Government plans to force 17,100 new houses on Mid Sussex District Council looks increasingly forlorn at a time when the number of housing starts this year in the UK is set to be the lowest since 1924.    The current recession adds weight to the Council’s formal objection to the plan, as it is particularly evident that with the decline in house prices, the dependence on developers to pay for new infrastructure may not be forthcoming. 

New housing requires substantial investment in infrastructure such as roads, schools and community facilities which has been estimated at a cost of £1 billion for the number of houses anticipated! (Special Better Environment Advisory Group Meeting 20/11/08 – see also detail at  http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/Nimoi/sites/msdcpublic/resources/Funding%20The%20Future.pdf).

Developers are required to make contributions towards the infrastructure required - known as s106 payments, these can be of the order of £50,000 per dwelling, although it is worth noting that Mid Sussex has been under utilising this source by demanding less per dwelling than neighbouring authorities, and only imposing the charges at a higher threshold.  Because of this developers can avoid the charge on smaller projects despite the fact that many of the infrastructure requirements are caused by the cumulative effect of development  – whether one house or a hundred.   The shortfall will need to be made up by local and central government – and the likely availability of the latter is severely limited. 

Fears about future infrastructure expenditure were borne out by the news earlier this month that plans for 2,500 homes in East Grinstead have been scrapped by builders because of the credit crunch.  The plans included a relief road paid for by the developers and puts in doubt other ambitious plans for local infrastructure to be paid for in this way.  This already comes after plans for the completion of the Haywards Heath “ring road” at Rocky Lane have again been put on hold – as I highlighted in October – see http://simonhicks.mycouncillor.org.uk/2008/10/02/rocky-lane-diversion-delayed-again/.

Of particular concern is that developers are not allowed to cherry pick green field sites which are cheaper to develop, rather than brown field sites such as the old gas works on Leylands Road.  Development options should be phased, with clear guidelines to ensure the most viable locations are chosen with the greatest benefit to the community, not to developers.  Developer contributions in terms of s106 funding should also be used to ensure that less sustainable housing projects are only taken forward when the true cost of the new development is included in the assessment. 

Whilst it is hoped the current problems are temporary it is clear that house prices still have further to fall and are perhaps unlikely to regain the value they have lost for a decade or more – the interest margin on mortgages has increased for the foreseeable future.    This will affect the amount developers will pay towards infrastructure as well as the absolute levels of new housing at a time when government resources generally will be severely limited in the availability of investment for new infrastructure.

Mid Sussex District Council (MSDC) is currently drafting a “core strategy” outlining planning policy in the area for the next twenty years, and particularly where new housing to fulfil the government’s targets could be built.  The first round of consultation around the options available took place earlier this year with the council currently formulating a strategy to be put out to consultation in the spring of 2009.  Once agreed the strategy will provide the guidelines around which detailed housing plans can be judged so it is important that the right safeguards are included from the start to ensure the necessary infrastructure is put in place.

A whole range of documents is available on MSDC’s website outlining the background to the document and reviewing the responses to the first round of consultation and giving officer responses to summaries of these comments.  See the Core Strategy Pre Submission Consultation documents at http://www.midsussex.gov.uk/page.cfm?pageID=3168 .