Member Article

Pickles delivers kick to stalled housing projects

A “kickstart” development programme to get stalled housing deals moving has been announced by communities secretary Eric Pickles.

Expert brokers will help to get stalled deals back up and running, and builders back on moth-balled sites.

The deals are known as legally as Section 106 agreements, and require developers to make a financial contribution to the community or provide housing, amenities or infrastructure as part of their planning permission.

Intermediaries will offer a free-of-charge advice and support service to councils and developers, in bid to reignite regeneration and development.

Mr Pickles said: “Tackling problems with stalled development is essential to getting builders back on moth-balled sites and building the homes we need. There is huge potential in sites to boost local economies and we simply cannot afford to have them lying idle because of earlier agreements that are no longer viable.

“The support and advice the expert brokers will offer is one of the many measures we have introduced to get development underway and I hope councils grab this chance to make use of the support we are offering.

Councils in Leeds, Ipswich, Corby, Swindon, Ashford, Gloucester, Kirklees, Carlisle, Northumberland and Durham, will be among the first to benefit from the support.

Ministers have stressed that any renegotiations of Section 106 agreements will not remove the developer’s obligation to provide critical infrastructure or other contributions to offset the effects of the development, and they should not result in land banking.

Pat Ritchie, chief executive of the Homes and Communities Agency, said:“As a sector we need to see as many stalled sites as possible unlocked to deliver much needed new homes.

“We are currently using our investment to do this through Get Britain Building, while our support in unlocking large projects in the planning system - through our ATLAS team - is highly valued by local authorities and the private sector.

The Government estimate there are currently more than 1,400 housing schemes of more than 10 housing units with planning permission.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .