The use of public land for house building in England: Understanding the challenges and policy implications

Abstract

Local authority land is viewed as part of the supply solution to inflating national housebuilding targets in England. The shift from local authorities as development control agents to housing enablers has drawn political and public attention. Some commentators emphasise the release of local authority land for private housebuilding as a potentially significant contribution to new supply. Whilst estimates vary about the amount of developable land in local authorities’ portfolios, little research has been undertaken into the practical barriers to more extensive use of publicly owned land for housing development. Local planning authorities are universally, and statutorily, concerned with both the delivery of dwellings to live in and making places suitable and sustainable. In this context the actions of local authority officers both inform and perform aspects of the housing market and cannot therefore be divided from local land markets or the development process. This paper reflects critically upon in-depth interviews with key professionals involved in identifying, planning, selling, buying and developing dwellings on public land. Five potential barriers - ownership constraints; finance and funding; legal and planning; quality; and market obstacles - are identified and explored. We argue that whilst the significance of barriers is variable, policy intervention and/or behaviour change by local authorities will be required if we are to use the stock of public land more extensively for new housing development.