RICS Public Affairs Blog

Think tank discusses regeneration issues

This morning I attend the launch of a new publication by the Smith Institute think tank entitled Regeneration in a downturn: What needs to change. The essays within the document set out perspectives on how the current downturn has impacted on the regeneration industry and recommendations on what can be done to help.

At the launch both practitioners and policy makers involved in regeneration discussed the current issues in that area and outlined their potential solutions. The importance of physical property regeneration and in particular mixed use development to the wider economy was highlighted. It was felt that this physical regeneration could help put in place social benefits.

The role of private investment in regeneration was also highlighted, particularly through investment in private rented housing and also in infrastructure development through Tax Increment Financing (TIF). It was felt that there was funding available but more action had to be taken by both government and the regeneration industry to ensure it was used effectively.

RICS has published a series of papers on regeneration in the recession which outline some of the key issues and solutions.

RICS invited to 10 Downing Street

RICS Director of External Affairs, Gillian Charlesworth, attended a Prime Ministerial reception at 10 Downing Street on Monday. The event, held at the beginning of National Housing Week, was a gathering of 150 people from across the housing sector. The Prime Minister gave a short speech outlining the housing aspects of his earlier announcement on Building Britain's Future. Inclusion in the event once again confirmed RICS' role as a major player in housing and residential property and provided an opportunity to meet new Housing Minister, John Healey.

More housing and infrastructure coordination helping to build Britain's future

As part of the wide ranging policy plans in the document Building Britain's Future the UK Government has announced £1.5 billion of extra spending on housing development which will deliver 20,000 additional homes in England over the next two years. By doing this the Government also hopes to guarantee 45,000 jobs in the construction sector.

RICS believe that with house building levels at record lows and the housing market still depressed, any additional investment in new homes is welcome. If the promised 20,000 homes can be delivered over the next two years this will provide a significant boost to a development industry that is likely to build fewer than 80,000 new homes in 2009. This investment will also retain skilled workers in the house building industry by creating up to 45,000 construction industry jobs and help ensure the capacity is in place to react to any upturn in the market.

RICS is pleased that Building Britain's Future recognises the importance of the housing market in underpinning the wider economy and hopes the proposals can help move towards a vibrant and sustainable market in the future.

The Government has also announced the establishment of a new advisory body within the document. Infrastructure UK will be charged with identifying the country's long-term infrastructure needs over a 5 to 50 year period. The new body will take stock of what existing plans are likely to deliver in the long term, assess where more could be done, consider the interdependencies between different types of infrastructure and where there are efficiencies and synergies to be exploited.

RICS welcome the announcement of the new body and the Government's intention to consult with key stakeholders. RICS has long argued for streamlining the planning process and better countrywide co-ordination on significant infrastructure and believes Infrastructure UK has the potential to achieve this. It is essential therefore for the Government to define the remit of this body, alongside the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC) which will consider and approve national infrastructure, before the body is set up by Lord Davies.

Disappointingly there are no specific provisions in the Government's Draft Legislative Programme covering the private rented sector.

Regulation of the private rented sector is essential to the creation of a vibrant and sustainable market and is currently being developed by CLG. Proposals on the regulation of letting agents and registration of landlords will require primary legislation and it is disappointing that dedicated Parliamentary time has not been set aside to achieve this. Legislation in this area would have boosted levels of professionalism in the sector and helped consumers

UK Government Building Britain's Housing Future

The UK Government looks set to make a major policy announcement today on its plans for the run up to the General Election which has to be held by June 2010. Building Britain's Future will detail the Government's approach on a range of issues in England including education, health and housing.

Key housing issues are likely to include an announcement of more funding for the HomeBuy Direct scheme, which helps first time buyers purchase new build properties. RICS highlighted the success of this scheme and called for money money to be available through it earlier this year.

Other housing measures should allow local authorities to prioritise local people for new affordable housing in addition to current procedures which allocate housing based on need. Restrictions on sub-letting council housing could also be introduced.

