Unlocking Potential
“I welcome the ideas Onward presents in this new paper to further strengthen local powers to create mayoral development corporations and enable more areas to establish them with greater powers. The economy will only grow properly across the UK when mayors have the powers to do so”.
Britain is in the midst of an unprecedented housing crisis. House prices have quadrupled since the late 1990s, and average rents have doubled. Meanwhile, salary growth has struggled to keep up with rising housing costs. As a result, 95% of English local authorities consider housing unaffordable.
The problem is a shortage of new homes. Supply is struggling to keep up with the demands of a growing and ageing population. House building has halved since the late 1960s despite England’s population growing by a fifth over the same period. With record levels of migration, England needs to build 400,000 new homes annually to meet demand. However, only 178,010 new homes were built in 2022.
One of the root causes of the supply shortfall is England’s planning system. Although designed to boost supply, the current system is detrimental to the pace and predictability of new developments, deterring much-needed private sector investment. Planning applications are taking longer to process, are more expensive and are less likely to be approved than a decade ago.
Onward’s Back to the Future paper, endorsed by Tees Valley Mayor Lord Houchen, calls on the Conservative Party to fully embrace the Development Corporation model to overcome many of the existing barriers posed by England’s planning system. Our paper makes a series of recommendations designed to improve the effectiveness of Development Corporations and boost supply in communities on the frontline of England’s housing crisis.
Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen commented:
“Metro mayors need to be much more empowered to drive growth and regeneration locally. Too much power rests with Whitehall and a much greater shift is needed. Development corporations are a crucial tool to transform a local economy, delivering more homes, bringing back industry and creating well-paid jobs. They need to be unleashed.
“We’ve seen in Tees Valley the change they can deliver, from tens of thousands of new jobs to scores of new homes. I welcome the ideas Onward presents in this new paper to further strengthen local powers to create mayoral development corporations and enable more areas to establish them with greater powers. The economy will only grow properly across the UK when mayors have the powers to do so.”
Callum Newton, Onward Senior Researcher, commented:
“England’s housing crisis is approaching breaking point and it is clear status quo responses are no longer tenable.
Although planning reform is important, bold action is now needed to build the homes the country needs. Development Corporations have an impressive track-record of delivery and should be used to overcome many of the barriers posed by England’s convoluted planning system.”
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