Tory housing plans ‘hand nimbys a veto’

This article is provided courtesy of the news feed at http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/news

Conservative plans for a 90% positive vote by local people for affordable village homes could hand a veto to Nimbys, according to the National Housing Federation (NHF).

The Conservatives are proposing the creation of local housing trusts (LHTs), new community-led bodies with planning powers to develop local homes.

However, LHTs would only be able to build new homes where there is strong community backing - defined as 90%.

The NHF supports LHTs, but says the 90% threshold of local support is ‘far too high’ and that the majority of rural dwellers agree.

Recent opinion polling of 800 rural dwellers across England, conducted on behalf of the organisation, revealed just 4% believed a level of 90% was the correct figure, with 54% opting for 50-70%.

The federation says there is a growing rural housing crisis, with a lack of affordable homes in villages and market towns driving thousands of young people and families from the countryside to urban areas every year.

As a result, many villages become increasingly populated by older people, wealthy commuters and second homeowners, with the knock-on effect of services and amenities coming under threat because of a decline in traditional customer bases.

A lack of new properties in rural areas has led to a record 750,000 people waiting for an affordable home in villages and market towns.

NHF chief executive David Orr said: ‘There will always be some people who oppose the idea of building any new homes and, if the threshold for a vote in favour of new affordable housing is set as high as 90%, then we believe that small groups of local Nimbys will virtually always be able to block the proposals.’

Tory shadow housing minister Grant Shapps is due to discuss LHTs during a keynote speech tonight in St Minver, Wadebridge, Cornwall.

Cornwall Rural Housing Association was the first to pioneer the Community Land Trust model which the LHT proposals are based on.

Director Peter Moore said: ‘We’ve proved in Cornwall that we can use this model to produce affordable housing with community support. The LHT proposals could enable other communities to benefit – but to make that happen, we need a lower support threshold and dedicated support for communities who want to do this.’

Read Bob Coleknutt’s blog on the Conservative party and nimbyism - http://tiny.cc/L3UXg