Alongside Building Britain's Future, the draft legislative programme for the 2009-2010 session of Parliament will also be announced. This will provide some further information on proposed legislation on the private rented sector which is likely to include regulation of letting and managing agents.

New US Financial Regulation to also look at mortgage markets, as Bank of England Governor also sets out his views.

New regulation of markets is on its way. Barack Obama and the US Adminstration today set out its plans for strengthening financial regulation. I have included a link to the Whitehouse Blog here. Of interest to the property sector is the planned creation of a new Consumer Financial Protection Authority with a remit to include reform of the US Mortgage Market.  Read the full report here.

Here in London Bank of England Governor tonight has also set out his views on regulation in a speech this evening.  He proposes that more work is required to look at the causes of the recent global financial crisis. The Times Online reports that this puts him on a collision course with the UK Government.

The RICS External Affairs team is keen to know what you think on these breaking news items from today. Please send your views to policy@rics.org  

 

Additional “green” loan funding announced for England's public sector

 

Opportunities to take advantage of new Government investment in energy efficiency are continuing to emerge. 

 

In England, Salix finance and DECC Minister Joan Ruddock announced  this week a loans program for public authorities totalling £51.5 million over 4 years.

 

RICS will continue to monitor such funding opportunities.

China acts to "green" its energy supply as UN talks on Climate Change gather pace

In London this week China's Zhang Xiaoqiang, vice-chairman of China's national development and reform commission outlined plans for increased spending on green measures.

It is a sign of just how seriously climate change is being taken by the world's largest economies. It follows Barrack Obama's major stimulus package in the US which also has a significant boost for energy efficiency and carbon reduction.  

The timing is incredibly important as it comes during the week in which further negotiations are being held between governments at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change talks being held this week in Bonn, Germany.

RICS is closely following these developments. Much of RICS' recent work has been dedicated towards lowering carbon use, improving energy efficiency and sustainability.

If you are interested in these global public policy issues please contact us with your views on policy@rics.org .  

 

Who will be the next Communities Secretary?

Following Hazel Blears' resignation as Communities Secretary, it is anticipated there will be a reshuffle of the CLG ministers within the next week. Will we have a new Housing Minister before long? If you have access to a crystal ball (or work in CLG), please leave your comments...

*Update: John Denham moves from DIUS to become the new Communities Secretary

** BBC reports Beckett has resigned as Housing Minister.

 

Have your say as new RICS planning research for England and Wales is released.

RICS has just released new research by the University of Cambridge on improving the capacity of the Planning System in England and Wales.

RICS commissioned the authors to carry out this research in 2008 as we wanted to look at the capacity of different regions to deliver on national and regional government policies. RICS also felt it important to explore what current differences exist between regions with regard to planning related issues. 

 

RICS also strongly supports the recommendations of the Killian Pretty review and this research will enable RICS to contribute to planning policy at a regional level in a more targeted way.

Key recommendations from the research included:- 

• RICS should work with the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and others to improve the range of courses available to both practising planners and elected members.
• The status of planning should be improved and RICS should play a significant role in this objective. One possibility is turning the role of Chief Planner in local authorities into a statutory position.
• The development control team should be established as an elite team within planning authorities.
• Informal hearings could form the basis for mediation, especially for smaller applications.
• Paying for pre-application discussions was favourably regarded as it could encourage local authorities to adopt this practice as standard and create some common agreement before applications were submitted.
• A Statement of Technical Common Ground should be agreed at pre-application discussions. This would set out a timetable and introduce proportionality.
• Many developers would be happy for a two-tier system where a faster service was available at a higher price.
• There is a greater need for knowledge transfer between developers, private consultants and local authority planners. Where possible, LPAs should seek to fill current vacancies with suitably qualified developers and private consultants. This would not only bring further expertise to LPAs but would also retain those who have recently been made unemployed within the workforce.

What do you think about these suggestions ?

