Following the Deputy Prime Minister's statement on housing and planning on 18 July 2002 the Committee on the ODPM: housing, planning, local government and the regions resolved to hold an enquiry into planning for sustainable housing and communities. Interested parties were invited to submit comments on specific points and other relevant topics that they would wish to be taken into consideration by the Committee in reaching its findings. The points raised were:

—  The overall scale of house building required.

—  Are the proposals likely to significantly reduce house prices.

—  The geographical distribution of new housing, including plans to concentrate development in the South East in four growth areas, Milton Keynes, the Cambridge/Stansted corridor, Ashford and the Thames Gateway.

—  Whether the proposals will promote high quality sustainable communities whilst avoiding poorly designed urban sprawl.

—  Proposals for new Millennium Villages.

—  The balance of new development between housing for sale and social housing.

—  The extent to which decisions relating to housing, including numbers, tenure and density, should be taken by central and local government.

  The Anglia Housing Group's overall impression of the proposals is that they generally reflect and complement its own research and findings as far as they relate to its area of operation, ie East Anglia and the East of England. The Anglia Housing Group has long held the belief that one of the main elements in achieving long-term growth and stability in the region lies in the ability to create sustainable communities based around good standard accommodation occupied by various tenure groups. They need to be underpinned by a well-planned infrastructure, and served by efficient and effective support services. The Group believes that communities need to have a sense of ownership and identity and has therefore developed its development strategy with this in mind.

  In regard to the specific points and associated comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister in his statement, we would comment as follows.

THE OVERALL SCALE OF HOUSE BUILDING REQUIRED

  We accept the need for additional homes and the targets set by the Government. We also concur with the Deputy Prime Minister's statement that many members of indigenous populations are forced to move because of the lack of affordable accommodation. Key public sector workers are particularly disadvantaged, as are all low earners, and the proposals to address the needs of key public sector workers is therefore understandable. However, we would point out that public sector services are there to serve all sectors of the community and, unless the overall house building targets also address the needs of all low income households, this sector of the community will still be left with no alternative but to migrate, leaving behind well serviced, high income households.

ARE THE PROPOSALS LIKELY TO REDUCE HOUSE PRICES

  House prices do not necessarily reflect supply and demand but are also influenced by location in terms of employment opportunities, quality of life provided both by the quality of public services and the general environment, and most importantly by affordability. House prices continue to increase which can be attributed mainly to public confidence in national economic performance and economic forecasters suggest that this trend is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. Consequently sudden significant increases in house building are unlikely to reduce house prices in the short term. If it is assumed that development will be adequately planned and prepared with the right infrastructure, including in particular road and rail links, land values will continue to rise. Although it is possible that some increases may be offset by the proposal to create higher density developments and by the proposed promotion of factory manufactured system buildings, prices will be dictated by location and how much one can pay.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF NEW HOUSING

  The Anglia Housing Group is fully aware of the pressures on the South East and the locations selected for accelerated development are understandable.

HIGH QUALITY SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AVOIDING POORLY DESIGNED URBAN SPRAWL

  There is undoubtedly a possibility that the need for a "quick fix" solution to provide more housing could result in poorly designed and thought out solutions. In particular the Government's desire to build high density developments has the potential to recreate some of the problems of the 1960s and 1970s associated with inner city areas, whereas the geographical spread of the four selected locations could easily lead to the creation of vast disjointed developments lacking those attributes of identity and ownership mentioned earlier. Recent moves to introduce a more adventurous form of design are generally welcome but "good design" means many things to many people. Too much innovation can be a bad thing, as can be the imposition of opinion by elected and non-elected bodies. Most importantly long-term sustainability will not be achieved through the imposition of large scale experimental design solutions produced with the main purpose of boosting the designers' self perceived reputation. We therefore believe that the key is conscientious control exercised with the views of the ultimate client (the community member) in mind.

