Planning Policies and Affordable Housing: England as a Successful Case Study?

Abstract

Over the last two decades England has been developing a system by which the majority of new affordable housing will be produced with the help of the land-use planning system. As such it provides an apparently successful example of a trend observable in many countries of using land regulation to achieve housing goals. This paper addresses both the conceptual basis for this approach and the English experience by first setting out the rationale and principles behind a link between land-use planning and the provision of affordable housing. It then examines how the mechanisms that have evolved in England relate to these principles, both formally and in practice, and then assesses outcomes. Finally, lessons are drawn about the necessary conditions for success and the extent to which English experience is relevant to other advanced economies with similar problems.

Keywords:

• Affordable housing
• land use planning
• section 106

Notes

¹ In response to the Barker recommendations the government is currently examining the possibility of introducing a Planning Gain Supplement, which would have many of the attributes of a general development gains tax.

² It should be noted that the policy operates rather differently in the different countries of the UK because the potential to generate economic rent varies greatly between the different countries, as does the institutional framework by which land for affordable housing is made available (Berry et al., 2004).

³ The government has now legislated for the possibility of using tariffs and has included them in the new planning guidance PPS3 (ODPM, 2005a, 2005b).