 

Either post a comment here or send your views to policy@rics.org

Talking business with the Conservative BERR spokesman

Mark Prisk MP - Conservative Spokesman for BERR, MP for Hertford and Stortford and Member of RICS - met with RICS to discuss a range of issues including: construction; regulation; empty property rate relief; business rates and local economic development. It was a fruitful meeting and enabled RICS to gain a better insight into the policy behind the Conservative's forthcoming manifesto.

RICS to attend Party Conferences

The RICS Public Affairs Team will have a presence at the party conferences this autumn.  The conferences are a key element of the RICS' influencing strategy whereby policies can be put forward and debated. The party conferences 2009 will be of particular importance in the run up to the general election. 

Members wishing to attend the conferences may find the following information useful -

Liberal Democrat Conference
19-23 September
Bournemouth
http://www.libdems.org.uk/conference

Labour Conference
26-30 September
Brighton
http://www.labour.org.uk/annual_conference_2009

Conservative Conference
4-8 October
Manchester
http://www.conservatives.com/Get_involved/Conference.aspx

James Scott-Lee Speaks at Parliamentary Reception

Leading RICS residential practitioner, James Scott-Lee, spoke at a recent UK Parliamentary meeting on e-home buying. James made a plea on behalf of the estate agency sector for much needed progress on streamlining, reducing paperwork and increasing certainty and efficiency during property transactions.

The E-Home Buying Forum, a coalition of conveyancing and other property service providers, was launching its blue print for e-home buying at the 19 March event which was hosted by MP Sir Paul Beresford.

The blue print is available to view at http://www.e-homebuyingforum.com/

RICS Meets Shadow CLG Minister

RICS met Lord Bates to discuss a range of issues including Business Rate Supplement Bill and Empty Property Rate Relief yesterday. 

A former Conservative MP and Government Minister, Lord Bates has the CLG porfolio in the House of Lords and is receptive to working with the RICS and drawing on its technical expertise.

Budget Breakfast with Financial Secretary Stephen Timms

Following yesterday's UK Buget announcement I attended a New Statesman and Weber Shandwick Budget Breakfast. Chief Secretary to the Treasury Yvette Cooper was supposed to be speaking but was at the last minute replaced by Financial Secretary Stephen Timms.

The event started with a brief summary of the key macroeconomic points raised in the Budget and the general background on why the Government had made the announcements in the Budget. The Minister stressed the importance of the housing industry to the more general economic recovery. This was seen as one of the reasons why spending has been made available and the prominence of housing measures in the Budget.

There was some discussion about the Government's growth forecasts for the Budget and whether they were overly optimistic. Mr Timms defended the Treasury's forecasts arguing that it was difficult to make predictions in the current environment. He pointed out the International Monetary Fund was having to constantly revise its estimates and that many other commentators were forecasting higher growth than the Treasury. The Minister refused to be drawn on whether or not we were starting to see green shoots but he mentioned recent good news reported from the housing market.

On reducing government spending Mr Timms said that efficiency savings rather than front line cuts would be used. The Minister highlighted the potential savings to the public sector that were set out in the final report of the Operational Efficiency Programme. This report includes Lord Carter's review of public sector property to which RICS made a major contribution. Savings through this report will bring billions in savings without the need to cut frontline services.

The Government's carbon budget was welcomed along with additional investment in new technologies. Enhanced capital allowances will be used to promote green technologies and will be available for some property and machinery and business assets.

Despite the negative media reaction to the Budget people at the event were generally very supportive of the measures that were announced in the Budget. They seemed to feel that the Government was taking steps that were necessary to help the economy in its current situation.

Full RICS analysis and comment on the Budget is available on the RICS website.

David Cameron Responds to Budget 2009

Following the Chancellor's delivery of the Budget David Cameron chose to highlight government debt as his biggest concern. He said Labour had not done enough to keep the budget under control.

He indicated tax rises on alcohol and petrol will hurt ordinary people.

David Cameron also questioned the government's former predictions as to when the recession would be over.  

Read more on the Conservatives' website.