PROPOSALS FOR NEW MILLENNIUM VILLAGES

  The initial four millennium communities at East Manchester, Allerton Bywater, Greenwich and Kings Lynn incorporate new design concepts and innovation. However, they are all still at too early a stage as to be able to judge whether they will fulfil the main objective of long-term sustainability. It is therefore difficult to comment with any degree of conviction on the proposal to establish three further communities.

THE BALANCE BETWEEN HOUSING FOR SALE AND SOCIAL HOUSING

  As we have mentioned before, the Anglia Group is dedicated to the creation of long-term sustainable communities and that one element in the description of communities is that they consist of people with varying degrees of income. We believe that mixed tenure and properly balanced communities allowing residents to move from one tenure to another is essential if this is to be achieved. To be able to do so there needs to be an adequate amount of each. Housing waiting lists and the bed and breakfast population in the East and South East leads us to believe that the balance between housing for sale and social housing has not been adequately addressed in these proposals. The proposed new build programme provides an ideal opportunity to address this shortfall but if this opportunity is missed there is serious danger that the Government's plan to develop sustainable communities will fail.

THE EXTENT TO WHICH DECISIONS RELATING TO HOUSING SHOULD BE TAKEN BY CENTRAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

  We firmly believe that if the Government's vision as outlined in the Deputy Prime Minister's statement is to be realised there needs to be an alteration in current planning systems and procedures. It has to be accepted that regions are different, having there own particular problems and difficulties, and that within each region, Counties and Districts can be equally dissimilar. Although localised pressures may require local solutions, the strategic issues being addressed in this instance require co-operation and co-ordination at an appropriate level. However, the contribution of local controls should not be under-estimated as they can and do help to retain local identity and character.

  We accept that in some instances local controls and procedures hamper and delay the implementation of wider agendas and that a more regional approach is needed in certain circumstances. We therefore understand the proposals for planning reform but are concerned at the lack of detail on powers of intervention. We also agree in principal with the proposal to establish strong regional bodies although, again we would comment on the lack of detail in their composition, powers, terms of reference and implementation date. However, we would comment that housing in its various forms must be equally represented on these bodies if the Government's agenda is to be delivered.

  We agree with the proposal to introduce Business Planning Zones in order to deliver growth. However, we would suggest that, as it is likely that they will probably be most appropriately targeted in areas where Health Action Zones, Education Action Zones and Housing Action Zones might already exist, there is a danger that the presence of so many bodies could be counter-productive unless carefully co-ordinated. The question of leadership would be particularly relevant in such circumstances and the role and inter-relationship be central, regional and local government would be critical.

OTHER COMMENTS

  We look forward to receiving details of the comprehensive long-term programme of by the end of the year.

  We note that it is proposed to review all policies that contribute to the 2010 Decent Homes target to ensure that they are as effective as possible and provide value for money. We would point out in this context that the current bidding procedures and associated time scales for authorities wishing to embark on either or a mixture of PFI, ALMO, LSVT or SSVT (Small Scale Voluntary Transfer) is likely to put the timetable at risk. We would therefore suggest that this matter be considered in detail in the context of the review.

  We are disappointed that the Deputy Prime Minister's statement made no mention of the approach and contribution to be had from partnering arrangements. We would suggest that there are considerable benefits still to be achieved from a joint approach between the public and private sectors. The overall proposals for new development and the creation of sustainable communities will not and cannot be achieved without the co-operation of both sectors and we would have liked to have seen this approach strengthened in the detail of the statement.

  Finally, although we fully understand the thrust behind the Government's proposals we would raise a question over their implementation. The high amounts of additional investment, particularly in the repair and improvement of public sector housing and the development of large regeneration programmes, together with the move towards Decent Homes Standard, is likely to create huge pressures on the building industry. The proposal to utilise greater numbers of factory manufactured buildings will not overcome the shortage of skilled operatives nor the resulting increase in building costs. We would therefore suggest that unless urgent action is taken immediately to train and recruit new personnel to the building industry there is very little chance of the targets being met.