The £1.8bn the government have put aside for brownfield redevelopment is a drop in the ocean compared to what could be delivered according to research.
Sirius Property Finance have suggested that brownfield redevelopment could actually deliver 8 times the 160,000 houses cited in the Budget. Using data from The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government which estimates that there is some 36,700 hectares of brownfield land across England alone (over 51 million square metres) they estimate that 1.3m homes could be built on brownfield lands.
The number is based on the average home requiring a plot of 275 square metres.
Geographically the South East is home to the largest brownfield housebuilder potential, with enough brownfield space to deliver 2010,052 new homes, followed by the East of England (186,100) and the North West and West Midlands (179,071).
At 2,095 hectares, the North East is home to the lowest level of brownfield land although it would still be enough to deliver some 78,181 new homes.
Managing Director of Sirius Property Finance, Nicholas Christofi, commented:
“There have long been calls to utilise brownfield land in order to address the current housing crisis and so many will have warmly welcomed the government’s decision to finally do so.”
“However, it’s fair to say that the development of 1,500 hectares is really just the tip of the iceberg when viewed against the wider context of just how much brownfield land there is.”
“Redeveloping brownfield land requires additional time, resources and budget and so it might not be the primary focus for many housebuilders. But it does present a wealth of potential and not only could it help significantly boost housing stock levels, but the value of this stock in current market conditions would be substantial.”
While welcoming the proposals, some experts have been sceptical of delivery on brownfield sites. Nicola Gooch, Planning Partner at Irwin Mitchell has suggested that the cost of redevelopment can be “notoriously expensive”
“The additional funds to support Councils’ remediation efforts is to be welcomed. This latest tranche of funding for brownfield land, in addition to the £400 million Brownfield Housing Fund and the £75 million Brownfield Land Release Fund, indicates that the Government may be serious about the ‘brownfield first’ pledges that Johnson made in his conference speech earlier this month.”
The other barrier to redevelopment is the current planning system, although the £65m investment pledged in the budget to provide a digital transformation of the planning system is described as “welcome recognition that the current software relied on by council planning departments may no longer be fit for purpose.” Conclude Nicola Gooch
“Given that this announcement follows hot on the heels of DLUHC’s announcement that 13 Councils have been awarded a share of the £1 million PropTech Engagement Fund to pilot ‘innovative’ new digital consultation tools; it seems clear that the pledge to digitise and modernise the planning system may be one of the few proposals from last year’s Planning White Paper left standing”
