EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - Unlocking public land for housing supply

Unlocking public land for housing supply

Introduction

Research was carried out to better understand the type, amount and location of publicly-owned land that could potentially be released for new housing development in England, and to investigate current initiatives to release public sector land for housing.

Description

Existing initiatives for supplying land for housing include Brownfield Land Targets, the National Brownfield Strategy, and Planning Guidance (PPS3: Housing).

Information on land opportunities is currently obtained from data held in four key databases:

the National Land Use Database,
the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land,
the National Asset Register,
and urban capacity studies.

A number of case studies in the report represent public sector sites at different stages of the redevelopment process. There are a number of opportunities and constraints in bringing sites forward for development which are identified in the case studies including:

ownership issues,
inter-agency collaboration,
marketing/promotion,
land assembly,
infrastructure,
land quality issues,
leadership,
and stakeholder management.

Background information

Evidence shows that there is increasing need for land for housebuilding in England to meet the growing demand for new homes. There are 4,600 hectares registered as surplus public sector land that could be released to help supply some of the land needed to deliver 100,000 new homes.

The study was therefore established, with the support of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, to investigate how current initiatives to release public sector land for housing could be taken further forward by the government and related agencies and players in the development process.

Methodology

The research involved a literature review of four key databases (the National Land Use Database, the Register of Surplus Public Sector Land, the National Asset Register, and urban capacity studies) to identify gaps in current information and provide background for the selection of the case studies.

Case study profiles were selected with assistance from developers, landowners and local planning authorities, and the case studies were examined to ascertain the constraints on sites and to identify opportunities for bringing sites back into use. Key themes were identified from a desk-based analysis of the case studies.

Conclusions

Recommendations are made for:

a more comprehensive database of information on public sector land available for redevelopment;
an effective national brownfield strategy including Brownfield Land Action Plans and initiatives such as Brownfield Land Assembly Trusts;
a good practice guide or programme disseminating methods and tools to assist delivery of the national brownfield strategy;
effective project delivery in the re-use of sites;
and establishment of a cross-departmental government committee to identify and acquire potentially surplus public sector land and use it to develop affordable housing.

Contact info

Town and Country Planning Association
17 Carlton House Terrace
SW1Y 5AS and Entec London
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 20 7930 8903
tcpa@tcpa.org.uk

Publication date

Project finished

01/01/2007

Researcher

Town and Country Planning Association

Links

Visit the Town and Country Planning Association website

Download the "Unlocking public land" Report (PDF, Eng, 226 KB)

Document type

research

Themes

Urban Policy > Urban environment

Keywords

Land use