MHCLG to push ahead with requirement for larger sites to be mixed-tenure

Housing developments over a certain size would be required to be mixed-tenure, under proposals being developed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

The department, in a new working paper published over the weekend, said it is committed to bringing forward the plan, which it originally mooted in its response to the National Planning Policy Framework consultation in February.

The paper, titled Speeding Up Build Out, said MHCLG data analysis shows build-out rates are between 30% to 60% faster on mixed-tenure projects. Sir Oliver Letwin’s review of build out rates in 2018 recommended requiring mixed-tenure on sites above 1,500 homes, but MHCLG said it is also looking at a range of options, including a lower threshold of 500 homes.

It said: “We are considering a range of options to set the threshold at a level which balances increasing build out rates, supports broader market diversification and increases supply overall.”

“The Letwin Review found that absorption rate constraints do not apply in the same way on mixed tenure sites as for largely mono-tenure estates.”

The working paper also set out a range of other measures intended to speed up the delivery of homes on sites with planning permission.

The MHCLG paper proposes giving councils the power to issue financial penalties to housebuilders who do not build out their sites to an agreed timetable.

>>See also: ‘Housebuilders do not sit on land’ – HBF hits back at Rayner’s plan for slow build-out fines

Under the proposals housebuilders will be required to commit to specific delivery timeframes before they get planning permission and could face financial penalties if they fail to meet them.

The penalties will be “worth thousands per unbuilt home” and paid directly to local planning authorities.

The government’s working paper, called ‘Speeding Up Build Out’, said the financial penalties will be a “last resort” for councils to use where a developer has fallen “10% or more” behind the build-out schedule agreed in its planning permission. . The plan will require primary legislation and will only apply to future planning permissions.

The paper also sets out other measures designed to speed up build out as the government aims to deliver 1.5m homes by the end of the parliament. It will confirm a plan to de-risk the use of compulsory purchase orders on stalled sites and reform completion notices councils can issue to cancel a planning permission if a development is unlikely to complete within a reasonable time period.