Housing minister agrees to consultation and pilot in return for rebels dropping opposition
Rebels in the House of Lords have won concessions from the government over its controversial planning tariffs proposal.

Lord Richard Best, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation director who is leading the rebels, has brokered a three-pronged deal with planning minister Keith Hill.

Hill has agreed to set up a ministerial taskforce to consult on the implementation of tariffs and to establish pilot projects. He also guaranteed that planning tariffs would be used to encourage the development of mixed-tenure schemes.

In response, Lord Best has dropped an amendment in the Lords calling for the idea to be removed from the planning bill.

The ministerial taskforce will comprise representatives from across the public and private sectors. It will include the British Property Federation, the Chartered Institute of Housing, the CBI, the House Builders Federation, the Local Government Association, the National Housing Federation, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Royal Town Planning Institute.

It will be given six months to advise government on how the charge should be implemented and to produce a best-practice guide for local authorities.

Kelvin MacDonald, director of policy and research at the Royal Town Planning Institute, welcomed the news. "We're delighted. Lord Best has put in sterling work," he said.

Lord Best said: "The government has reflected on whether their objectives around affordable housing would not actually be undermined by the system they have proposed. They have now recognised that the bill needs serious revisiting."

He said he envisaged a system where fixed tariffs for certain services could make up an element of an overall negotiated solution.

The compromise followed an admission in the Lords by regeneration minister Lord Rooker that he didn't know how the supply of affordable housing would be protected if tariffs were introduced (HT February 6, page 9).

The idea is part of the Planning & Compulsory Purchase Bill now going through the House of Lords. It would allow developers to pay a charge instead of supplying affordable homes in return for planning permission.

The charge has been branded as unworkable and likely to hinder the production of mixed-tenure communities (HT 20 February, page 26).

Source

Housing Today